blockhouse — Dutch for “blockhouse” — was the standard Dutch colonial fortification in the Atjeh-oorlog: a small fortified wooden or earthen structure, typically surrounded by a bamboo-thorn fence, garrisoned by a platoon or company of infantry, and often armed with a machine gun and a 7 cm L.A. mountain gun. The blokhuis was the building-block of the buitellinie — the outer line of Dutch posts around Koeta Radja — and the principal target of Achehnese attacks in the spring of 1896. Kruisheer’s ATJEH ‘96 names dozens of blokhuizen: besieged 28 March–29 March 1896; the blokhuizen at Blang Kirai, Lamboekoeng, Bak Tjerlak, Blang Tjoet, Oedjoeng Boekloet; the blokhuis at Toei Selimbing and at Pagani.
Etymology and Meaning
The word blokhuis is a Dutch compound: block, log + house. The literal sense is “blockhouse” — a small fortified structure of logs or planks. In the Dutch colonial context the term came to denote a particular type of small field fortification, usually a single wooden building capable of housing 15–20 men, surrounded by a bamboo-thorn fence and often reinforced by an earthen breastwork. The blokhuis was smaller and more temporary than the Achehnese earthen fortification and more exposed than the general fortification. The plural is blokhuizen; the spelling blokhus in Kruisheer’s text is an OCR variant.
Historical Context
In the first semester of 1896 the blokhuis was the most exposed element of the Dutch position in Groot-Atjeh. The siege of blokhuis Aloer Oe of 28 March–29 March 1896 — in which the garrison held out for two days against Achehnese attack, the mitrailleur twice made unserviceable and twice repaired by Sgt. son of the artillery — was the first major test of the blokhuis after Umar’s defection. The blokhuizen at Biloel, Lamkoenjit, Anak Galoeng, Lam Barih, Lam Soet and Senelop were similarly exposed, and the evacuation of Biloel and Lamkoenjit of 12 April 1896 and the evacuation of Kroeng-Gloempang, Tjot-Rang, Toengkoeb of 20 April 1896 marked the systematic abandonment of the buitenlinie’s blokhuizen. The battle of Senelop of 17 April 1896 — in which a Dutch column under Van Heutsz was driven back from the relief of blokhuis Lamsoet with the loss of a mitrailleur and a 7 cm L.A. kanon — confirmed that the blokhuizen could no longer be supported.
Examples in the Source
Kruisheer’s principal blokhuis references include: blokhuis Aloer Oe — besieged 28 March–29 March 1896, mitrailleur twice made unserviceable and twice repaired by Sgt. son. The blokhuizen at Blang Kirai, Lamboekoeng, Bak Tjerlak, Blang Tjoet, Oedjoeng Boekloet — named as fortified posts in the buitenlinie. The blokhuis at Toei Selimbing — referenced in the post-war period (page 296). The blokhuis at Pagani — used as a terrain reference point on the coast. The blokhuis at Lamara — site of an ambush on 25 April 1896 in which Sgt. de Kok was wounded. The blokhuis at Biloel and Lamkoenjit — evacuated on 12 April 1896. The blokhuis at Senelop and Lamsoet — unsuccessfully relieved on 17 April 1896. The enemy’s use of fire-arrows against blokhuis Aloer Oe is recorded.
Significance
The blokhuis is the material expression of the Dutch “forward” policy of projecting presence into the Achehnese moekims through small exposed posts. Its vulnerability — demonstrated at Aloer Oe, Senelop and Lamsoet — and its high cost in garrison troops made it the principal casualty of Teuku Umar’s defection. The systematic evacuation of April 1896 marked the abandonment of the buitenlinie as a strategic concept and the adoption of the more concentrated geconcentreerde linie as the Dutch defensive perimeter. The blokhuis as an institution would persist — Van Heutsz’s later pacificatie policy still relied on small fortified posts — but its role would be subordinated to the mobile column. The blokhuis’s centrality to the spring 1896 crisis makes it one of the defining institutions of the period covered by Kruisheer.
Account in Hooijer’s De verlaten posten in Groot-Atjeh (1897)
A blokhuis was a small blockhouse of the type used in Groot-Atjeh to link the Dutch temporary posts outside the geconcentreerde linie between 1893 and 1896; twenty-three of them formed the connecting chain, and they were garrisoned not by Dutch troops but by the legioen of Toekoe Djohan or by friendly Achehnese.
The system
G. B. Hooijer recorded that at Oemar’s request the Dutch occupied temporary posts outside their line and spread their military power over a wider area, and that de 23 blokhuizen, die deze posten verbonden, waren door zijn legioen of door bevriende Atjehers bezet.
Unreliability
The arrangement was fragile. Near Anagaloeng, one blokhuis garrisoned by the people of Toekoe Moeda Baid and under his supervision fell or was played into the hands of the Moslemin a few hours after a Dutch officer’s inspection had found everything in order. On the morning of 29 March 1896 the blokhuizen held by friendly Achehnese near Biloel were found abandoned — one of the first signs of the defection of Teukoe Oemar. In April 1896 the Dutch themselves burnt the blokhuizen near Senelop and Lambarih before lifting those posts.
Effect where reliable
At Lam Soet, the completion of the blokhuis at Lampaleuh made the neighbourhood quiet and safe, so that the mitrailleur mounted there seldom or never had to be used.
See Also
- Buitellinie
- Geconcenteerde Linie
- Koeta
- Mitrailleur
- Dutch artillery pieces
- Siege of blokhuis Aloer Oe (28–29 March 1896)
- Battle of Senelop (17 April 1896)
- Evacuation of Biloel and Lamkoenjit (12 April 1896)
- son
- Legioen van T. Djohan (T. Oemar’s Legion)
- Toekoe Moeda Baid
- Anagaloeng
- Biloel
- Lampaleuh
- Geconcentreerde linie
- Benteng
Sources
ATJEH ‘96, door A. Kruisheer, Kapitein der Infanterie O.I.L., met 2 kaarten en 4 portretten (Weltevreden: N.V. Boekhandel Visser & Co, 1913). Instituut Kern, Leiden. OCR-filename: 20260715_163243_DLP-89-Atjeh_96_Met_2_kaarten_en4_DOORA_KRUISHEER_Kapiteinder_Infanterie_nemoretriever-ocr-v1_OCR.txt, pp. 21, 40–41, 76, 220, 244, 296.
De verlaten posten in Groot-Atjeh, door G. B. Hooijer, Gep. Luit.-Kolonel O. I. Leger, met 24 platen (Haarlem: De Erven F. Bohn; Batavia: G. Kolff & Co., 1897). Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen, Centrale Boekerij, Amsterdam. OCR-filename: 20260719_140140_DLP-134-De_verlaten_posten_in_Groot_Atjeh_Nemotron-OCR-v2_OCR.txt, pp. 12, 49, 50, 54.
Acknowledgement of sources. This article is a single consolidated account combining the material previously held in this entry with the account given in De verlaten posten in Groot-Atjeh (1897) by G. B. Hooijer. Dutch terminology has been rendered in English, the original Dutch being retained only in direct quotations and in bibliographic citations.