Johan Harmen Rudolf Köhler

Johan Harmen Rudolf Köhler
General Kohler
Born	(1818-07-03)3 July 1818 Groningen
Died	14 April 1873(1873-04-14) (aged 54) Aceh, Banda Aceh
Buried	Peutjoet
Allegiance	Netherlands
Service/branch	Royal Netherlands Army
Years of service	1832-1873
Rank	General
Unit	Infantry
Battles/wars	Day Campaign Lampongse Expedition First Aceh Expedition
Awards	Military William Order

Johan Harmen Rudolf Köhler (3 July 1818 – 14 April 1873) was a Dutch general who commanded the Dutch-Indonesian forces during the First Aceh Expedition (Aceh is on the northern tip of island Sumatra, today's Indonesia) started on 8 April 1873. The expedition failed to reach its goals and Köhler himself was shot in a skirmish. His tombstone can still be found in a cemetery in Jakarta now known as Taman Prasasti Museum.

Early life and military career

Köhler was born in 1818 in Groningen, the son of Sergeant-major Johan Hendrik Köhler and Johanna Christina Bitjer. He resigned in 1832, at the age of 14, to the infantry. He attended the NCO ranks in 1839 and moved to India, where he in the East Indies army the officers ranks. As a captain in 1856 he took part in an expedition to the insurgent Lampong districts. In January 1857 he was because of its operations at that campaign made a Knight 4th class of the military William order. At his promotion to Colonel in 1865 was given the military command of Sumatra's West Coast and dependencies. Köhler married on 29 January 1859 in Groningen with Johanna Antonia Alberdina beekhuis, daughter of a holder of a French school.