Johan Wijnand van Goor (

Linnich Linnich is a town in the district of Düren in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the River Rur (Roer river), approx. 10 km north-west of Jülich. Economy Linnich is the home of SIG Combibloc, the specialist fo ...

c. 1650 –

Donauwörth Donauwörth () is a town and the capital of the Donau-Ries district in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is said to have been founded by two fishermen where the rivers Danube (Donau) and Wörnitz meet. The city is part of the scenic route called "Roman ...

, 2 July 1704) was a Dutch general in the Nine Years' War and the

War of Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phili ...

. He was the last Master-general of Artillery of the

Dutch States Army The Dutch States Army ( nl, Staatse leger) was the army of the Dutch Republic. It was usually called this, because it was formally the army of the States-General of the Netherlands, the sovereign power of that federal republic. This mercenary arm ...

(the successor of

Menno van Coehoorn Menno, Baron van Coehoorn (; March 1641 – 17 March 1704) was a Dutch soldier and engineer, regarded as one of the most significant figures in Dutch military history. In an era when siege warfare dominated military campaigns, he and his French ...

in that function). He distinguished himself at the attempted passage of the Lines of Stollhofen (1703) and the

Battle of Schellenberg The Battle of Schellenberg, also known as the Battle of Donauwörth, was fought on 2 July 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. The engagement was part of the Duke of Marlborough's campaign to save the Habsburg capital of Vienna from a ...

where he died commanding the first assault.

Life

Little is known of Van Goor's personal life. He was the brother of Johan Herman van Goor, also a Dutch officer. He was twice married, first in 1684 to Johanna Elisabeth van Volbergen, and after she died in 1696, to Josina Philippina de Bette.

Career

At the time of his first marriage in 1684 he was a lieutenant-colonel of a Walloon regiment in the States Army, according to the information in the marriage register of

Grave A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grav ...

. At the beginning of the Nine Years' War he was appointed Quarter-Master General of Waldeck's field army, still a lieutenant-colonel. He was present at the siege of Kaiserswerth and the

Battle of Walcourt The Battle of Walcourt was fought on 25 August 1689 during the Nine Years' War. The action took place near the ancient walled town of Walcourt near Charleroi in the Spanish Netherlands, and brought to a close a summer of uneventful marching, m ...

, where he probably first met the future

Duke of Marlborough General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, 1st Prince of Mindelheim, 1st Count of Nellenburg, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, (26 May 1650 – 16 June 1722 O.S.) was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reign ...

. In 1690, now formally in English service, he commanded the artillery of William III's army at the

Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ga, Cath na Bóinne ) was a battle in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II of England and Ireland, VII of Scotland, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and J ...

. In 1691, still in English service, he went to Flanders as a colonel of artillery in the British Corps with Marlborough. In 1694 he was Colonel of the

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...

of the English artillery. After the Nine Years' War he returned to Dutch service. In 1702 he was appointed governor of the fortress of

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

. As such he commanded a number of raids in the early stages of the War of Spanish Succession against the French troops that occupied the

Spanish Netherlands Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the H ...

, among which an attempt on the Chateau de Horion, an expedition to Liège, and a failed attempt to surprise the fortress of

Huy Huy ( or ; nl, Hoei, ; wa, Hu) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. Huy lies along the river Meuse, at the mouth of the small river Hoyoux. It is in the ''sillon industriel'', the former industrial ...

. In 1701 he was promoted to major-general. In 1703 the French threatened the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

and the

States General The word States-General, or Estates-General, may refer to: Currently in use * Estates-General on the Situation and Future of the French Language in Quebec, the name of a commission set up by the government of Quebec on June 29, 2000 * States Gener ...

decided to send a detachment of 15 battalions under Van Goor to Louis William of Baden, the Imperial commander, as reinforcement. This force was assigned the left wing of the forces defending the Lines of Stollhofen, a series of fieldworks near Bühl. In April, 1703 a French army under Marshal Villars made several attempts to breach this barrier, but mainly thanks to Van Goor this attempt failed. Villars next marched to the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

via a different route and Baden requested Van Goor's support in opposing the French advance. The Dutch force joined Baden's army in July 1703 and took part in the fruitless maneuvering that followed. This frustrated Van Goor to such an extent that he had a falling out with Baden and was arrested for insubordination. The States General, however, brought about his release. In early 1704 he was formally appointed Master-general of the Artillery of the States Army, with the rank of lieutenant-general, as successor of Menno van Coehoorn. Van Goor's return to the Netherlands was now expected, but the Dutch Grand Pensionary

Anthonie Heinsius Anthonie (or Antonius) Heinsius (23 November 1641, Delft – 3 August 1720, The Hague) was a Dutch statesman who served as Grand Pensionary of Holland from 1689 to his death in 1720. Life Heinsius was born at Delft on 23 November 1641, son o ...

prevented this in view of the planned Danube campaign of Marlborough. When Marlborough marched to the South, Van Goor joined him with first three battalions, that were later reinforced with the other twelve battalions that were still with Baden. As they were old acquaintances from the Flanders campaign of 1691 Van Goor soon gained Marlborough's confidence. During the

Van Goor was put in charge of the first assault wave. During the assault a musket ball pierced his eye and he fell dead off his horse. After the battle he was buried in the church of

Nördlingen Nördlingen (; Swabian: ''Nearle'' or ''Nearleng'') is a town in the Donau-Ries district, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, with a population of approximately 20,674. It is located approximately east of Stuttgart, and northwest of Munich. It was b ...

. To illustrate the high regard both Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy had for him, the following quote from Eugene is given:Staatsche Leger, vol. VIII/1, p. 446

References

Sources

* ''Het staatsche leger, 1568–1795, bewerkt door F.J.G. ten Raa en F. de Bas (J.W. Wijn)'' Eight vols. Breda, 1910–1950

External links

Goor, Johan Wijnand van, in Van der Aa, ''Biographisch Woordenboek der Nederlanden''

"Goor, van" in ''Meester Generaals der Artillerie''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goor, Johan Wijnand van 1704 deaths Dutch generals Royal Netherlands Army personnel Dutch military personnel of the Nine Years' War Dutch military personnel of the War of the Spanish Succession Dutch army commanders in the War of the Spanish Succession 17th-century Dutch military personnel Year of birth unknown