Battle of Baiturrahman Mosque was a series of intense, sanguinary engagements fought on 10 April and 14 April 1873 between invading troops of the First Aceh Expedition and Acehnese defenders for possession of the fortified enclosure of the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque (Mesigiet) near Kraton of Aceh. The battle resulted in the death of Dutch Commander-in-Chief General J. H. R. Köhler.
Narrative of the First Assault (10 April 1873)
After debarking at Meuraxa on 8 April 1873, Dutch intelligence officers mistook the massive stone and timber enclosure of the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque for a primary defense outwork of Kraton of Aceh. On morning of 10 April 1873, infantry battalions of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army attacked the mosque under heavy fire from Acehnese swivel guns.
Troops breached the outer walls and seized the sanctuary, but Acehnese reinforcements pouring from the surrounding kampung threatened to encircle the isolated Dutch vanguard. General J. H. R. Köhler ordered a tactical withdrawal, abandoning the mosque back to Acehnese control.
Narrative of the Second Assault and Köhler’s Death (14 April 1873)
On morning of 14 April 1873, General J. H. R. Köhler directed a renewed, full-scale storming of the Mesigiet. Following an artillery bombardment, Dutch infantry clambered over earthen ramparts and drove the defenders out of the mosque grounds in hand-to-hand fighting.
As General J. H. R. Köhler walked into the captured courtyard to inspect the positions alongside his adjutant, an Acehnese sniper concealed in nearby foliage fired a fatal shot, killing the general instantly. General E. C. van Daalen assumed command and, facing mounting casualties and the impending Southwest Monsoon in Aceh Operations, ordered the evacuation of the mosque and the retreat of the First Aceh Expedition after 16 April 1873.
See Also
- 1873
- Baiturrahman Grand Mosque
- J. H. R. Köhler
- E. C. van Daalen
- G. G. Booms
- First Aceh Expedition
- Kraton of Aceh
Source
Over de eerste expeditie tegen Atjeh: Een antwoord aan Generaal de Stuers, G. G. Booms, ‘s-Gravenhage: A. van Hoogstraten & Zoon, 1875, pp. 8-12, 21.