The Battle outside the ooster-face (13 October 1874) was the abortive attempt by a column of 180 men under kapitein van der Straate to penetrate the wilderness east of the K. Radja works before sunrise, an action in which the compagnie mariniers saw its first real fight and in which, Borel writes, the Atjehneezen proved themselves “complete master of the terrain” near the zuider- and ooster-faces.
Background
Since the occupation of the ooster-benteng in August the Dutch had been trying to clear the dense bamboe-doerie and brush that gave the Atjehneezen cover up to the very parapet of the works. On 12 October 1874 they had again lost some ten dead and wounded in the brush-cutting. Pel now resolved to push a strong column into the wood itself.
The action
At dawn on 13 October 1874 van der Straate marched out with 180 men, hoping to find the far edge of the wood before sunrise. The hope was disappointed: the wilderness extended so far that the troops had to set up in its midst. At six o’clock the woodcutters began, but the Atjehneezen discovered them and attacked from all sides. The mariniers, in their first real fight, wasted ammunition and had to give up their position. The whole covering force had to retire; by eight o’clock the enemy’s fire was overwhelming. Pel ordered retreat to the Kraton. Only when the artillery on the zuider- and ooster-bastions opened fire were the Atjehneezen stopped. The day cost several dead and wounded.
Borel’s verdict
The lesson Borel draws is double. The Atjehneezen were “complete master of the terrain” near the zuider- and ooster-faces; the Dutch could not, with the means then at their disposal, force the edge of the wood. After this, clearing work halted. But the deeper lesson was the same one Borel had drawn from the crisis of May–June and from ooster-benteng: the afwachtende houding let the enemy choose the ground, the hour, and the mode of combat. To carry the war to him, Pel would need to push forward in force — as he did, with success, at the conquest of Lemboe on 7 November 1874.
See Also
- Kapitein van der Straate
- Generaal Pel
- Compagnie mariniers in Atjeh
- Kota Radja
- Bamboe-doeri versperringen
- Occupation of the ooster-benteng (17 August 1874)
- Conquest of Lemboe (7 November 1874)
- Crisis at Kota Radja (May–June 1874)
- Afwachtende houding
- 1874
Source
Onze vestiging in Atjeh, critisch beschreven, by G. F. W. Borel, Kapitein der Artillerie. ‘s-Gravenhage: D. A. Thieme, 1878. pp. 204–207.