The Siege and relief of Biloel was the investment of the Dutch post of Biloel in the IX Moekims of Groot-Atjeh from the afternoon of 29 March 1896, the immediate consequence of the defection of Teukoe Oemar, and its relief and abandonment in April 1896.
The failed muster of 29 March 1896
Great activity had been expected at Biloel, for Toekoe Djohan was to assemble there a thousand warriors and a thousand coolies with which to begin the action against Lamkrak; a shed roofed with sheet iron had been erected as magazine and auxiliary hospital, and the post was to be raised to a permanent fortification. Instead, on the morning of 29 March 1896 nobody appeared at the passer under the great tree — not even the police oppasser — and the blokhuizen held by friendly Achehnese nearby were found abandoned.
The patrol and the investment
Towards half past four that afternoon Kapitein Schadée went out with a patrol of sixty men towards Tjot Goeë to establish the state of affairs. When the point had pushed some three hundred paces ahead, beyond the covered ground surrounding Biloel on the north side, it received heavy fire from every side across the flooded rice-fields. Luitenant Zijdveld, struck by a bullet in the lower jaw, was obliged to fall back, en van dat oogenblik af bleef Biloel door den vijand omsingeld.
The siege
Provisions were sufficient; only the toespijzen (side-dishes accompanying rice) to accompany the rice, and bread, were too few. Stockfish and tinned minced meat were in abundance, and a couple of buffaloes and a goat that were shot replaced fresh meat.
The relief of 9 April 1896
Eerst den 9den April kwam er ontzet opdagen, dat weder terugtrok op de tijding dat Toekoe Oemar in aantocht was — only on 9 April 1896 did relief appear, which withdrew again on the news that Toekoe Oemar was approaching. Biloel and Lam Koenjit were subsequently lifted and burnt, the Dutch troops hastening back over the muddy fields on which they had endured almost three years of a temporary station.
See Also
- Biloel
- Kapitein Schadée
- Luitenant Zijdveld
- Lam Koenjit
- Tjot Goeë
- Defection of Teukoe Oemar (1896)
- Lamkrak
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, pp. 12, 16.