Koos de la Rey
| Jacobus Herculaas de la Rey | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Nickname(s) | Koos Lion of the West Transvaal |
| Born |
October 22, 1847 Doornfontein, Winburg, Orange River Sovereignty |
| Died | September 15, 1914 (aged 66) Langlaagte, cnr of Deville Street & Du Toit Street, Witwatersrand, Union of South Africa |
| Allegiance |
 Orange Free State South African Republic Union of South Africa
|
| Rank | General |
| Battles/wars |
|
| Spouse(s) | Jacoba Elizabeth (Nonnie) Greeff |
| Other work | Member of the Transvaal Parliament, Delegate to National Convention, Senator |
General Jacobus Herculaas de la Rey (22 October 1847 – 15 September 1914), known as Koos de la Rey, was a Boer general during the Second Boer War and is widely regarded as being one of the strongest military leaders during that conflict.
He is generally regarded as the bravest of the Boer generals during the Second Boer War and as one of the leading figures of Boer independence. As a guerrilla, his tactics proved extremely successful. De la Rey opposed the war until the last, but when he was once accused of cowardice during a Volksraad session by President Paul Kruger, he replied that if the time for war came, he would be fighting long after Paul Kruger had given up and fled for safety. This proved to be the case.
Born on Doornfontein Farm in the Winburg District of the Orange Free State, Koos was the son of Adrianus Johannes Gijsbertus de la Rey and Adriana Wilhelmina van Rooyen. De la Rey was a Boer of Spanish, French Huguenot and Dutch descent. His grandfather, a school teacher and the patriarch of the De la Rey family in South Africa, came from Utrecht, Netherlands. After the Battle of Boomplaats, the family farm was confiscated by the British and the family trekked into the Transvaal and settled in Lichtenburg. As a child De la Rey received very little formal education. The De la Rey family moved, this time to Kimberley after the discovery of diamonds. As a young man, De la Rey worked as a transport rider on the routes serving the diamond diggings at Kimberley.
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Wikipedia