G. M. Verspyck was a major-general of the Indies army who served as second-in-command of the second Aceh expedition under Lieutenant-general Van Swieten, distinguished himself in the storming of Tiban on 14 December 1873, led the column that executed the omtrekking of the Kraton on 23 January 1874, and was designated by Governor-General Loudon to succeed General Köhler as supreme commander of the Indies army before the second expedition was decided upon. He had already been appointed as Köhler’s successor on 20 April 1873, the day the news of the failure of the first expedition reached Batavia.
Background and Köhler’s Successor
When on 20 April 1873 Governor-General Loudon convened an extraordinary meeting of the Raad van Nederlandsch-Indië with the commanders of land and sea forces and Major-general Verspyck, who had been designated as Köhler’s successor, Verspyck declared himself ready to depart for Atjeh at once. The vice-admiral’s opinion, however, prevailed: the roadstead of Atjeh would offer no safe anchorage, and communication between roadstead and beach would be seriously threatened; in the first two months it would be impossible to maintain that communication, and then the rain-monsoon would set in with force. The Governor-General accordingly authorised the expeditionary force to return immediately, with the firm intention of resuming the campaign in the favourable season. The fleet left the roadstead of Atjeh on 29 April 1873.
Second-in-Command of the Second Expedition
When the second expedition was decided upon, the retired Lieutenant-general Van Swieten was restored to active service and placed in supreme command, with Verspyck as second-in-command: “As military supreme commander and civil government commissioner he would unite in himself the political and military authority. As second commander of the expedition was appointed the major-general G. M. Verspyck, at the same time designated to replace the supreme commander in case of absence, illness or non-appearance.”
The Storming of Tiban, 14 December 1873
After the landing east of the Atjeh river on 9 December 1873, Kota Moesapi was occupied on 13 December. The next day the long line of enemy fortifications south of Kota Moesapi was taken by “the bold storming of Tiban by General Verspyck.” On 15 December the mouth of the Atjeh river was reached.
The Omtrekking of the Kraton, 23 January 1874
The omtrekking of the Kraton was entrusted to a column under Lieutenant-colonel Van der Heijden, while Verspyck was to keep the enemy occupied. The Krueng Daroe, which also ran through the Kraton, was crossed; various kampongs from which shots were fired were taken and punished. From kampong Moendjing Van der Heijden moved north-east and reached the burial-mound east of the Kraton, by which the omtrekking was in fact accomplished. The guide, however, had lost his way; the column returned, and operations were suspended for the day. The next day the enterprise was resumed; Van der Heijden moved through kampong Longbatta, when he received the news that the Kraton had already been taken.
The Fall of the Kraton, 24 January 1874
From Kota Goenoengan, “between the brushwood, one saw a broken piece of wall with a watch-house behind it, largely stripped of its roof covering. From there Kota Goenoengan had been continually and sometimes rather heavily fired upon during the previous days. But about 9 in the morning this fire slackened and soon ceased entirely.” Van Swieten suspected that the Kraton was not or only weakly occupied; he ordered a reconnaissance to enter the Kraton and to hoist the Dutch flag on the watch-house. When the reconnaissance had advanced for some time without seeing the enemy, the supreme commander himself came up with his staff and the other companies. “Soon the heart of the Kraton was reached, and a repeated hoerah of our men and the Wilhelmus, played by the band of the right half of the 14th bataljon, proclaimed that the Kraton was in our possession.” Verspyck, hearing the hoerah and Wilhelmus, turned towards the Kraton and found Pakan Atjeh and the entrenchment of Panglima Polem wholly abandoned by the enemy; Van der Heijden was ordered to return.
Sources
Atjeh gedurende de tweede expeditie en later, Een Oud Officier, Batavia: Ogilvie & Co., 1876, pp. 11-16.
See Also
- J. van Swieten
- J. H. R. Köhler
- K. van der Heyden
- J. Loudon
- Second Aceh Expedition (1873-1874)
- Capture of the Kraton (24 January 1874)
- Panglima Polim
- Aceh War
- J. van Swieten
- Second Aceh Expedition
- Royal Netherlands East Indies Army
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. 19-26.
G. M. Verspyck was a major-general of the Indies army who served as second-in-command of the second Aceh expedition under Lieutenant-general Van Swieten, distinguished himself in the storming of Tiban on 14 December 1873, led the column that executed the omtrekking of the Kraton on 23 January 1874, and was designated by Governor-General Loudon to succeed General Köhler as supreme commander of the Indies army before the second expedition was decided upon. He had already been appointed as Köhler’s successor on 20 April 1873, the day the news of the failure of the first expedition reached Batavia.
Background and Köhler’s Successor
When on 20 April 1873 Governor-General Loudon convened an extraordinary meeting of the Raad van Nederlandsch-Indië with the commanders of land and sea forces and Major-general Verspyck, who had been designated as Köhler’s successor, Verspyck declared himself ready to depart for Atjeh at once. The vice-admiral’s opinion, however, prevailed: the roadstead of Atjeh would offer no safe anchorage, and communication between roadstead and beach would be seriously threatened; in the first two months it would be impossible to maintain that communication, and then the rain-monsoon would set in with force. The Governor-General accordingly authorised the expeditionary force to return immediately, with the firm intention of resuming the campaign in the favourable season. The fleet left the roadstead of Atjeh on 29 April 1873.
Second-in-Command of the Second Expedition
When the second expedition was decided upon, the retired Lieutenant-general Van Swieten was restored to active service and placed in supreme command, with Verspyck as second-in-command: “As military supreme commander and civil government commissioner he would unite in himself the political and military authority. As second commander of the expedition was appointed the major-general G. M. Verspyck, at the same time designated to replace the supreme commander in case of absence, illness or non-appearance.”
The Storming of Tiban, 14 December 1873
After the landing east of the Atjeh river on 9 December 1873, Kota Moesapi was occupied on 13 December. The next day the long line of enemy fortifications south of Kota Moesapi was taken by “the bold storming of Tiban by General Verspyck.” On 15 December the mouth of the Atjeh river was reached.
The Omtrekking of the Kraton, 23 January 1874
The omtrekking of the Kraton was entrusted to a column under Lieutenant-colonel Van der Heijden, while Verspyck was to keep the enemy occupied. The Krueng Daroe, which also ran through the Kraton, was crossed; various kampongs from which shots were fired were taken and punished. From kampong Moendjing Van der Heijden moved north-east and reached the burial-mound east of the Kraton, by which the omtrekking was in fact accomplished. The guide, however, had lost his way; the column returned, and operations were suspended for the day. The next day the enterprise was resumed; Van der Heijden moved through kampong Longbatta, when he received the news that the Kraton had already been taken.
The Fall of the Kraton, 24 January 1874
From Kota Goenoengan, “between the brushwood, one saw a broken piece of wall with a watch-house behind it, largely stripped of its roof covering. From there Kota Goenoengan had been continually and sometimes rather heavily fired upon during the previous days. But about 9 in the morning this fire slackened and soon ceased entirely.” Van Swieten suspected that the Kraton was not or only weakly occupied; he ordered a reconnaissance to enter the Kraton and to hoist the Dutch flag on the watch-house. When the reconnaissance had advanced for some time without seeing the enemy, the supreme commander himself came up with his staff and the other companies. “Soon the heart of the Kraton was reached, and a repeated hoerah of our men and the Wilhelmus, played by the band of the right half of the 14th bataljon, proclaimed that the Kraton was in our possession.” Verspyck, hearing the hoerah and Wilhelmus, turned towards the Kraton and found Pakan Atjeh and the entrenchment of Panglima Polem wholly abandoned by the enemy; Van der Heijden was ordered to return.
See Also
- J. van Swieten
- J. H. R. Köhler
- K. van der Heyden
- J. Loudon
- Second Aceh Expedition (1873-1874)
- Capture of the Kraton (24 January 1874)
- Panglima Polim
- 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. 19-26.
Account from Van Swieten (1879)
Lieutenant-General Van Swieten, in his De waarheid over onze vestiging in Atjeh (1879), recorded Verspyck’s participation in the critical conference of 12 May 1873 at which the composition and strength of the Second Expedition were determined. At this conference, attended by the Commander of the Army Whitton, Colonel Van Daalen, Colonel Egter van Wissekerke, and Lieutenant-Colonel Boumeester, Verspyck — as Major-General and head of the 2nd Department of the War Department — concurred with the view that the expedition should be designed initially for the capture of the Kraton only, not for the complete conquest of the entire realm, and that a force of approximately 6,000 infantry would be sufficient. The Commander of the Army agreed, and this became the basis for the expedition’s organization.
Van Swieten also noted that it was to Verspyck — then second-in-command — that he had entrusted the bold storming of Tiban on 14 December 1873, one of the decisive engagements of the advance on the Kraton.
Source (Van Swieten account)
De waarheid over onze vestiging in Atjeh, door den Luitenant-Generaal J. van Swieten. Boekerij van het Koloniaal Instituut, Zalt-Bommel, Joh. Noman en Zoon, 1879, pp. 46, 88, 482.