Sir Harry Smith assumed the role of Governor of the Cape in 1847 and begun to unravel the work of the previous governor Sir Peregrine Maitland, who had reached agreements with the Basotho and the Griqua leaders which would help maintain British control of the region between the Vaal and Orange Rivers.

[2]: 152  The Boers in Winburg upset by the British action appealed to Pretorius for help regain their independence and by June 1848 he raised a commando of around 1000 men.

[4] Pretorius responded by advancing on Winburg and ran the British magistrate Thomas Biddulph out of town and declared a republic.

[5] On the morning of 29 August 1848, the British column stopped at a farm at Touwfontein for their morning meal and at this time Sir Harry Smith was told that Pretorius' force was 19 km away on low hills behind which was a river, across which was a farm called Boomplaats and a higher range behind it with the road heading through a pass.

[5][4] By early afternoon, British forces arrived at a flat plain in front of Pretorius' location in the hills and with Smith leading a reconnaissance party to a ridge where they were surprised by the Boers.

Dreyer was tried for rebelling against the British colonial government at a court-martial in Bloemfontein, sentenced to death, and executed by firing squad on 4 September 1848.

[6] Pretorius now retreated to safety to the lands across the Vaal River with a bounty of £1000 announced for his capture while Henry Warden returned to Bloemfontein as the British Resident.