Johannes Lötter

Johannes Cornelius Jacobus Lötter
Commandant Lötter in Graaff-Reinet prison
Nickname(s)Hans
Born(1875-01-15)January 15, 1875
Pearston, Cape Colony
DiedOctober 12, 1901(1901-10-12) (aged 26)
Middelburg, Cape Colony
Cause of deathExecution by firing squad
AllegianceOrange Free State Boer Republics
Years of service1899 – 1901
RankCommandant
UnitLötter Rebels
CommandsLötter Rebels
Battles / warsBattle of Groenkloof
RelationsMichiel Petrus Lötter (father), Maria Catharina Buys (mother)
Christoffel Lötter (2nd Great-Grandfather)

Johannes Cornelius Jacobus "Hans" Lötter (January 15, 1875 – October 12, 1901) was a Boer commander who fought, and was executed as a war criminal 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]

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. ^ a b Nasson, Bill (13 February 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. ^ a b c Judd, Denis; Surridge, Keith (15 March 2013). The Boer War: A History. London: I.B.Tauris. p. 234. ISBN 9780857733160.
  4. ^ a b Jaques, Tony (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: F-O. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 411. ISBN 9780313335389.