Koninklijk Besluit of 10 June 1873 No. 33 (Royal Decree of 10 June 1873, No. 33) was the Dutch royal decree by which four engineer officers of the metropolitan army — the youngest of them Tweede-Luitenant C. J. Snijders — were selected for a two-year detachment to the Nederlandsch-Indisch Leger in preparation for the second Aceh expedition, after the failure of the first Aceh expedition under Generaal-Majoor Köhler in April 1873. The decree is the legal basis of Snijders’ Atjeh service of 1874–1875 and thus of the actions for which he was decorated with the Ridderkruis der Militaire Willemsorde by KB of 12 November 1875 No. 18.
The Call for Volunteers
The call for volunteer officers from the metropolitan army, issued by the Dutch government in May 1873 after the failure of the first Aceh expedition, offered 40 officers — including 4 of the engineers — the opportunity of a two-year detachment to the Nederlandsch-Indisch Leger. The call was posted at the Sociëteit Sic Semper at Utrecht, where Snijders heard of it from an older comrade and immediately applied. Snijders’ father, initially displeased that his minor son had not consulted him, consented on condition that Snijders not request assignment to a combat column in Atjeh — a promise Snijders kept, although Governor-General Loudon later tried to put such a request into his mouth.
The Decree
The decree of 10 June 10 June 1873 No. 33 selected the four engineer officers from those proposed. Snijders, though the youngest of those proposed, was selected owing to the dropping out of some older colleagues. By the same decree, Snijders and his fellow selectee J. W. N. Cramer were instructed to the Mineurskamp at Zeist for some days’ instruction in the Kromhout optical-telegraph system before departure. Snijders embarked on the steamship Conrad of the Maatschappij “Nederland” from Nieuwediep on 10 July 10 July 1873.
Significance
The decree of 10 June 10 June 1873 No. 33 is the legal foundation of Snijders’ Atjeh service. Without it, the Benting Kota Alam operation of 13 November 1874, the Missigit Longbatta operation, the Lamara Olejlo fortification, and the 1920 wreath-laying on Pel’s grave would not have occurred.
See Also
- Cornelis Jacobus Snijders
- J. W. N. Cramer
- J. H. Kromhout
- Koninklijk Besluit of 12 November 1875 No. 18
- Koninklijk Besluit of 26 July 1872 No. 63
- Militaire Willemsorde
- Sociëteit Sic Semper
- Maatschappij “Nederland”
- Nederlandsch-Indisch Leger
- First Aceh Expedition (1873)
- Second Aceh Expedition (1873-1874)
- Aceh War
- 1873
Source
D. van den Berg, Cornelis Jacobus Snijders (1852–1939): Een leven in dienst van zijn Land en zijn Volk (Voorburg: September 1944), pp. 21–22. Koninklijke Bibliotheek shelfmark 0301 4872.