Van Swieten’s reconnaissance to Longbattah of 29 January 1874 was the advance in considerable force undertaken by the opperbevelhebber of the second Atjeh expedition, five days after the fall of the Kraton, in the direction of the Atjehnese inland stronghold of Longbattah, at which his troops were aangetast (attacked) by a numerous enemy and obliged to withdraw. Quoted by Verstege (1886) from the course of the campaign, the reconnaissance was one of the experiences that belied the optimism of van Swieten’s first proclamations: the opperbevelhebber who had declared on 24 January in his day order that the enemy was “wel overwonnen, doch nog niet onderworpen” (“conquered indeed, but not yet subdued”), and who proclaimed five days later, on 29 January, saw himself compelled to the retreat by a numerous enemy — and nevertheless, a fortnight afterwards (12 February 1874), he passed over to the annexation of the whole realm, selling “the skin of the bear before the bear was shot”.
See Also
- Longbatta
- Jan van Swieten
- Second Aceh Expedition (1873-1874)
- Annexation proclamation of Atjeh (1874)
- 1874
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. 31. OCR-filename: 20260801_235605_DLP-158-Een_beroep_op_het_Nederlandsche_volk_in_zake_het_Atjeh_vraagstuk_Nemotron-OCR-v2_OCR.txt.