5 SEPTEMBER 1900 - GATSRAND

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On 4 September 1900 in the Gatsrand, near the present Fochville, Commandant Danie Theron was planning an attack with General Liebenberg’s commando on General Hart’s column.

 

Whilst out scouting to discover why  Liebenberg was not at the agreed position, Theron ran into seven members of Marshall’s Horse. Contemporary Boer sources allege that Theron killed three and wounded the other four. 

The column’s escort was alerted by the firing and immediately charged up the hill, but Theron managed to avoid capture.

 

Finally, the column’s artillery, six field guns and 4.7-inch naval gun, were unhitched and the hill bombarded. The legendary Republican hero was killed in an inferno of lyddite and shrapnel. 

 

Eleven days later, the body of Commandant Danie Theron was exhumed by his men and later reburied next to his late fiancée, Hannie Neethling, at her father’s farm (Eikenhof, Klip River.) 

 

The SAFF Casualty Roll contains the name of only one man (MacMillan) of Marshall’s Horse: he was mortally wounded in the incident.

 

The “Official History” Vol III, p376 mentions: 
“Near the scene of the previous day’s encounter the guns fired on a party of the enemy, killing four, of whom one was Commandant Daniel Theron, a well-known captain of scouts.”