The Battle of Tjot Rang (14 April 1896) was a Dutch military engagement fought at the Dutch post of Tjot Rang in the XXII Moekims of Groot-Atjeh on 14 April 1896 — five days after the relief of Biloel and Lamkoenjit of 9 April 9 April 1896. The engagement was the second of the three relief operations of April 1896, and it was fought to relieve the besieged post at Tjot Rang — reached by a bruikbaar pad (serviceable path) from Tjot Iri of the geconcentreerde linie. The engagement cost the life of Lieutenant Maarschalk and three subordinates, with 47 subordinates wounded, and it also saw the burning of Lamgoet — the former seat of Teungku di Tiro.
The strategic context
The Atjeh-Album of 1896 records that, after Toekoe Oemar’s defection in March 1896, the post at Tjot Rang — together with the posts at Anagaloeng, Senelop, Biloel and Lamkoenjit — was besieged by the forces of the defected warlord. The album’s narrative of the spring 1896 crisis places the battle of Tjot Rang as the second of the three April relief operations — between the relief of Biloel and Lamkoenjit of 9 April 9 April 1896 and the relief of Anagaloeng of 18 April 18 April 1896.
The engagement
The Atjeh-Album records that the engagement at Tjot Rang was niet minder hevig dan die bij Biloel had plaats gehad — not less fierce than that which had taken place at Biloel. The album’s terse narrative records the casualties in a single sentence: Luitenant Maarschalk en drie minderen daarbij sneuvelden en dat er 47 minderen gewond werden — Lieutenant Maarschalk and three subordinates fell there, and 47 subordinates were wounded. The engagement was, in the album’s narrative, fought to relieve the besieged post at Tjot Rang, and it was the second of the three relief operations of April 1896.
The burning of Lamgoet
The Atjeh-Album records that the battle of Tjot Rang also saw the burning of Lamgoet — the former seat of Teungku di Tiro that had den generaals Demmenie en Van Teijn zoo lastig (so troubled the generals Demmenie and Van Teijn). The album notes that Lamgoet had been briefly occupied by Toekoe Bantah in 1893, that Toekoe Bantah had been unable to maintain himself there, and that it had been Toekoe Oemar who had brought Lamgoet a second time under Dutch control. The simultaneous relief of Tjot Rang and burning of Lamgoet on 14 April 1896 — both costly engagements — was, in the album’s narrative, the moment at which the Dutch began to recover the initiative from Toekoe Oemar’s defected forces.
The sound of the engagement at Anagaloeng
The Atjeh-Album records that the besieged garrison at Anagaloeng — some four days’ march from Tjot Rang — heard the sound of the battle of Tjot Rang, but could not distinguish it from the sound of the relief of Biloel and Lamkoenjit of 9 April 9 April 1896, because the sound of Tjot Rang was niet weerkaatst … tegen den hoogen en steilen bergwand (not echoed against the high and steep mountain wall) to the south of Anagaloeng. The besieged garrison could only judge from the sound of de strijd nog veel noordelijker, bij Toengkoop gevoerd werd — whether the battle was still being conducted much more to the north, near Toengkoop.
Significance
The Battle of Tjot Rang is significant in the documentary record of the Atjeh-oorlog as the second of the three relief operations of April 1896 — the engagement that produced the fourth officer fatality of the spring 1896 crisis, Lieutenant Maarschalk. The engagement was also the occasion of the burning of Lamgoet — the former seat of Teungku di Tiro — and it was, in the album’s narrative, one of the moments at which the Dutch began to recover the initiative from Toekoe Oemar’s defected forces. The engagement’s high casualty count — three subordinates killed and 47 wounded, in addition to Maarschalk — places it among the costliest single engagements of the spring 1896 crisis.
See Also
- Tjot Rang
- Tjot Iri
- XXII Moekims
- Groot-Atjeh
- H. L. Maarschalk
- Lamgoet
- Demmenie
- Van Teijn
- Toekoe Bantah
- Toekoe Oemar
- Teungku di Tiro
- Toekoe Oemar’s defection (1896)
- Patrol of 7 March 1896 near Anagaloeng
- Relief of Biloel and Lamkoenjit (April 1896)
- Battle of Senelop (April 1896)
- Geconcenteerde linie
- Aceh War
- 14 April
- 1896
- Atjeh-Album (Eigen Haard, 1896)
Source
Atjeh-Album van Eigen Haard, uitgave van de N.V. Het Tijdschrift “Eigen Haard”, Amsterdam, 1896, p. 10 (Een Terugblik — Wat Reeds Verkregen Werd).