De Wet came from an old Huguenot family and was a member of the People's Council of the Orange Free State between 1889 and 1898. At the beginning of the Second Boer War he was commander in Natal, then under Piet Cronjé as assistant commander at the Modder River. He first distinguished himself in the capture of a large British supply convoy at Blauwbank on 15 February 1900 and again on 1 April 1900 in an attack on General Broadwood at Koornspruit east of Bloemfontein. In June of the same year he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Orange Free State troops. In the guerrilla war that followed against the superior British army, he always evaded the impending encirclement through skilful evasive manoeuvres and inflicted heavy losses on the British through carefully prepared ambushes. On November 24, 1900, he forced the 450-man British garrison of Dewetsdorp, named after his father, to surrender. From January to March 1901, he undertook a campaign through the Cape Colony and on December 25, 1901, he captured a British camp at Tweefontein.
His brother Piet de Wet was also a Boer general. After being captured by British troops in July 1901, he became a member of the National Scouts and fought against his brother Christiaan's troops.
Despite his military successes, Christiaan de Wet had to agree to the Peace of Vereeniging on May 31, 1902. He then traveled to Europe with Koos de la Rey and Louis Botha to represent the Boer cause. In 1907, he became Minister of Agriculture in the first cabinet of the Orange River Colony.
During the First World War, de Wet and other Boers attempted to start a pro-German uprising in South Africa. This failed due to a lack of support from both the population and the relatively weak colonial troops in German South West Africa. De Wet was captured by government troops in early December 1914 and sentenced to six years in prison and a fine of 2,000 pounds, but was released after just one year on the condition that he refrain from further political activity.
Source: Wikipedia