Transvaal Civil War 1862-1864

In Transvaal, the Boers established several little polities after the Great Trek. The Transvaal Boers continually quarreled with each other over boundaries, religion and politics. In 1856, the South African Republic was organized in the southwest Transvaal, and Marthinus Pretorius (1819-1901) was elected its president. His attempt to unify the entire Transvaal was met with resistance; dissenting factions continued their separate governments. Also elected president of the adjoining Orange Free State to the south (1859), Pretorius tried unsuccessfully to unite the two republics while continuing to reconcile the factions in the Transvaal. Civil war broke out among the Boers of the Transvaal in 1862; Pretorius resigned from the Orange Free State presidency (1863) and spent his energies mediating the disputes between the warring parties. SJ Paul Kruger, his principle aide, assisted Pretorius in suppressing the warfare. Early in 1864, Pretorius was able to negotiate an end to the strife; by this time all the Boers of the Transvaal had joined the South African Republic, and Pretorius was elected its president a second time (1864).

References

Dictionary of Wars, 497-8; Military History, 930.

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