Daniel Jacobus Elardus Erasmus


Daniel Jacobus Elardus Erasmus was a Boer general during the Boer War">Boers">Boer War.

Family

Daniel Erasmus was born the third child and eldest son to Daniel Elardus Erasmus and Susara "Sarie" Margaretha Jacobs. Daniel had two elder sisters and two younger brothers including Commander Stephanus Petrus Erasmus.
On 16 September 1866 Daniel married Magdalena Margaretha Erasmus. They had two sons and one daughter. The widower then married Sibella Margaretha Aletta Schabort on 25 April 1876 in Heidelberg. They had six daughters and two sons.

Career

First Boer War 1880-1881 and afterwards

Daniel Erasmus took part in the Battle of Bronkhorstspruit of 20 December 1880 during the First Boer War and besieged the British garrison in Pretoria, blocking three outbreaks. After the restoration of the independence of the South African Republic, Erasmus became a member of the Volksraad and Commander of the Pretoria Commando, fighting in the Malaboch War and the campaign against Bantu chief M'pefu of the Venda people.

Second Boer War 1899-1902

At a general Boer council of war on 11 October 1899 at Zandspruit/Sandspruit, just over the border of Natal Colony east of Newcastle and south of Utrecht, Erasmus was nominated Assistent Kommandant Generaal, second in command to Transvaal Commander-in-chief Piet Joubert. General Erasmus fought many battles against the British with his Pretoria Commando, for instance the Battle of Talana Hill, the Battle of Rietfontein, and the Siege of Ladysmith. Later on General Erasmus was head of the military court for the districts of Heidelberg, Pretoria, Middelburg and Bethal. After the British occupation of the state capitals Bloemfontein and Pretoria Erasmus continued to fight.
In the end he was captured by troops of General Bruce Hamilton from Ermelo on 3 January 1902, not far from Amsterdam near the border with Swaziland. Erasmus was transferred to a prisoner of war camp at Saint Helena, where he remained for five months until his release as a consequence of the peace Treaty of Vereeniging signed on 31 May 1902.

Literature

  • A.E., Onze Krijgs-officieren. Album van portretten met levens-schetsen der Transvaalse Generaals en Kommandanten, Volksstem, Pretoria 1904. In Dutch with a preface by Louis Botha. PDF on Wikimedia Commons. Page 18.
  • * Pages 167, 169–171, 180–182, 187–192, 212, 217, 219, 227, 232–234, 265, 270–272, 275–280, 284–287, 300–302, 306–307, 329, 352, 358–360, 361 note, 469.
  • * Pages 236, 428–429, 431, 433, 435–436, 441–444, 449–450.
  • * Pages 21, 51–58, 60, 97–98, 108–109, 111, 123, 230, 373, 439, 444, 480, 530–531, 538–539, 554, 556, foto no 24.
  • * Page 497 for genl D.E. Erasmus.
  • * Pages 64, 115, 143, 148, 160, 271, 286, 319.
  • Thomas Pakenham, The Boer War, George Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1979. Abacus, 1992. ISBN 0 349 10466 2. Pages 128 talana, 147 visits hospital expresses condolences on symons death, and 169 Lucas Meyer had not waited for Erasmus to come to Dundee.
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