Patrol of 7 March 1896 near Anagaloeng

Properties2
tagsevent, battle, aceh-war, 1896, aceh, anagaloeng, senelop, xxii-moekims, groot-atjeh, dutch-defeat, westendorp
aliasesthe patrol of 7 March 1896, the Anagaloeng patrol of March 1896, the patrol of Van Blokland, the 7 March 1896 patrol

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The Patrol of 7 March 1896 near Anagaloeng was a Dutch military patrol sent out from the temporary post of Anagaloeng in the XXII Moekims of Groot-Atjeh on 7 March 1896 under Captain Van Blokland and two lieutenants — of whom one was K. H. Westendorp — with the object of dislodging a band of Atjehnese who had, sedert een paar weken (for some two weeks), been op hun gemak (at their ease) shooting at everyone they could hit from the direction of the post. The patrol — 72 men strong — was ambushed on its return march and held its ground for five hours at a distance of some 350 paces from the post, before being relieved by a detachment from Senelop. The engagement produced the first officer fatality of the spring 1896 crisis — Lieutenant Westendorp — and was the first major Dutch military engagement after Toekoe Oemar’s defection from the Dutch alliance.

The occasion of the patrol

The Atjeh-Album of 1896 records that the immediate occasion of the patrol was the shooting of Lieutenant Franson, who had been felling trees in the neighbourhood of the post and had received a bullet in his body. The newly-installed post-commandant, the overste Bisschoff van Heemskerk, found it noodig (necessary) to put an end to the annoyance, and the patrol of 7 March 1896 was the response. The album characterises the Atjehnese band as een clubje Atjehers — a little club of Atjehnese — that had been shooting at the post op alles wat zij maar raken konden — at everything they could hit — for some two weeks before the patrol was sent out.

The march out

The Atjeh-Album records that the patrol — 72 men strong under Captain Van Blokland and two lieutenants — was met rust gelaten (left in peace) on the march out. The album’s narrative suggests that the Atjehnese band, having observed the patrol’s departure, prepared an ambush on the return route rather than engaging the patrol on its way out.

The ambush on the return march

The Atjeh-Album records that, op den terugweg (on the way back), the patrol was door verschillende benden aangevallen (attacked by various bands) and had zij het zwaar te verantwoorden (had a hard time defending itself). Although the patrol was only some 350 paces from Anagaloeng, it had to standhouden (hold its ground) for five long hours in order not to leave the dead and wounded in the enemy’s hands, and no help could reach it from the post because only 28 men had been left behind in the benting.

The relief from Senelop

The Atjeh-Album records that the commandant at Senelop — hearing the rumour of the engagement — vernam de tijding van het gevecht and hurried to Lamsict with 40 men under lieutenants Westendorp and Ketjen and from there to Anagaloeng. By taking up a flanking position — een zijwaartsche stelling te doen innemen — and by drawing the Atjehnese fire upon himself — het vuur der Atjehers tot zich te doen lokken — the Senelop command gave Captain Van Blokland the opportunity to retire — de gelegenheid gegeven worden te retireeren.

The casualties

The Atjeh-Album records the casualties of the engagement in a single sentence:

Luitenant Westendorp en drie minderen waren zwaar, kapitein van Blokland, luitenant Stakman, luitenant van Hasselt, de officier van gezondheid van der Meer, de adjudant-onderofficier Kruger en 18 minderen licht gewond. Van de twaalf gesneuvelden moesten er drie worden achtergelaten en een mindere, die men niet had zien vallen, ontbrak op het appel.

“Lieutenant Westendorp and three subordinates were severely [wounded], Captain van Blokland, Lieutenant Stakman, Lieutenant van Hasselt, the medical officer van der Meer, the adjutant-non-commissioned-officer Kruger and 18 subordinates lightly [wounded]. Of the twelve killed, three had to be left [on the field], and one subordinate, who had not been seen to fall, was missing from the roll.”

Lieutenant Westendorp died of his wounds on 11 March 1896 — four days after the patrol — and was the first of the seven officer fatalities of the spring 1896 crisis. His death established the chronology of the crisis: the patrol of 7 March was the first major engagement after the defection, and Westendorp’s death four days later was the first Dutch officer fatality.

Significance

The Patrol of 7 March 1896 is significant in the documentary record of the Atjeh-oorlog as the first major Dutch military engagement after Toekoe Oemar’s defection from the Dutch alliance, and as the engagement that produced the first officer fatality of the spring 1896 crisis. The engagement also illustrates the operational pattern of the early days of the crisis: the Atjehnese defenders — taking advantage of the poessa (fasting month) and of the hooge gras (high grass) and dicht gebladerte (dense foliage) around the Dutch posts — were able to ambush a strong patrol within 350 paces of a fortified post, and the Dutch were unable to relieve the patrol from the post itself because of the smallness of the garrison left behind.

See Also

Source

Atjeh-Album van Eigen Haard, uitgave van de N.V. Het Tijdschrift “Eigen Haard”, Amsterdam, 1896, p. 8 (De Poeassa — Atjehers en Kafirs — Anagaloeng — Eindelijk Ontzet).

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