The Relief of Tjot Rang on 16 April 1896 was the operation by which two Dutch columns, together numbering 2,700 men, broke the investment of the temporary post of Tjot Rang in the XXVI Moekims of Groot-Atjeh and replaced its garrison, at the cost of forty-five killed and wounded incurred chiefly during their withdrawal.
The investment
After Luitenant Neelmeyer delivered his warning of the defection of Teukoe Oemar, the Achehnese-held watch-posts nearby were suddenly abandoned, and both the great road from Tjot Rang to Tjot Iri — along which the lieutenant had escaped — and the road to Toengkoeb were found to be occupied by the enemy. At seventy-five metres from the benteng the Achehnese, so skilful with the patjol, dug a trench fifty metres long from which the post was fired on with rifle and lilla. To send any message thence to Kota Radja proved impossible.
Day after day the garrison looked out for relief, while the kettingganger who served as lamplighter tried under enemy fire to catch fish from the surrounding pools as a delicacy for the officers.
The relief
Totdat eindelijk den 16 April 1896 kanonvuur in de verte gehoord werd, en twee colonnes, te zamen 2700 hoofden tellende, op kwamen dagen om den vijand te verjagen en de bezetting door nieuwe troepen te doen vervangen — until at last on 16 April 1896 cannon-fire was heard in the distance and two columns, together numbering 2,700 men, appeared to drive off the enemy and replace the garrison with fresh troops.
The enemy’s resistance had not been great, but when the columns withdrew he followed them and raised their losses to forty-five dead and wounded. A few days later the post was abandoned and slighted without serious opposition.
See Also
- Tjot Rang
- Luitenant Neelmeyer
- Tjot Iri
- Toengkoeb
- Defection of Teukoe Oemar (1896)
- Kapitein Van der Wedden
Source
De verlaten posten in Groot-Atjeh, door G. B. Hooijer, Gep. Luit.-Kolonel O. I. Leger, met 24 platen (Haarlem: De Erven F. Bohn; Batavia: G. Kolff & Co., 1897). Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen, Centrale Boekerij, Amsterdam. OCR-filename: 20260719_140140_DLP-134-De_verlaten_posten_in_Groot_Atjeh_Nemotron-OCR-v2_OCR.txt, p. 36.