Louw Weppener Traditional Cache
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
The cache is a regular/small size box in a camo ag. The short road off the official road and up thee hill is good for a SUV but nor recomended for cars, rather park and take a walk, if no SUV or 4x4 is available. The reason for placing this cach is because this is one of the few monuments dedicated to an individual War Hero.
WEPENER, Lourens Jacobus (Louw). War hero.
Born: Graaff.Reinet 21.7.1812
Died; Thaba Bosigo 15.8.1865.
The fourth son of a carpenter, Frederik Jacobus Wepener (1773 — 1826), and Johanna Maria Erasmus, he received his schooling under Dr. ‘Wm. Robertson, being intended for the ministry. Al though orphaned at the age of 14, by dint of hard work he acquired his own farm.
In 1840 he married Hester Susanna Nd. She died shortly after the birth of a son, Frederik Daniel Jacobus, who later became a member of the Free State Volksraad and successively Landdrost of Wepener, Zeerust and Heidelberg (Tvl.). In 1843 Louw Wepener married the widow Hilletje M. L. du Rand (izice Van Aard4, and three sons and three daughters were born to them.
As a Cape burgher officer Wepener distinguished himself through his military ability and fearlessness during the frontier wars 0 1835, 1846 and 1851 After farming in Somerset East and then in Aliwal North, Wepener joined the Free State commandos in 1858 during the First Basuto War. Four years later he moved to the Bethulie district and threw in his lot with the Orange Free State. On the outbreak of the Second Basuto War in 1865 he was unanimously elected acting commandant, and some time later commandant—in—chief of the southern commandos. Being a man of action he immediately captured Moperi’s kraal and when, through the vacillating policy of the supreme command, the Basutos had invaded the Free State along a wide front, the initiative displayed by Wepener led to the occupation of the whole of Southern Basutoland. The Basuto resistance was broken at places like Vechtkop, Mohale’s Hock and Mona and the lands occupied by him, the so—called Conquered Territory, was declared Free State territory. Early in Ausg. 1865 Wepener joined forces with the commandos of Generals Jan Fick and C. de Villiers, who were encamped at the foot of Thaba Bosigo, Moshesh’s stronghold. Amidst procrastination and quarrelling over how the mountain should be captured, Wepener with 400 volunteers offered to take it by storm. Throughout the ensuing attack Wepener was always the leader, only to die a hero’s death toward sunset, near the summit of the mountain. But even this did not provide the necessary inspiration for the commandos to take the stronghold.
Wepener’s heroism made such an impression on the Basutos that they roasted and ate his heart, believing that by so doing they would acquire sonic of his bravery. His bones were later buried on his farm Constantia and were retired on the same farm in 1941, when a monument was erected in his honor. On 14 Aug. 1965 a bronze bust by Coert Steynberg to commemorate him was unveiled in Wepener town, named after him, His heroic death gave a fresh impetus to the struggle and to it must be ascribed the greater discipline and courage with which the commandos thereafter carried out their task.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Tvir gur hapyr n uht naq lbh fubhyq trg gur srryvat bs trggvat yhpxl!
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures