A. G. Popelier was a lieutenant-adjudant of the Indies army who distinguished himself in the expedition against Simpang Olim and Tandjong Semantoh of November 1876, when, with only six Ambonese soldiers, he entered unobserved the bastion of the hill-benting of Toekoe Paja, regarded as impregnable, and carried it without loss on the Dutch side — a feat of arms that the source work describes as “undeniably brilliant.” His exploit opened the way for the submission of the radja of Simpang Olim and was one of the most celebrated single acts of bravery of the Atjeh-oorlog. In 1879, as 1e Luitenant and adjudant of the Lamtoba column, he marched at the point with the guides on the tocht to Lamtoba and Selimoen and was, after the native sergeant Ramoudin, the second man inside the Atjeh fortification stormed at Kepaja Doewa on 13 August 1879.
The Storming of Toekoe Paja, 14 November 1876
After the storming of the gedei of Tandjong Semantoh on 14 November 1876, Lieutenant-adjudant Popelier was ordered to approach the hill-benting of Toekoe Paja with a section. The source work describes his exploit:
“Climbing the south-eastern slope of the hill, this officer was soon followed only by six Ambonese soldiers, who, without waiting for their comrades who stayed behind on account of the steep slopes and the light brushwood, and without firing a shot, went forward. Two of them, creeping closest along the edge of the steep excavation, came, without being observed by the enemy, before the stone parapet, from which cannon, lillas and rifles were still being fired at the troops fighting at the gedei; almost at the same time Lieutenant Popelier, with the four other Ambonese, equally unobserved, arrived at the foot of the south-eastern bastion adjoining that parapet. In this bastion an enemy was just about to fire a gun loaded with cartonne. Not regarding the small number of his men, but convinced that swift and bold action was the best means of victory, the named officer did not hesitate for a moment to jump inside, so that he came to stand right next to the Atjeh cannonier. This uttered a cry of fright, recoiled in astonishment and threw away his fuse. Meanwhile the six soldiers had also jumped over the parapet, so that no time was left to the enemy to recover from his surprise at their unexpected appearance. Three armed with lance and klewang, probably the leaders, came out of the house within the fortification, and made an attempt to gather the enemies still bewildered behind the parapet and to press on the seven; but the rapid fire at once opened drove all soon to flight along a footpath in a north-western direction, and the impregnable benting of Toekoe Paja was thus, without loss on our side, in our hands. Undeniably a brilliant feat of arms!”
Adjutant of the Lamtoba column, 1879
In the summer of 1879 Popelier served as adjudant of the column of Luitenant-Kolonel Gerlach — one of the six mounted officers of the expedition — on the tocht from Oleh-leh by Lampanas into the mountains. On the marches he held himself, as Eene schoone bladzijde uit Atjeh’s geschiedenis records, “steeds met de gidsen aan de spits” — always with the guides at the point; thus he was among the first who, with the chief of the staff W. Cool, entered the kampong of Kepaja Doewa on the punitive expedition of early August 1879. In the march to Selimoen he shared the fight of 13 August 1879 at the same ruined kampong, where Majoor Coblijn gave the order to storm: the native sergeant Ramoudin was the first into the Atjeh earthen work, “de Luitenant-Adjudant POPELIER de tweede in de versterking” — the Luitenant-Adjudant Popelier the second in the fortification. He marched with the column to Selimoen and back over the mountains to Lampanas.
Significance
A fortified position, strong by its location, well-armed and defended by 80 Atjehers, was conquered in 1876 by one officer and six men. The exploit was the most celebrated single act of bravery of the expedition against Simpang Olim and Tandjong Semantoh, and made possible the submission of the radja of Simpang Olim and the appointment of a new radja on 5 February 1877. His second appearance in the records, three years later, shows the same officer — no longer the lone climber of Toekoe Paja but the adjudant at the point of a column — again among the foremost of the stormers on the road to Selimoen.
See Also
- A. J. E. Diemont
- Simpang Olim
- Tandjong Semantoh
- Toekoe Paja
- Expedition against Simpang Olim and Tandjong Semantoh (November-December 1876)
- Selimoen Expedition (August 1879)
- Lamtoba column (1879)
- Ramoudin
- W. A. Coblijn
- Aceh War
Source
De geschiedenis van Nederland in onzen tijd, by J. A. de Bruyne, Directeur der Hoogere Burgerschool te Zierikzee. Deel IV. 1872-1883. Nieuwe uitgave. Schiedam: J. F. Dupont, 1912, Hoofdstuk I, pp. 81-83.
Eene schoone bladzijde uit Atjeh’s geschiedenis, door W. Cool en G. B. Hooijer (‘s-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff, 1889), pp. 8, 28, 40. OCR-filename: 20260720_115822_DLP-135_Eene_schoone_bladzijde_uit_Atjeh_s_geschiedenis_Nemotron_OCR_v2_OCR.txt.