Johannes Hermanus Michiel 'Jan' Kock (11 March 1835 – 31 October 1899) was a

Boer Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this are ...

general and politician.

Life

Kock was born in

Graaff-Reinet Graaff-Reinet is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the oldest town in the province. It is also the sixth-oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, Paarl and Swellendam. The town was the ...

the son of Johannes Lambertus Kock and Elsje Magdalena Smit. His father was a Boer commandant in Transorangia during the last phase of the

Great Trek The Great Trek ( af, Die Groot Trek; nl, De Grote Trek) was a Northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyon ...

. His mother was the sister-in law of former president M.W. Pretorius. He travelled in the Great Trek with his parents and already at the age of 10 he accompanied his father at the Battle of Swartkoppies and at age 13 at the

Battle of Boomplaats The Battle of Boomplaats (also referred to as the Battle of Boomplaas) was fought near Jagersfontein at on 29 August 1848 between the British and the Voortrekkers. The British were led by Sir Harry Smith,Smith, Sir Harry. ‘’The Autobiograph ...

. After the battle of Swartkoppies the family settled in

Winburg Winburg is a small mixed farming town in the Free State (province), Free State province of South Africa. It is the oldest proclaimed town (1837) in the Orange Free State, South Africa and thus along with Griquastad, one of the oldest settlemen ...

and after Boomplaats, Kock and his father were declared outlaws and the family had to leave Winburg and crossed Vaal River and later settled on the farm, Witstinkhoutboom, in the Potchefstroom district. Kock bought this farm from his father in 1889. At the age of 20 he married Catharina Christina Schoeman on 15 Jul 1854 at Potchefstroom. She was the daughter of Commandant-general

Stephanus Schoeman Stephanus Schoeman (14 March 1810 – 19 June 1890) was President of the South African Republic from 6 December 1860 until 17 April 1862. His red hair, fiery temperament and vehement disputes with other Boer leaders earned him t ...

and sister of General Hendrik Schoeman. As an adult he was a

landdrost {{Use dmy dates, date=December 2020 ''Landdrost'' was the title of various officials with local jurisdiction in the Netherlands and a number of former territories in the Dutch Empire. The term is a Dutch compound, with ''land'' meaning "region" an ...

in Potchefstroom and representative for that district in the Volksraad (the parliament of the

South African Republic The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it ...

). He was also involved in church affairs and was largely responsible for the adoption of policies stating that

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

ministers be paid from state funds. During the

First Boer War The First Boer War ( af, Eerste Vryheidsoorlog, literally "First Freedom War"), 1880–1881, also known as the First Anglo–Boer War, the Transvaal War or the Transvaal Rebellion, was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881 betwee ...

he distinguished himself as a general in the fighting at Potchefstroom in 1880–1881.

Second Boer War

With the outbreak of the war he was placed in charge of the

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

commando and the German Corps. He invaded

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

and was instructed to blow up the railway lines but did not follow instructions exactly. Instead, he occupied a railway station at Elandslaagte which led to the

Battle of Elandslaagte The Battle of Elandslaagte (21 October 1899) was a battle of the Second Boer War, and one of the few clear-cut tactical victories won by the British during the conflict. However, the British force retreated afterwards, throwing away their advan ...

on 21 October 1899. Under his command the Boers lost the battle and Kock was wounded and captured by the British. He died a few days later from his wounds in

Ladysmith Ladysmith may refer to: * Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa * Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada * Ladysmith, Wisconsin, United States * Ladysmith, New South Wales, Australia * Ladysmith, Virginia, United States * Ladysmith Island, Queenslan ...

in the

Colony of Natal The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on 4 May 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Natalia Republic, Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three o ...

References

Sources

* Encyclopedia of Southern Africa. Eric Rosenthal. 1967. * The Hall Handbook of the Anglo Boer War. Darren Hall. 1999. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kock, Johannes Hermanus Michiel Boer generals 1835 births 1899 deaths South African Republic generals South African Republic military personnel of the Second Boer War Military personnel killed in the Second Boer War