Excursie to Moekim Lamtengah (21 May 1896)

Properties2
tagsevent, dutch, achehnese, colonial, military, aceh-war
aliasesExcursie to Moekim Lamtengah, Excursion to Lamtengah, Excursie naar Lamtengah, 21 May 1896

5 min read

The Excursie to Moekim Lamtengah (21 May 1896) — the column expedition against the district of Moekim Lamtengah — was a punitive expedition commanded by Lt.-Col. Bisschoff van Heemskerck against the territory of the bendehoofd Toekoe Tjoet Lamtengah, whose promises (after 15 May 1896) to return borrowed rifles had proved false and whose territory had offered heavy fire against Dutch patrols. The Dutch excursie destroyed his possessions. Kapitein J. P. Linck commanded the 4e compagnie that stormed the fortified work of Belang. As described in Kruisheer’s ATJEH ‘96, the excursie of 21 May 1896 was a shaping operation in the final days before the three-day offensive of 23–25 May 1896 — a demonstration that the Dutch could reach into the Moekim Lamtengah at will and a reminder to the bendehoofd of Lamtengah that his promises of loyalty would be tested.

Background

By the third week of May 1896 the Regeeringscommissaris, Lt.-Gen. Vetter, was in the final stages of preparation for the three-day offensive against Teuku Umar’s stelling at Lam-Pisang. The bombardment of Lampisang was in its fourth week. The naval demonstration in the Kroeng-Rababaai had been completed. The diversie to Montassik had been mounted. The Dutch forces were concentrating for the offensive.

In the midst of these preparations, the political situation in the moekim of Moekim Lamtengah required attention. The bendehoofd Toekoe Tjoet Lamtengah — who had borrowed rifles from the Government under the native-allied policy of 1893–1896 — had, after 15 May 1896, promised to return them. His promises had proved false. Worse, his gebied had offered heavy fire against Dutch patrols — a clear indication that he had thrown in his lot with the resistance. A maréchaussée probe to Moekim Lamtengah on 15 May 1896 had failed; patrols to the Djempit area on 18 May–20 May 1896 had confirmed the hostile disposition. Vetter resolved to send a punitive expedition — an excursie — to chastise Lamtengah and to destroy the possessions of Toekoe Tjoet Lamtengah.

The Excursie

The excursie of 21 May 1896 was placed under the command of Lt.-Col. Bisschoff van Heemskerck — the same officer who had commanded the 1e Colonne at the tuchtiging of Lam Goet of 14 April 1896 and who would command the 1e Colonne at the tuchtiging of Lam-Krak of 9 June–10 June 1896. The column comprised the usual mix of infantry, maréchaussée, mountain artillery, and engineers. The objective was the gebied of Toekoe Tjoet Lamtengah — his kampongs, his versterkingen, and his possessions.

The advance was contested. Toekoe Tjoet Lamtengah’s warriors, drawn from the moekim of Moekim Lamtengah and supplemented by allied bands from the neighbouring mukims, offered heavy fire from the kampong edges and from the low hills that characterised the broken ground of the district. The Dutch column pushed forward methodically, the maréchaussée brigades clearing the kampong edges, the artillery shelling the versterkingen, and the infantry advancing in support. The principal obstacle was the fortified work of Belang — a substantial earthwork with the usual Achehnese bamboedoeri abatis.

The Storming of Belang

The storming of the versterking of Belang fell to Kapitein J. P. Linck, commanding the 4e compagnie. Linck — who would later command the 4e compagnie at the capture of Lam-Pisang on 24 May 1896 and at the storming of the Kroeng-Kali benteng on 23 June 1896 — led his company in a direct assault on the work. The versterking was carried; the defenders were driven out; the work was occupied and destroyed. The capture of Belang opened the way to the possessions of Toekoe Tjoet Lamtengah, which were systematically destroyed — houses burned, stores confiscated or ruined, sawah dykes broken. The bendehoofd himself escaped, but his moekim had been chastised and his capacity to make trouble on the flank of the three-day offensive had been degraded.

Significance

The Excursie to Moekim Lamtengah on 21 May 1896 was a shaping operation in the final days before the three-day offensive. Its principal effects were three. First, it chastised Toekoe Tjoet Lamtengah and degraded his capacity to interfere with the offensive — a small but real contribution to the security of the Dutch flank. Second, it tested, in combat, the 4e compagnie of Kapitein Linck — a test that the compagnie passed and that would be repeated, with greater consequence, three days later at Lam-Pisang. Third, it confirmed to the hoeloebalang of the mukims that the Dutch retained the capacity to reach into any district that harboured resistance — a political message of considerable importance in the fluid environment of mid-May 1896. The excursie was, in this sense, a small operation with a large strategic purpose: the securing of the conditions for the three-day offensive that would, two days later, begin the recovery of the strategic initiative.

See Also

Source

ATJEH ‘96, door A. Kruisheer, Kapitein der Infanterie O.I.L., met 2 kaarten en 4 portretten (Weltevreden: N.V. Boekhandel Visser & Co, 1913). Instituut Kern, Leiden. OCR-filename: 20260715_163243_DLP-89-Atjeh_96_Met_2_kaarten_en4_DOORA_KRUISHEER_Kapiteinder_Infanterie_nemoretriever-ocr-v1_OCR.txt, pp. 143, 167, 170–171, 174, 714.

Graph View