Piet Fourie

Petrus "Piet" Johannes Fourie was a Boer general for the Orange Free State in the Anglo-Boer War in South Africa. He should not be confused with his Boer colleagues generals and .

Family

Fourie was the eldest son of Louis Jacobus Fourie and Maria Magdalena Pieterse, among in total two daughters and two sons. He married Maria Magdalena van Tonder, and had four sons and one daughter by her.

Early years

Fourie was born in the Cape Colony but moved at a young age to the Orange Free State. He fought in the Free State–Basotho Wars and had a prosperous farm near Bloemfontein, where he was a justice of the peace.

Second Boer War

After the outbreak of the war in October 1899 Fourie became the commander of the Bloemfontein Commando and fought all the major battles at the western front. After the capture of Bloemfontein by the British on 13 March 1900 Fourie participated in the Boer victory at Sanna's Post, the failed attack on British positions at Jammersberg Drift, the failure to stop the British advance in the Battle of Sand River southwest of Kroonstad, and again a victory at Rooiwal Station, under the overall command of Christiaan de Wet.
To retaliate and to deter further Boer resistance British Commander-in-Chief Roberts dynamited De Wet's farm Roodepoort on 16 June. Afterwards Fourie visited the site with general Stoffel Froneman and De Wet himself. At the end of July, Fourie escaped from the Brandwater Basin with 1500 men, where Marthinus Prinsloo surrendered soon after on 30 July with more than 4000 remaining Boer troops. In August 1900 Fourie was promoted to Assistant Chief Commander for the districts of Bloemfontein, Smithfield, Rouxville and Wepener. In December 1900 he broke the British line of blockhouses at Sprinkaansnek.
In February 1901 De Wet sent his generals Froneman and Fourie with many troops east of the Cape Town-Bloemfontein railway line to mislead the British. De Wet and his smaller unit crossed the Orange River at Sand Drift, 60 kilometres west of the railway and marched into the Cape Colony.
In July 1901 De Wet and general De la Rey stripped Fourie of his rank because of his stated desire to surrender to the British. Subsequently, he was imprisoned on his own farm. However, he changed heart later, was pardoned and joined Christiaan de Wet's troops again, but no more as a general.