The reconnaissance to Lepong (25 July 1876) was the march of Major Diepenheim with a detachment of 107 men from the new post of Kroeëng Raba southward into the district of Lepong — the first time Dutch troops entered that hostile coastal country — in which the kampong head, his son and notables came to meet the troops peacefully offering young coconuts, and the authority of the lawful chief Toekoe Lampasei over the IV Moekims was restored. It was described by H. F. Meijer in Atjeh van 26 December 1875 tot 4 September 1876 (1883).
Background
After the founding of the post of Kroeëng Raba in mid-July 1876, Major Diepenheim — who had remained behind with three companies of the right half of the 5th battalion to protect the fortification works — was ordered to reconnoitre the terrain south of the river and the district of Lepong. Lepong formed part of the territory of the IV Moekims and belonged by right under the direct government of Toekoe Lampasei, the chief of those Moekims who had kept the Dutch side since the beginning of the war; but since the start of hostilities only nominal authority had remained to him there, and enemies were known to be continually present — among them Toekoe Tjihiq Lamngga, whose band had lately fled the Dutch sweep of the July operation.
The march
After some reconnaissances on 24 July had shown the enemy — who had never disturbed the works but had always shown small bands on the adjoining hilltops — not to be near, Diepenheim left the bivouac at half past six in the morning of 25 July with 4 officers, 103 non-commissioned officers and men, and an officer with 3 sappers and ambulance personnel. The way ran largely along the beach on a well-used footpath; only at kampong Ritieōng a small steep hill had to be crossed, and three or four brooks, 15 to 20 metres wide and half to one metre deep, were waded.
The reception at Lepong
Three and a half hours’ march brought the detachment to Lepong. The kampong head, his son and some notables came to meet the troops and offered young coconuts as a sign of good disposition. Women and children had stayed in the kampong; the cattle grazed in the meadows; everything indicated that no hostilities were intended. Nor had the enemy been able to hold the district against the Dutch presence: the Lepongers’ own report was that Toekoe Tjihiq Lamngga had been wounded in the leg, and his band had dwindled to only 20 followers; of his whereabouts no one could say.
At two in the afternoon the detachment, accompanied by Toekoe Nja Ali, son of the kampong head of Lepong, returned to the bivouac at Kroeëng Raba.
Consequences
The immediate consequences were threefold: the still-refugee people of the IV Moekims could return unhindered to their kampongs; the head and people of Lepong returned under the government of Toekoe Lampasei; and the people of the visited district were permitted to sell their goods — chiefly poultry, fish and fruit — near the new post. But Meijer’s judgment was sober: the change of attitude proved nothing about the future. The population of Lepong, like that of the other districts, sat between two fires; neutrality — not partisanship — was its settled policy, the usual response of the whole native people, Acehnese or not, whose own interest it served. As soon as the troops withdrew, the Atjehnese war bands could count, if not on its help, then on its neutrality.
See Also
- Majoor Diepenheim
- Lam-lepong
- Toekoe Lampasei
- Toekoe Tjihiq Lamngga
- Kroeëng Raba
- Sweep of the IV and VI Moekims (8-15 July 1876)
- Guerilla warfare in Groot-Atjeh
Source
Atjeh van 26 December 1875 tot 4 September 1876, door H. F. Meijer (Breda: P. B. Nieuwenhuijs, 1883), chapter VII, pp. 224–227.