The Excursie to the IV Moekims (Kroeng-Raba) on 7 July 1896 — excursie naar de IV Moekims (Kroeng-Raba) — was the first and only military operation of Generaal-Majoor J. J. K. de Moulin’s tenure as Civiel en Militair Gouverneur van Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, and the operation during which he died of zonnesteek (sunstroke) at Lam-Pisang at 4:45 PM. Voor den 7en d. a. v. werd eene excursie gelast, waaraan de gouverneur zelf wenschte deel te nemen — for the 7th of the current month an excursion was ordered, 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 had been identified as the next theatre of Dutch operations. The colonne, under Overste Hansen of the 3e Bataljon, included the 3e Bataljon itself and the 9e Bataljon, with supporting arms, and marched out from Lambaroe in the early morning.
The March and the Loss of the Companies of Epen and Van Gogh
The march of the colonne from Lambaroe to the IV Moekims traversed the open sawah (rice-plain) country between Lam-Baroe and Lam-Gaboes. De compagnieën van Epen en van Gogh hadden willen volgen, doch ze blijkbaar niet meer gevonden hadden, nog achter waren — the companies of Epen and Van Gogh had wanted to follow the colonne, but had apparently not found it and were still behind. The separation of these two companies from the main body created the confusion which directly preceded De Moulin’s collapse: 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 — 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.
The Sunstroke and the Death
Daar door een zonnesteek getroffen en ten 12 u. 30’ n.m. bewusteloos geworden — there, struck by a sunstroke and rendered unconscious at 12:30 PM. The hour and the location — noon, in the open sawah, with the temperature at its peak — were the classic conditions for a zonnesteek (sunstroke (zonnesteek)) in the Acehnese lowlands. 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. De vijand drong niet verder op — the enemy did not press forward. 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.
The Telephone Report to Koeta-Radja
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. The telephone line between Lam-Djamoe and Koeta-Radja — which had been laid by the Dutch engineers as part of the geconcentreerde linie (concentrated line) communications network — thus carried the first news of De Moulin’s collapse to the Dutch command. 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. 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, 6 u. 15’ n.m. kwamen de laatste troepen Lamdjamoe binnen — the corpse was immediately transported to Koeta-Radja; at 6:15 PM the last troops entered Lam-Djamoe.
The Losses
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. No dead were suffered in action, but the death of Generaal-Majoor De Moulin by sunstroke — a non-combat casualty — was the most consequential loss of the day.
Significance
The Excursie to the IV Moekims (Kroeng-Raba) of 7 July 1896 is significant in the documentary record of ATJEH ‘96 — Tweede Deel as the operation which killed Generaal-Majoor De Moulin and restored Stemfoort to the acting governorship. The excursion is also notable for the tactical confusion revealed by the loss of the companies of Epen and Van Gogh — a confusion which placed the governor, his staff, and the doctor in the open sawah (rice plain (sawah)) at noon, the worst possible conditions for a zonnesteek (sunstroke (zonnesteek)). The episode reveals the limits of the Dutch command system in the second semester of 1896: the colonne-commandant (Hansen) was unable to maintain contact with all his subordinate companies, and the governor’s personal participation in the excursie — waaraan de gouverneur zelf wenschte deel te nemen — placed him at the head of a colonne whose disposition he could not fully control. The occupation of the IV Moekims (Kroeng-Raba / Lok-Nga) — the original objective of the excursion — would not be undertaken until 15 July 1896, eight days after De Moulin’s death.
See Also
- ATJEH ‘96 — Tweede Deel (book by A. Kruisheer)
- J. J. K. de Moulin
- Death of Generaal-Majoor De Moulin (7 July 1896)
- Hansen
- Jhr. L. D. C. de Lannoy
- Van der Haas
- Hoekstein
- Meerburg
- Epen
- Van Gogh
- 3e Bataljon
- 9e Bataljon
- IV Moekims
- Kroeng Raba
- Lok-Nga
- Lambaroe
- Lam-Baroe
- Lam-Gaboes
- Lam-Djamoe
- Lam-Poelau
- Lam-Pisang
- 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.