The punishment of Marassa was the vengeance taken by the Atjehnese resistance against the Dutch-friendly populace of the moekim Marassa — allies of the Dutch in both expeditions — on 27 April 1874, the day after van Swieten’s departure with the so-called main force. The enemy punished the area and laid seven kampongs in ashes; on the same evening of the departure there was already much movement with the enemy south and east of the Kraton, so close to the eastern face that the garrison stood under arms and some shots were exchanged, while an Arab — one of the most trusted Dutch spies — brought in the morning the report that the enemy, in great numbers, would try to cut the main position off from the sea and so make it untenable; the Marinebenting and other points along the Atjehrivier were alarmed and the communication with the sea seriously threatened. The events of that day, described by Verstege after Kielstra, showed how critical the inherited position of kolonel Pel was from its very first hours.
See Also
Source
Een beroep op het Nederlandsche volk in zake het Atjeh-vraagstuk, door J. J. W. E. Verstege (Amsterdam: J. H. de Bussy, 1886), p. 50. OCR-filename: 20260801_235605_DLP-158-Een_beroep_op_het_Nederlandsche_volk_in_zake_het_Atjeh_vraagstuk_Nemotron-OCR-v2_OCR.txt.