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I have heard however that Captain Cilliers refused to leave the position until it became no longer tenable. It was hard indeed for him to lose a battle thus, when it was nearly won, and to be compelled to retreat when victory was all but within his grasp.
I met the burghers under Commandants Cilliers, Bester, Mentz, and Van Coller. S.J.M. Wessels. Here again it was unanimously decided not to surrender the independence, and Commandants Mentz, Van Coller and Bester were the representatives chosen. The fifth meeting I held with the commandos under General Johannes Hattingh, on the 1st of May, on the Weltevrede Farm, under the chairmanship of Mr.
But this misfortune was not due to the blockhouses. On the contrary, they were taken prisoners when they were attempting to hide themselves in small bodies. In this way more than a hundred burghers fell into the hands of the English. There were now with me Commandant Mentz, and portions of the commandos of Commandants Bester, Cilliers, and Mears.
With this object in view I gave orders that a number of the burghers should come to Blijdschap, in the district of Bethlehem, under the command of the following officers: General Michal Prinsloo with Commandants Olivier, and Rautenbach of the Bethlehem Commando; Commandant David Van Coller, who was in command of the Heilbron burghers in the place of Commandant Steenekamp, who had resigned; Commandant Hermanus Botha of Vrede; Commandant Roen of Ladybrand; and Commandant Jan Cilliers of Kroonstad.
The morning following, two hours after sunrise, I received a report from General Hattingh, who with Commandant Cilliers and a hundred men was stationed close to Blijdschap. The General reported that the English from Jagersrust were hotly pursuing the women's laager. And it soon appeared that the women were being driven to the west of Blijdschap.
Among the dead was the renowned Sarel Cilliers, grandson of the worthy "voortrekker" of the same name. Veldtcornet Jurie Wessels was the most distinguished of the prisoners. It was a miserable affair altogether: General Froneman ought to have called his men back when he saw that General Liebenberg had not sent his contingent.
The commandos were now divided as follows: 1. The district of Kroonstad: the men under Commandants Philip De Vos, Jan Cilliers and Maree. Sub-district of Heilbron: the men under Commandants F.E. Mentz, Lucas Steenekamp and J. Van de Merwe. All of these were under Vice-Commander-in-Chief Johannes Hattingh. The district of Vrede: the men under Commandants Ross and Manie Botha.
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