The 5e Bataljon Infanterie — also written 5de Bataljon — was a Dutch colonial field infantry battalion of the Oost-Indisch Leger that arrived in Atjeh aboard the KPM steamers in April 1896 as part of the reinforcements summoned after Teuku Umar’s defection of 29 March 1896. Commanded by Luit.-kol. C. J. Laceulle, the battalion was first quartered in various districts of Koeta Radja — including the Koeta Alam barracks, Soerabaijawijk, Pendetie, and the European schools — and went on to play a central role in the capture of Lam-Pisang and Oemar’s house on 24 May 1896 and in the tuchtiging of the V Moekims Montassik of 16–17 June 1896. Its 4e compagnie under Kapitein Linck became one of the most heavily engaged company-sized units of the entire semester.
Background and Formation
As a veldbataljon of three companies (by June 1896), the 5e Bataljon comprised both European and indigenous companies armed with the Beaumont service rifle. Its arrival in Atjeh was part of the second tranche of reinforcements — five KPM steamers that brought the 5e and 7e Bataljons, a bergbatterij, a cavalerie peloton, and suppletietroepen — under the programme of reinforcements sought by Gen.-Maj. C. Deykerhoff and approved after Lt.-Gen. Vetter’s appointment as Regeeringscommissaris. Because of the approaching west monsoon, the lack of more temporary building materials (bamboo, atap), and the expectation that lodgings would be used for some time, buildings of kasso’s, planks, galvanized iron, or asphalt felt were erected for the arriving 5e Bataljon across the Koeta Alam barracks, Soerabaijawijk, Pendetie, and the European schools of Koeta Radja.
Role in the Atjeh War
The 5e Bataljon’s most significant engagement was the capture of Lam-Pisang and Oemar’s house on 24 May 1896. Under Luit.-kol. C. J. Laceulle — leading a colonne of 12 officieren and 364 minderen — the battalion advanced on the stelling where Teuku Umar had established his residence. Kapitein P. Linck (Kapitein) led his 4e compagnie’s sectie into Lam-Pisang immediately after 1e luit. de Jongh of the 3e Bataljon had first reached the verblijf at 10:35 VM, while Kapitein Boer (1e compagnie) commanded the other company. On 10 June 1896 the battalion’s companies provided flankdekking on the retreat from the Lam-Krak tuchtiging. On 17 June 1896 Kapitein Linck’s 4e compagnie stormed the Kroeng-Kali benteng in the V Moekims Montassik tuchtiging, leading the attack that opened the final phase of the spring campaign. On 20 June 1896 Linck commanded two companies of the 5e Bataljon through the III Moekims Daroe in the mopping-up operations of June.
Composition and Strength
The battalion’s strength in late May 1896 was 12 officieren and 364 minderen under Luit.-kol. C. J. Laceulle. By the strength return of 1 June 1896 the battalion reported 13 officers and 327 minderen organized in three companies. Company commanders during the spring included Kapitein Boer (1e compagnie) and Kapitein P. Linck (4e compagnie), the latter emerging as one of the most consistently engaged Dutch company officers of the campaign. 1e luit. M. D. J. de Jongh of the 1e compagnie was — in Kruisheer’s reckoning — first to reach Oemar’s verblijf at 10:35 VM on 24 May 1896, a distinction the source sets against the rival claim of the cavalryman Wachtmeester Jonker.
Significance
The 5e Bataljon’s significance in the spring 1896 campaign lies above all in the 24 May capture of Lam-Pisang, the operational climax of the three-day offensive that ended the immediate military threat posed by Teuku Umar’s benden van T. Oemar to Koeta Radja. The battalion’s 4e compagnie under Kapitein P. Linck — the same compagnie that stormed the Kroeng-Kali benteng on 17 June 1896 — exemplifies the way in which individual company commanders and their inlandse and European ranks bore the real burden of Dutch column fighting. The battalion’s strength of three companies, smaller than the four-company battalions more common in the campaign, reflects the colonial army’s practice of deploying partial battalions to meet operational demands.
See Also
- C. J. Laceulle
- P. Linck (Kapitein)
- Wachtmeester Jonker (Dutch heroes of named patrols)
- Capture of Lam-Pisang and Oemar’s House (24 May 1896)
- Three-day Dutch offensive of 23–25 May 1896
- Tuchtiging of Lam-Krak Moekims (9–10 June 1896)
- Tuchtiging der V Moekims Montassik (16–17 June 1896)
- Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij (KPM)
- J. A. Vetter (Luitenant-Generaal)
- 1896
Source
ATJEH ‘96, door A. Kruisheer, Kapitein der Infanterie O.I.L., met 2 kaarten en 4 portretten (Weltevreden: N.V. Boekhandel Visser & Co, 1913). Instituut Kern, Leiden. OCR-filename: 20260715_163243_DLP-89-Atjeh_96_Met_2_kaarten_en4_DOORA_KRUISHEER_Kapiteinder_Infanterie_nemoretriever-ocr-v1_OCR.txt, pp. 212, 242, 260, 309.