ATJEH '96 — Tweede Deel (book by A. Kruisheer)

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descriptionATJEH '96 — Tweede Deel (2c Deel) is the second volume of A. Kruisheer's military-historical monograph on the Aceh War, published at Weltevreden by N.V. Boekhandel Visser & Co in 1913, covering the period from the Verrassing van Ana' Galoeng of 29 June 1896 through the departure of Kolonel Stemfoort and arrival of Kolonel C. P. J. van Vliet as Civiel en Militair Gouverneur on 17 November 1896, with extensive Bijlagen (annexes) including the Instruction of the Regeeringscommissaris, the conference between Governor-General Van der Wijck and Generaal-Majoor De Moulin of 18 June 1896, and a survey of relations with Atjeh and the current state of the gewest.
tagsdocument, dutch, colonial, military, 19th-century, aceh-war, 1896, kruisheer, atjeh-96
aliasesATJEH '96 Volume 3, ATJEH '96 2c Deel, ATJEH '96 (2e Deel) by A. Kruisheer, Kruisheer's Atjeh '96 Vol. III, Atjeh '96 — 1896-1900, ATJEH 1896-1900, Atjeh '96 door A. Kruisheer (1913) 2c Deel

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ATJEH ‘96 — Tweede Deel (2c Deel) — the second volume of Kruisheer’s military-historical monograph on the Atjeh-oorlog — was published at Weltevreden by N.V. Boekhandel Visser & Co in 1913 under the full title ATJEH 1896 ATJCH 1896–1900 Met 3 kaarten en 6 portretten, and is held today by the Instituut Kern, Leiden. The volume is the principal Dutch-language source for the second semester of 1896 (29 June – 31 December 1896), covering the period from the surprise of Ana’ Galoeng of 29 June 1896 through the arrival of Kolonel C. P. J. van Vliet as Civiel en Militair Gouverneur on 8 November 1896 and the cholera-stricken final month of December 1896. It comprises a main text organised in two Hoofdstukken (Chapters III and IV), a Besluit (Conclusion), and twenty-two Bijlagen (Annexes) preserving the principal official documents of the period — above all the Instructie (Instruction) left by Luitenant-Generaal Vetter as Regeeringscommissaris at his departure on 28 June 1896, and the Notulen der conferentie between Governor-General Van der Wijck and Generaal-Majoor J. J. K. de Moulin of 18 June 1896.

Background and Scope

The first volume of ATJEH ‘96 — covering the first semester of 1896 from the defection of Teuku Umar on 29 March 1896 through the departure of Vetter on 28 June 1896 — had established the framework for Kruisheer’s operational history. The second volume carries the narrative forward from the night of 28–29 June 1896, when the surprise of Ana’ Galoeng was launched, to the close of the year. The choice of scope is again deliberate: the geconcentreerde linie (concentrated line) of Koeta Radja — the cordon of bentengs around the Dutch-held area — had been re-established at the close of the first semester, but Toekoe Oemar remained at large, the Acehnese resistance retained its capacity for harassment, and the Dutch colonial command faced the problem of translating the conventional military victories of April–June 1896 into a durable pacificatie (pacification).

The volume is therefore the chronicle of an intermediate period — between the crisis of the Umar defection and the appointment of Van Heutsz as Civiel en Militair Gouverneur in 1898 which opened the decisive korte oorlog phase. It is dominated by the figure of Kolonel Stemfoort, who served as wd. Civiel en Militair Gouverneur from 11 July 1896 until 17 November 1896, and by the abortive tenure of Generaal-Majoor De Moulin — appointed to the governorship on 5 July 1896 and killed by a sunstroke on 7 July 1896 during his very first excursie (reconnaissance (excursie)) to the IV Moekims (Kroeng-Raba).

Content

The volume is organised in three principal parts. The front matter (pp. 1–13) comprises the title page, the Inhoud (Table of Contents) on pp. 7–11 listing the two Hoofdstukken, the Besluit, and the twenty-two Bijlagen, and a list of the three maps and six portraits — including the frontispiece Frontaanzicht van Ana’ Galoeng opposite p. 2, a portrait of Generaal-Majoor J. J. K. de Moulin opposite p. 15, of Kolonel Stemfoort opposite p. 83, of Kolonel Van Vliet opposite p. 145, of Luitenant-Kolonel Van Heutsz opposite p. 276, and a sketch of the Gevechtsterrein bij Ana’ Galoeng opposite p. 104.

The main text (pp. 19–160) is organised chronologically in two Hoofdstukken. Hoofdstuk III — pp. 1–144 — covers the period from the surprise of Ana’ Galoeng of 29 June 1896 through the arrival of Kolonel Van Vliet on 8 November 1896. It opens with the night attack of 29 June 1896 in which three Dutch colonnes under Van Heutsz, Soeters and Laceulle stormed the benteng (fort) of Ana’ Galong — the post which the Acehnese considered as the heart of Great Aceh — with the maréchaussée (military police (maréchaussée)) and the snelladers (rapid-fire compagnie) of the 3e Bataljon using only the klewang (cutlass); it records the death of Kapitein H. Th. de Moulin’s colonne at the hands of the maréchaussée Wongsodikromo, Todikromo, and their comrades, and the tuchtiging (punitive burning) of the kampongs of Sibreh and Rahat of the III Moekims Lamkrak. It then narrates the abortive tenure of Generaal-Majoor De Moulin — appointed to the governorship on 5 July 1896 and struck down by sunstroke at Lam-Pisang on 7 July 1896 during an excursie (reconnaissance (excursie)) to the IV Moekims (Kroeng-Raba) — and the restoration of Kolonel Stemfoort as wd. Civiel en Militair Gouverneur on 11 July 1896. The remainder of Hoofdstuk III covers the prolonged series of reconnaissances, tuchtigingen and occupations by which Stemfoort sought to extend Dutch control into the XXVI Moekims, the XXII Moekims, the V Moekims Montassik and the IV Moekims, culminating in the first Selimoen expedition of 6–11 September 1896, the introduction of the pasenstelsel (pass system) in mid-September, the temporary occupation of Indrapoeri on 28 October 1896, the capture of the stelling Kota Ba Teuē on the same day, the trip to Ladoeng and Kroeng Raja of 30–31 October 1896, the second Selimoen expedition of 3–6 November 1896, and the bridge over the Kroeng Pengapit of 8 November 1896.

Hoofdstuk IV — pp. 145–160 — covers the period from the arrival of Kolonel Van Vliet on 8 November 1896 through the close of the year. It narrates the handover of command of 17 November 1896, at which Stemfoort returned to Java and Van Vliet formally assumed the governorship; the reconnaissance in Lepong of 12 November 1896; the trip to Tibang-Poei and Birah near Bat Dilip of 29 November 1896 to recover the artillery lost on 17 April 1896 during the battle of Senelop; and the paralysis of military action in December 1896 by the heerschende cholera (prevailing cholera) which prevented the colonne tegen Oemar (column against Umar) from taking the field.

The Besluit (Decree (Besluit)) (Conclusion) on p. 155 closes the volume with Kruisheer’s retrospective assessment of the second semester of 1896 — a period in which, in his view, men in 1896 den rechten weg tot pacificatie insloeg (the right path to pacification was entered in 1896), even as Umar remained at large and the geconcentreerde linie (concentrated line) remained the limit of effective Dutch control.

The Bijlagen (Annexes) on pp. 162–328 comprise twenty-two official documents. The most important are: Bijlage I — the Instruction left by Vetter as Regeeringscommissaris at his departure on 28 June 1896 (pp. 162–165); Bijlage II — the minutes of the conference of 18 June 1896 between Van der Wijck and De Moulin on the policy to be followed in Atjeh (pp. 166–167); Bijlage III — the Instruction for Kolonel Van Vliet as Civiel en Militair Gouverneur (pp. 168–172); Bijlagen IV–V — Extract-besluiten regulating the schaftordes (food tariffs) for 1893 and 1895 (pp. 173–178); Bijlage VI — the Commandemensorders of 4 and 5 April 1896, nos. 37 and 39 (p. 179); Bijlagen VII–VIII — Extract-besluiten of 30 April 1896 and 22 Augustus 1896 on the toelagen en den bijslag (allowances and supplements) (pp. 180–181); Bijlagen IX–XII — Schaftordes (food tariffs) for Europeans, Inlanders, and Officers, and a comparative overview of the voedingswijze (diet) on war footing in 1896 (pp. 183–195); Bijlage XIII — a statement of officer incomes in 1896 (pp. 199–203); Bijlage XIV — a Nota betreffende de verpleging van troepen en dwangarbeiders bij den tocht naar Lepong (note on the care of troops and forced labourers on the Lepong expedition) (p. 203); Bijlage XV — the Schaftorde of 21 December 1896 (p. 208); Bijlage XVI — the Verlieslijst Atjeh-1896 (loss list for Atjeh 1896) (pp. 212–218); Bijlagen XVII–XIX — Dagorders (daily orders) granting military decorations for Atjeh ‘96 (pp. 222–230); and Bijlage XXII — the Overzicht van onze vroegere betrekkingen met Atjeh en van den huidigen toestand in dat gewest (Survey of our former relations with Atjeh and of the current state in that territory) (pp. 234–304), with twenty-six subsections covering the history, the Atjehsche volkskarakter, the size and boundaries, the population, the coasts, mining, roads, the tramway, trade, art and industry, agriculture, cattle-breeding, education, the chiefs, the administration of justice, taxation, the landscape treasuries, the administrative division, the armed police, the army, and various graphical representations of trade and data concerning the years 1893–1912.

Significance

The significance of ATJEH ‘96 — Tweede Deel in the documentary record of the Atjeh-oorlog is that of the principal Dutch-language source for the second semester of 1896 — the period in which the immediate crisis of the Umar defection was succeeded by the slower, more methodical work of pacificatie (pacification) under Stemfoort and (briefly) Van Vliet. The volume’s preservation of the Bijlagen — particularly the Instructie (Instruction) of Vetter and the Notulen der conferentie of 18 June 1896 — gives it a documentary authority which the narrative alone could not possess: the reader can follow the policy guidance transmitted from Buitenzorg to Koeta-Radja in real time, and observe the constraints within which Stemfoort operated. The volume’s Besluit — with its claim that men in 1896 den rechten weg tot pacificatie insloeg — is itself a historical position, and the subsequent course of the Atjeh-oorlog — which continued until the surrender of the Pretender Sultan in 1903 and beyond — provides the perspective from which that claim may be assessed. The closing Bijlage XXII — the survey of the huidigen toestand in 1913 — extends the volume’s temporal horizon beyond the events of 1896 and embeds them in the longer trajectory of Dutch colonial administration in Atjeh down to the eve of the First World War.

See Also

Source

ATJEH ‘96. Tweede Deel (2c Deel), door A. Kruisheer, Kapitein der Infanterie O.I.L., met 3 kaarten en 6 portretten (Weltevreden: N.V. Boekhandel Visser & Co, 1913). Instituut Kern, Leiden. OCR-filename: 20260715_163243_DLP-90-Atjeh_96_DLP-89-Atjeh_96_Met_3_kaarten_en_6_DOORA_KRUISHEER_Kapiteinder_Infanterie_nemoretriever-ocr-v1_OCR.txt, pp. 1–329 main text + Bijlagen.

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