Boer Commandant de Wet, who was active in the Northern Free State, decided to split his force into three and to attack three British positions on 7 June 1900.
All three positions were stations on the Bloemfontein-Vereeniging railway line, south west of the current town of Parys. Commandant Froneman attacked Rhenoster Camp, Commandant Steenkamp attacked Vredefort Road and de Wet himself attacked Roodewal. In total, in the three actions, over 500 prisoners were taken together with supplies and ammunition. A large quantity of the ammunition was buried for later use. A supply train was destroyed and considerable damage was done to the railway line. In total over 40 British soldiers were killed.
