Sarel Cilliers, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Sarel Cilliers

Voortrekker leader and preacher

Date of Birth: 07-Sep-1801

Place of Birth: Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa

Date of Death: 04-Oct-1871

Profession: preacher

Nationality: South Africa

Zodiac Sign: Virgo

Charl (Sarel) Arnoldus Cilliers (7 September 1801 – 4 October 1871) was a Voortrekker leader and a preacher.
With Andries Pretorius, he led the Boers to a huge victory over the Zulus at the Battle of Blood River in 1838.
In particular, Cilliers lead the Voortrekkers in a vow which promised that if God would protect them and deliver the enemy into their hands, they would build a church and commemorate the day of their victory as if it were an annual Sabbath day, which their descendants would also be instructed to honour. He was a prominent member of the Gereformeerde Kerk (Reformed Church), an offshoot of the Dutch Reformed Church.
He is described as being a short, stout man, and was believed to have been very religious.
He joined the Great Trek at the age of thirty-five.The town of Kroonstad was, according to folklore, named after a horse belonging to Cilliers, which drowned in a stream (Kroonspruit) where the town is situated. There is a Sarel Cilliers Museum as well as a statue of him (on the site of the Dutch Reformed Church) in Kroonstad.
Numerous streets and roads in Kroonstad and throughout South Africa are named after him.