Johannes Lötter

Johannes Cornelius Jacobus "Hans" Lötter was a Boer commander who fought, and was executed by, the British during the Second Boer War. Along with Gideon Scheepers, Lötter was one of the most brutal guerrilla commandos in the Cape Colony.[1]

Johannes Cornelius Jacobus Lötter
Commandant Lötter in Graaff-Reinet prison
Nickname(s)Hans
Born(1875-01-15)January 15, 1875
Pearston, Cape Colony
DiedOctober 15, 1901(1901-10-15) (aged 26)
Middelburg, Cape Colony
Allegiance Boer Republics
Years of service1899 – 1901
RankCommandant
UnitLötter Rebels
Commands heldLötter Rebels
Battles/warsBattle of Groenkloof
RelationsMichiel Petrus Lötter (father), Maria Catharina Buys (mother)
Christoffel Lötter (2nd Great-Grandfather)

Lötter entered the Cape Colony during the war along with Pieter Hendrik Kritzinger.[2] Lötter's Boer Commando earned a reputation for being brutal and undisciplined.[3] Like many Boer commandants, Lötter promulgated public decrees to the residents of the Cape Colony, warning of harsh retribution if they did not support the forces of the Boer Republics.[1] A column led by Henry Jenner Scobell was tasked with tracking down Lötter's commando. They tracked the commando to Groenkloof, west of Cradock, and surprised them with a dawn attack. Sixty of Lötter's men became casualties and sixty, including Lötter, were captured.[4]

He was taken to Graaff-Reinet for his trial, and charged with treason, murdering unarmed British scouts, flogging two Afrikaners who had brought him terms of surrender, destroying railway lines, and marauding.[3] The trial was straightforward, because Lötter was a citizen of the British-controlled Cape Colony, and therefore a rebel.[3] He was executed along with seven of his men.[4]

References
  1. Nasson, Bill (February 13, 2003). Abraham Esau's War: A Black South African War in the Cape, 1899-1902. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 107. ISBN 9780521530590.
  2. Paget, Henry (1986). A History of the British Cavalry 1816-1919: 1899-1913. Leo Cooper. p. 248. ISBN 9780436273216.
  3. Judd, Denis; Surridge, Keith (March 15, 2013). The Boer War: A History. London: I.B.Tauris. p. 234. ISBN 9780857733160.
  4. Jaques, Tony (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: F-O. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 411. ISBN 9780313335389.
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