Derde Bataljon (Atjeh-Bataljon)

The Derde Bataljon — the 3rd Battalion of the K.N.I.L. — also written 3e Bataljon Infanterie or 3de Bataljon Infanterie, was the “Atjeh-Bataljon,” the battalion that received the M.W.O. decoration “in 1877 voor het buitengewoon roemrijk aandeel” in the early years of the Aceh War, “in het bijzonder vermeld die van begin 1876.” The Derde Bataljon’s M.W.O. was one of the earliest battalion-level decorations of the Aceh War, and the battalion’s nickname “Atjeh-Bataljon” marks it as the battalion most identified with the Aceh theatre. The battalion returned to the Aceh theatre in the spring of 1896 as a regular veldbataljon (field battalion) of the colonial army, where — under the successive command of Maj. K. W. Steinmetz, Maj. J. W. van den Broek, and Luit.-kol. G. A. Hansen — it served as the workhorse battalion of the campaign, participating in nearly every major Dutch column from the relief of Biloel and Lamkoenjit through the Ladoeng landing of 22–23 June 1896, and supplying the 1e Luit. M. D. J. de Jongh who was officially the first Dutch officer to reach Teuku Umar’s verblijf (residence) at Lam-Pisang on 24 May 1896.

The M.W.O. of 1877

“Het derde Bataljon ontving de onderscheiding in 1877, voor het buitengewoon roemrijk aandeel, in het bijzonder vermeld die van begin 1876.” The Derde Bataljon received the M.W.O. in 1877 for its exceptionally glorious share in the early years of the Aceh War — in particular the share of the beginning of 1876. The decoration was a battalion-level M.W.O., awarded not to individual soldaten but to the battalion as a whole.

The third expedition’s Missigit storming

“Die tocht werden de hevige gevechten van de eerste maanden van 1876” — and the third expedition’s storming of the Missigit on 6 January 1874 is also associated with the Derde Bataljon. The battalion’s M.W.O. of 1877 recognised the cumulative share of the battalion in the early years of the war, from the Tweede Atjeh-expeditie of 1873-1874 through the hevige gevechten (fierce battles) of 1876.

The Djagaraga honour (1849)

“Voor de bestorming van Djagaraga op Bali in 1849.” The Derde Bataljon’s pre-Aceh honours included the storming of Djagaraga on Bali in 1849. The battalion therefore had a long colonial-pacification history before the Aceh War — a history that the 1877 M.W.O. extended.

The spring of 1896 campaign (ATJEH ‘96 account)

As one of the regular veldbataljons of the colonial army, the 3e Bataljon Infanterie combined European and indigenous (inlandse) companies armed with Beaumont rifles and, in selected pelotons, the new repeteergeweer (repeating rifle). At the moment of Teuku Umar’s defection on 29 March 1896 the battalion was already stationed in Koeta Radja under Maj. K. W. Steinmetz, providing garrisons for Biloel and the geconcentreerde linie (concentrated line). On the afternoon of 29 March 1896 three of its companies were sent by stoomtram (steam tram) to Lamdjamoe at 2:15 PM under Gen.-Maj. Deykerhoff’s counter-measures, reinforced at 5 PM by two sections of the 4e Bergbatterij. On 31 March–1 April 1896 one company of the 3e Bataljon held the intersection of the Koeta Radja–Ketapan Doewa railway and the road to post Belang, with a forward section at the bridge over Kroeng Ning, in the hinderlagen (ambushes) laid to protect Koeta Radja.

On 8 April 1896 the battalion — 18 officers, 336 European and 220 Ambonese men — formed one of the three infantry battalions of Kolonel Stemfoort’s relief column for Biloel and Lamkoenjit, furnishing the 2nd column under Kapitein van Aken (1st company, voorhoede), Kapitein G. D. van Epen (3rd company), and Kapitein J. M. van Gogh (4th company), with an ambulance under Off. van gesondh. 2e kl. L. A. Demmers.

Role in the spring 1896 operations

The 3e Bataljon was one of the most heavily engaged Dutch units of the semester. On 17 April 1896 the repeater-rifle peloton of its 1e compagnie was attached to Lt.-Col. Van Heutsz’s column at Senelop. On 2 May 1896 the battalion — now under Maj. J. W. van den Broek — formed the linkercolonne (left column) of the diversie to Montassik, advancing via Gani and Gendroet to the line Lam-Pré–Lam Tjot alongside six marechaussée brigades of Kapt. Graafland and joining in the assault on Senelop at 9:10 AM. The battalion’s terugtocht (retreat) route ran via Lam Koelat and Lam Kiwan, with the marechaussée holding Atjehsche loopgraven (trenches) from Kroeng Lingkar to Lam Koelat to cover the retirement.

On 23 May 1896 the battalion — now under Luit.-kol. G. A. Hansen, 15 officieren and 403 minderen — formed the infantry of the Bergcolonne in the three-day offensive, and on 24 May 1896 its 1e luit. de Jongh was officially the first Dutch officer to reach Teuku Umar’s verblijf at Lam-Pisang at 10:35 VM (A.M.). From 30 May to 2 June 1896 the battalion contributed to the dekkingstroepen (covering troops) of the razing of Lam-Asan. On 22 June–23 June 1896 the battalion formed the sea-landing 1e Colonne (14 officers, 417 men) under Lt. Col. Hansen in the Ladoeng Landing and Glé Broeë Attack, embarking at Oleh-leh at 4 PM on 22 June on H. M. Merapi, the Gouvernementsstoomer Condor and Albatros, anchoring off Ladoeng at 2:30 AM on 23 June, and marching through the mountains via Glé Broeë to reach the plain of the XXVI Moekims by 11:30 AM.

Composition and strength

The battalion’s strength evolved through the semester. On 8 April 1896 it fielded 18 officers, 336 European and 220 Ambonese men under Maj. K. W. Steinmetz. On 23 May 1896 it reported 15 officieren and 403 minderen under Luit.-kol. G. A. Hansen. The strength return of 1 June 1896 recorded 16 officers and 433 minderen. Company commanders during the spring included Kapitein van Aken (1e compagnie), Kapitein G. D. van Epen (3e compagnie), and Kapitein J. M. van Gogh (4e compagnie), with 1e Luit. M. D. J. de Jongh of the 1e compagnie distinguishing himself at Lam-Pisang on 24 May 1896. Medical support was provided by the ambulance under Off. van gesondh. 2e kl. L. A. Demmers.

Significance

The Derde Bataljon is significant in Oom Ambon van het K.N.I.L. as the “Atjeh-Bataljon” — the battalion most identified with the Aceh War. The book’s argument is that the battalion’s 1877 M.W.O. — awarded “voor het buitengewoon roemrijk aandeel” in the early years of the war — was one of the earliest battalion-level M.W.O. awards of the Aceh War, and that the battalion’s nickname “Atjeh-Bataljon” marks it as the battalion whose identity was formed by the Aceh theatre.

In Kruisheer’s ATJEH ‘96 the 3e Bataljon Infanterie emerges as the workhorse battalion of the spring 1896 campaign, present in every major Dutch column from the April relief operations to the June Ladoeng landing. Its repeater-rifle peloton reflects the Dutch adoption of new infantry weapons against the well-armed benden (bands) of Teuku Umar, and its rapid succession of commanders (Steinmetz → van den Broek → Hansen) mirrors the Dutch command reshuffle that followed Lt.-Gen. Vetter’s arrival as Regeeringscommissaris on 7 April 1896. The distinction of being first into Umar’s house at Lam-Pisang on 24 May — a claim contested in the source by the cavalryman Wachtmeester Jonker — was awarded by Kruisheer to the battalion’s 1e luit. de Jongh.

Account in Hooijer’s De verlaten posten in Groot-Atjeh (1897)

The 3de Bataljon Infanterie — the third battalion of infantry of the Netherlands East Indies Army — was the unit which, under the command of Overste Sievers, advanced in October 1893 to relieve the beleaguered Dutch post at Kroeng Kali in the XXVI Moekims of Groot-Atjeh.

The relief of Kroeng Kali

G. B. Hooijer recorded that het 3de bataljon, onder de bevelen van den Overste Sievers, rukte daarheen op en zou trachten den vijand uit zijn drie stellingen op den verbindingsweg met Toengkoeb te verdrijven — the 3rd battalion, under the orders of Lieutenant-Colonel Sievers, advanced there and was to attempt to drive the enemy from his three positions on the connecting road with Toengkoeb.

The defenders resisted so obstinately that on the first day only two positions could be taken. One was the Messigit Siem, where Luitenant Weyerman and three men fell and two officers and fifty men were wounded on the sawah (wet rice-field) plain before the mosque. The third position was evacuated by the enemy during the following night.

Sources

Atjeh gedurende de tweede expeditie en later, Een Oud Officier, Batavia: Ogilvie & Co., 1876, pp. 11-15. De verovering van Atjeh’s groote Missigit by J.F.D. Bruinsma, Sneek, 1889, pp. 20, 58.

Oom Ambon van het K.N.I.L., by G. W. T. Dames, Maj. Inf. K.N.I.L. b.d. (‘s-Gravenhage: Koninklijke Bibliotheek, 1954), chapter “Oom en de Bintang.”

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. 67, 77, 93, 100, 117, 120, 125, 132, 134, 149, 184, 219, 245, 293, 322.

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. 26, 32.

Acknowledgement of sources. This article is a single consolidated account combining the material previously held in this entry with the account given in De verlaten posten in Groot-Atjeh (1897) by G. B. Hooijer. Dutch terminology has been rendered in English, the original Dutch being retained only in direct quotations and in bibliographic citations.

tags	organization, military-unit, knil, aceh, dutch, colonial, military, 19th-century, infantry, aceh-war, unit
aliases	Derde Bataljon, 3e Bataljon, Atjeh-Bataljon, Aceh Battalion, 3e Bataljon Infanterie, 3de Bataljon Infanterie, 3rd Infantry Battalion, 3e Bataillon Infanterie, Third KNIL Infantry Battalion, 3rd KNIL Battalion, 3rd battalion, het 3de bataljon, Third Battalion of Infantry

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