The Death of Generaal-Majoor J. J. K. de Moulin — Overlijden van den generaal-Majoor J. J. K. de Moulin — on 7 July 1896 was the death by sunstroke of the newly-appointed Civiel en Militair Gouverneur van Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden during his first excursie — a reconnaissance into the IV Moekims (Kroeng-Raba) which he had insisted on joining in person. Generaal De Moulin, de compagnieën van Epen en van Gogh nergens ontwarende, was met zijn staf de breede sawah tusschen Lam-Baroe en Lam-Gaboes overgestoken, daar door een zonnesteek getroffen en ten 12 u. 30’ n.m. bewusteloos geworden — General De Moulin, unable to find the companies of Epen and Van Gogh anywhere, had with his staff crossed the broad sawah (rice-plain) between Lam-Baroe and Lam-Gaboes, where he was struck by a zonnesteek (sunstroke) and rendered unconscious at 12:30 PM. Ten 4 u. 45’ n.m., ter hoogte van Lam-Pisang, overleed de generaal De Moulin — at 4:45 PM, near Lam-Pisang, General De Moulin died. His tenure of two days as Civiel en Militair Gouverneur is the shortest of any in the history of the office, and his death — te midden van zijn staf, in de open sawah, bewusteloos door de hitte — became one of the most remarked incidents of the Atjeh-oorlog’s intermediate phase.
The Excursie of 7 July 1896
The excursie (reconnaissance (excursie)) of 7 July 1896 had been ordered voor den 7en d. a. v. — for the 7th of the current month — waaraan de gouverneur zelf wenschte deel te nemen (in which the governor himself wished to take part). The objective was the IV Moekims (Kroeng-Raba) — the region beyond the geconcentreerde linie (concentrated line) which the Dutch had identified as the next theatre of operations after the surprise of Ana’ Galoeng of 29 June 1896. The colonne, under Overste Hansen of the 3e Bataljon, included the 3e Bataljon itself, the 9e Bataljon, and supporting arms — and marched out from Lambaroe in the early morning. The choice of the IV Moekims as the objective of De Moulin’s first excursie (reconnaissance (excursie)) was not accidental: the region was the next planned area of Dutch expansion beyond the geconcentreerde linie, and the excursie (reconnaissance (excursie)) was intended both as a reconnaissance and as a machtsvertoon (show of force) appropriate to the assumption of the governorship by a newly-appointed Generaal-Majoor (Major-General).
The Sunstroke in the Sawah
By late morning the colonne had reached the broad sawah — the open, irrigated rice-plain — between Lam-Baroe and Lam-Gaboes. De compagnieën van Epen en van Gogh — the companies of Epen and Van Gogh — hadden willen volgen, doch ze blijkbaar niet meer gevonden hadden, nog achter waren — had wanted to follow [the colonne], but had apparently not found it and were still behind. De Overste deed nu de artillerie met haar dekking door marcheeren en de rest keert maken — the Overste [Hansen] now had the artillery with its covering force march through and the rest make a turn. Zoo snel mogelijk, werd in de W., Z. en Z.O. rand van Lampaja door de 1e en 4e compagnie eene stelling ingenomen — as quickly as possible, a position was taken up by the 1st and 4th companies in the west, south, and southeast edge of Lampaja.
Wat was er gebeurd? — what had happened? Generaal De Moulin, de compagnieën van Epen en van Gogh nergens ontwarende, was met zijn staf de breede sawah tusschen Lam-Baroe en Lam-Gaboes overgestoken, daar door een zonnesteek getroffen en ten 12 u. 30’ n.m. bewusteloos geworden — General De Moulin, unable to find the companies of Epen and Van Gogh anywhere, had with his staff crossed the broad sawah (rice plain (sawah)) between Lam-Baroe and Lam-Gaboes, where he was struck by a zonnesteek (sunstroke (zonnesteek)) and rendered unconscious at 12:30 PM. De bij de colonne Hansen aanwezige dokter, verleende onmiddellijk zijn hulp, ook die van Lam-Poelau werd te paard opgeroepen, maar het mocht den geneesheeren niet gelukken, den gouverneur weer tot bewustzijn te brengen — the doctor attached to Hansen’s colonne gave his assistance immediately, and the doctor of Lam-Poelau was summoned on horseback, but the physicians were unable to restore the governor to consciousness.
The Withdrawal under Fire
De vijand drong niet verder op — the enemy did not press forward — but the Dutch colonne was now in a difficult position, with its governor unconscious and the Acehnese in the surrounding heights. 3 u. 35’ n.m. hervatte het 3e Bataljon, gevolgd door het 9e zijn marsch — doordien het laatste zijn heuvelstellingen te vroeg verliet, echter niet, vóór dat de vijand nog teekenen van leven had gegeven — at 3:35 PM the 3e Bataljon, followed by the 9e, resumed its march — but because the latter left its hill positions too early, the enemy gave signs of life. Ritmeester de Lannoy was reeds met eene patrouille in draf naar Lamdjamoe gereden en gaf telefonisch van het gebeurde aan Koeta-Radja kennis — had already ridden at a trot to Lam-Djamoe with a patrol and telephoned news of the event to Koeta-Radja. De verschillende stellingen, werden zonder moeite ontruimd, maar toen direct door vijanden bezet, waarom de artillerie in den zuidrand van Bineh-Kroeng nog eenmaal in batterij kwam — the various positions were evacuated without difficulty, but were then immediately occupied by the enemy, on which account the artillery came into battery once more in the southern edge of Bineh-Kroeng. Op verzoek van den commandant der achterhoede, kapitein van der Haas, spande zij echter dra weer aan en reed naar Landjamoe — at the request of the rearguard commander, Kapitein Van der Haas, the battery was soon limbered up again and rode to Lam-Djamoe.
The Death at Lam-Pisang
Ten 4 u. 45’ n.m., ter hoogte van Lam-Pisang, overleed de generaal De Moulin — at 4:45 PM, near Lam-Pisang, General De Moulin died. Het lijk werd onverwijld naar Koeta-Radja vervoerd — the corpse was immediately transported to Koeta-Radja. 6 u. 15’ n.m. kwamen de laatste troepen Lamdjamoe binnen — at 6:15 PM the last troops entered Lam-Djamoe. The losses among the wounded were: luit.-adj. Hoekstein en luit. Meerburg, beiden licht — voorts 3 Eur. fus. en 3 Eur. cavaleristen — adjutant-Lt. Hoekstein and Lt. Meerburg, both slightly — besides 3 European fusiliers and 3 European cavalrymen.
The Aftermath
The death of De Moulin threw the Dutch command into temporary confusion. With Stemfoort already en route to Batavia — having handed over the office on 5 July 1896 and departed on the same steamer — the Civiel en Militair Gouverneur office was effectively vacant. Kolonel Stemfoort opnieuw tijdelijk met de functiën van Civiel en Militair Gouverneur belast — Colonel Stemfoort was again temporarily charged with the functions of Civil and Military Governor — and he returned to Koeta-Radja to take up the office on 11 July 1896. The Governor-General Van der Wijck then sent a telegram of 18 July 1896 which eene nadere uiteenzetting zijner bedoelingen omtrent de verdere actie (a further exposition of his intentions regarding the further action) gave — the beheersching (domination programme) programme which would govern Dutch operations for the next four months.
Significance
The death of Generaal-Majoor De Moulin is one of the most remarkable incidents of the Atjeh-oorlog — the death of a newly-appointed governor by sunstroke during his first excursie, after only two days in office. The incident is significant in three respects. First, it deprived the Dutch command of the officer who had been chosen to succeed Vetter as governor, and who had personally participated in the policy conference of 18 June 1896 — the framework within which the second semester of 1896 was to be conducted. Second, it restored Stemfoort to the acting governorship for a second tenure of four months (from 11 July 1896 to 17 November 1896), during which the systematic extension of the geconcentreerde linie (concentrated line) into the XXVI Moekims, XXII Moekims and IV Moekims was undertaken. Third, it triggered the 18 July 1896 telegram of Van der Wijck — the beheersching (domination programme) programme which hardened the Dutch policy from the pacificatie (pacification) framework of the 18 June conference into a more explicit programme of beheersching (domination) of the XXV Moekims. The pathos of De Moulin’s death — te midden van zijn staf, in de open sawah, bewusteloos door de hitte, terwijl de vijand in de omliggende heuvels bleef — and the irony of his portrait, prepared in anticipation of his tenure and bound opposite the page recording his arrival, together make his death one of the most memorable incidents of ATJEH ‘96 — Tweede Deel.
See Also
- ATJEH ‘96 — Tweede Deel (book by A. Kruisheer)
- J. J. K. de Moulin
- J. W. Stemfoort
- Jhr. C. H. A. van der Wijck
- Hansen
- Jhr. L. D. C. de Lannoy
- Van der Haas
- Hoekstein
- Meerburg
- 3e Bataljon
- 9e Bataljon
- Civiel en Militair Gouverneur
- Excursie to the IV Moekims (Kroeng-Raba) (7 July 1896)
- Stemfoort’s Second Tenure as Civiel en Militair Gouverneur (11 July – 17 November 1896)
- Notulen der conferentie van 18 Juni 1896
- IV Moekims
- Kroeng Raba
- Lam-Pisang
- Lam-Baroe
- Lam-Gaboes
- Lam-Djamoe
- Lam-Poelau
- Bineh-Kroeng
- Aceh War
- 1896
- 7 July
- 1913
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. 7, 20–21, 25, 162–167 (Bijlage II — Notulen der conferentie van 18 Juni 1896).