The First Selimoen Expedition — eerste tocht naar Selimoen van 6 tot en met 11 September 1896 — was the first major Dutch expedition into the Selimoen highlands of southern Groot-Atjeh in the second semester of 1896, undertaken by a colonne under Luitenant-Kolonel J. B. van Heutsz between 6 September 6 and 11 September 1896. The expedition — ordered one day before the construction of the Blang Bintang camp began on 7 September 1896 — represented the most ambitious Dutch operation of September 1896 and was the principal Dutch probe into the Selimoen region in the second semester of the year. The Selimoen highlands — the centre of Acehnese resistance in the south of Groot-Atjeh — had been the object of repeated Dutch reconnaissances and tuchtigingen throughout the war, but had never been permanently occupied.
Strategic Background
By September 1896 the Dutch, under Stemfoort’s second tenure, had extended their effective control from the geconcentreerde linie (concentrated line) into the XXVI Moekims and XXII Moekims through the bezetting of Kroeng Raba (Lok-Nga) on 15 July 1896 and a series of reconnaissances in July and August. The Selimoen highlands — lying south of the XXII Moekims and forming the southernmost extension of Groot-Atjeh — remained, however, beyond the limit of effective Dutch control. The eerste tocht naar Selimoen of 6–11 September 1896 was thus both a reconnaissance and a machtsvertoon (show of force) — designed to ascertain the disposition of the Acehnese forces in the Selimoen and to demonstrate the Dutch capacity for force projection into the highlands.
The Colonne under Van Heutsz
The colonne for the first Selimoen expedition was commanded by Luitenant-Kolonel Van Heutsz — the officer who, two years later in 1898, would be appointed Civiel en Militair Gouverneur and would launch the decisive korte oorlog phase of the Atjeh-oorlog. The composition of the colonne is not separately narrated by Kruisheer in the detail given for the surprise of Ana’ Galoeng of 29 June 1896, but it is recorded that the colonne was uitgerust (equipped) for a five-day expedition and that it operated from the Blang Bintang position — the construction of which began on 7 September 1896, one day after the expedition’s departure. The use of Blang Bintang as the base for the first Selimoen expedition — even before the camp there had been completed — reflects the strategic importance of the Blang Bintang position for operations in the Selimoen.
The Five-Day Expedition
The expedition departed on 6 September 1896 and returned on 11 September 1896 — a five-day tocht (expedition) into the Selimoen highlands. The detailed narrative of the expedition is not preserved in the Besluit (Decree (Besluit)) of ATJEH ‘96 — Tweede Deel, but the operation is recorded in the Inhoud (Table of Contents) of the volume as one of the principal operations of the second semester of 1896. The expedition traversed the Selimoen region, engaged the Acehnese forces where they were encountered, and returned to the Blang Bintang position on 11 September 1896 — by which time the construction of the camp had been sufficiently advanced to serve as its base. The first Selimoen expedition was thus the opening operation of the southern arm of the Dutch forward movement of the second semester of 1896, and was followed — after an interval of nearly two months — by the second Selimoen expedition of 3–6 November 1896.
The Significance of the Expedition
The First Selimoen Expedition is significant in the documentary record of ATJEH ‘96 — Tweede Deel as the first major Dutch expedition into the Selimoen highlands in the second semester of 1896. The expedition — undertaken by Van Heutsz, the future Civiel en Militair Gouverneur — represented the most ambitious Dutch operation of September 1896 and was the principal Dutch probe into the Selimoen region in the second semester of the year. The expedition’s reliance on the Blang Bintang position — the construction of which began on 7 September 1896, one day after the expedition’s departure — established the strategic importance of Blang Bintang for operations in the Selimoen, and the camp would serve as the base for the second Selimoen expedition of 3–6 November 1896 and the temporary occupation of Indrapoeri of 28 October 1896. The first Selimoen expedition was thus the opening operation of the southern arm of the Dutch forward movement of the second semester of 1896, and was the precursor to the more extended operations in the Selimoen which would be undertaken under Van Vliet in November and December 1896.
See Also
- ATJEH ‘96 — Tweede Deel (book by A. Kruisheer)
- J. B. van Heutsz
- J. W. Stemfoort
- Selimoen
- Blang Bintang
- Tjot Mantjang
- Construction of Blang Bintang Camp (7 September 1896)
- Second Selimoen Expedition (3–6 November 1896)
- Temporary Occupation of Indrapoeri (28 October 1896)
- Stemfoort’s Second Tenure as Civiel en Militair Gouverneur (11 July – 17 November 1896)
- Geconcenteerde Linie
- XXII Moekims
- XXVI Moekims
- Groot-Atjeh
- Aceh War
- 1896
- 6 September
- 11 September
- 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. 8, 104, 112, 136.