The Battle of Senelop (April 1896) was the Dutch military engagement fought at the besieged Dutch post of Senelop in the XXII Moekims of Groot-Atjeh in the course of the spring 1896 crisis that followed Toekoe Oemar’s defection from the Dutch alliance. The engagement produced two of the seven officer fatalities of the spring 1896 crisis — Lieutenant Vuijk on 30 March 1896 and Lieutenant Zon on 19 April 1896 — and was one of the costliest single engagements of the spring crisis. Major Okhuysen and fifty subordinates were wounded in the verwoede gevecht dat om Senelop geleverd was — the fierce battle that was fought around Senelop.
The siege of Senelop
The Atjeh-Album of 1896 records that the post at Senelop — together with the posts at Anagaloeng, Biloel and Lamkoenjit — was besieged by the forces of Toekoe Oemar after his defection in March 1896. The album’s narrative of the siege records the desperate situation of the garrison, which was slechts 350 passen afstand van Anagaloeng (only 350 paces from Anagaloeng) but could not be relieved from that post because of the smallness of the Anagaloeng garrison. The siege was, in the album’s chronology, the longest of the four sieges of the spring 1896 crisis — from March to April 1896.
The death of Vuijk on 30 March 1896
The Atjeh-Album records that Lieutenant Vuijk was killed at Senelop on 30 March 1896 — three weeks after the defection, and ten days before the relief of Biloel and Lamkoenjit of 9 April 9 April 1896. The album’s narrative of Vuijk’s death records that his body, gevolgd door elf gewonden, en eenige soldaten, was de poort van onze benting binnengedragen, als eerste offer van Toekoe Oemars afval — followed by eleven wounded, and some soldiers, was carried through the gate of our benting, as the first offering of Toekoe Oemar’s defection. The sacrificial framing of Vuijk’s death is the album’s principal characterisation of the 1896 crisis — the moment at which the long concentratie period was redeemed by Dutch blood.
The death of Zon on 19 April 1896
The Atjeh-Album records that Lieutenant Zon was killed at Senelop on 19 April 1896 — ten days after the relief of Biloel and Lamkoenjit in which Captain Geluk had been killed, and five days after the battle of Tjot Rang in which Lieutenant Maarschalk had been killed. The album’s narrative of Zon’s death places it within the chronology of the seven officer fatalities of the spring 1896 crisis:
- Lieutenant K. H. Westendorp — died of wounds 11 March 1896
- Lieutenant J. W. Vuijk — killed at Senelop 30 March 1896
- Captain E. P. A. Geluk — killed at Biloel-Lamkoenjit 9 April 1896
- Lieutenant H. L. Maarschalk — killed at Tjot Rang 14 April 1896
- Lieutenant J. B. Zon — killed at Senelop 19 April 1896
- Lieutenant C. G. A. C. Krohne — died of wounds 4 May 1896
- Captain H. O. W. L. Kramer — killed at Lampisang 23 May 1896
The casualties
The Atjeh-Album records the casualties of the verwoede gevecht dat om Senelop geleverd was — the fierce battle that was fought around Senelop — as: Major Okhuysen and fifty subordinates wounded, and thirteen killed. The engagement was, in the album’s narrative, one of the costliest single engagements of the spring 1896 crisis — and Senelop was the costliest single post, with two officer fatalities (Vuijk and Zon) and thirteen other ranks killed.
The relief
The Atjeh-Album records that the post at Senelop was relieved by the column that had previously relieved Biloel and Lamkoenjit on 9 April 9 April 1896 and Anagaloeng on 18 April 18 April 1896. The relief of Senelop was the last of the four relief operations of April 1896, and it was followed by the dismantling of the post and the withdrawal of the garrison to the geconcentreerde linie.
Significance
The Battle of Senelop is significant in the documentary record of the Atjeh-oorlog as the costliest single engagement of the spring 1896 crisis — the engagement that produced two of the seven officer fatalities of the spring, and that cost Major Okhuysen and fifty subordinates wounded, and thirteen killed. The engagement was the longest of the four sieges of the spring 1896 crisis, and the album’s sacrificial framing of the death of Vuijk on 30 March 1896 — as the first offering of the defection — is the album’s principal characterisation of the 1896 crisis.
See Also
- Senelop
- XXII Moekims
- Groot-Atjeh
- Anagaloeng
- Biloel
- Lamkoenjit
- J. W. Vuijk
- J. B. Zon
- Okhuysen
- K. H. Westendorp
- E. P. A. Geluk
- H. L. Maarschalk
- C. G. A. C. Krohne
- H. O. W. L. Kramer
- Toekoe Oemar’s defection (1896)
- Patrol of 7 March 1896 near Anagaloeng
- Relief of Biloel and Lamkoenjit (April 1896)
- Battle of Tjot Rang (14 April 1896)
- Geconcentreerde linie
- Aceh War
- 30 March
- 19 April
- 1896
- Atjeh-Album (Eigen Haard, 1896)
Source
Atjeh-Album van Eigen Haard, uitgave van de N.V. Het Tijdschrift “Eigen Haard”, Amsterdam, 1896, pp. 8, 10, 28 (De Poeassa — Eindelijk Ontzet; Een Terugblik — Wat Reeds Verkregen Werd; Gevallenen, hun Roeping Vervuld!).