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BACKGROUNDER

Hampden Zane Churchill Cockburn V.C. (1867–1913)

Hampden Zane Churchill Cockburn was awarded the , the British Commonwealth’s highest award for military bravery, at the Battle of Leliefontein on 7 November 1900 for leading a desperate rearguard action against an overwhelming force of Boer mounted soldiers.

H.Z.C. Cockburn was born in Toronto in the year of Canada’s Confederation. His father, George R.R. Cockburn, was a well-known director of the Ontario Bank, a Member of Parliament, and Principal of Upper Canada College. The younger Cockburn was educated at Upper Canada College in Toronto, at Rugby and London University in England, and at the University of Toronto. As a sportsman, H.Z.C. Cockburn had excelled at cross-country running during his schooling. Graduating as a barrister in 1891, in that same year he entered the Governor-General’s Bodyguard as a 2nd lieutenant. He was regarded as an up-and-coming figure in Toronto society. On 20 September 1897, he saved the lives of two brothers, Robert and James Harris, who nearly drowned in Lake Rousseau, Ontario. For this action, he was awarded the Royal Canadian Human Society’s Medal.

During the South African War, Cockburn went overseas in 1899 with the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles Battalion, which was later named the Royal Canadian Dragoons (RCDs). As a mounted unit, the RCDs were involved in suppressing Boer guerrilla attacks. After many fruitless patrols, Lieutenant H.Z.C. Cockburn and a small Canadian detachment —which included the Canadian Mounted Rifles, a Colt machine-gun, and two 12-pound artillery pieces from “D” Battery, Canadian Field Artillery — were engaged by a large, fast-moving Boer commando unit on 7 November 1900 at what would become known as the Battle of Leliefontein.

The Canadians were part of a slow-moving British force ordered to burn Boer farms in the hope of drawing out the enemy. A small Boer commando unit escaped on 6 November, but the Boers returned on the morning of the 7th with strong reinforcements. The British commander, believing that his vulnerable force and its baggage column might be overwhelmed, ordered the Canadians to hold off the Boers while the British retreated northwards to a fortified town.

In desperate fighting against forces three or four times its size, the small Canadian detachment held the enemy at bay. The Canadians were involved in a difficult fighting retreat, but the artillery guns and small arms fire kept the Boers from advancing on the retreating British. However, when the two artillery guns were pulled back to a new position, the Boers saw their opening and charged the Canadian forces. They almost caught the Canadian guns, but Lieutenant Cockburn rode his small force of 30 dragoons into the path of some two hundred Boers, deliberately sacrificing himself and his men. The guns retreated to safety, but only six of Cockburn’s men escaped, the rest being killed, wounded, or captured. Cockburn himself was slightly wounded and taken prisoner. As one returned veteran later noted, “Cockburn did not seem to understand danger.”

By saving the British column at the Battle of Leliefontein, the Canadians reinforced their growing reputation as tough, dependable troops. Three Canadians, including Cockburn, received the Victoria Cross for their gallantry in the battle. The British commander, Major General Horace Smith-Dorrien, later wrote, “I have no praise too high for the devoted gallantry they [the Canadians] showed in keeping the enemy off infantry and convoy.”

Even though the Boers had taken heavy casualties in defending their homes, they treated the surviving Canadians well, binding their wounds and even setting them free the next day. Cockburn returned to commanding a troop of the RCDs, and rose to the rank of captain.

Cockburn returned to Canada a hero. He was decorated by H.R.H. the Duke of Cornwall and York at Toronto on 11 October 1901, and was awarded a sword of honour by the Toronto City Council. Cockburn continued to serve in the Militia, belonging to the Canadian Reserve of Officers and rising to the rank of major. He was killed by a horse on his ranch at Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, on 12 July 1913, and is buried at St. James’s Cemetery in Toronto. Upper Canada College is in possession of his medals since his death in 1913.

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Pierre Leduc Christina Selin Media Relations Officer Senior Communications Officer Tel.: (819) 776-8608 Tel.: (819) 776-8607 Fax: (819) 776-8623 Fax: (819) 776-8623 [email protected] [email protected]