H. Hamakers was a Dutch captain of infantry in Atjeh in 1876, commanding — in the surprise operation of 24 May 1876 against the enemy gun position southeast of Biloel Zuid — the covering company posted on the plain at the foot of the hill while Captain Lucas stormed the position above.
24 May 1876
Hamakers’ composite company — the halves of the 1st and 3rd companies of the right half of the 8th Infantry Battalion, with 5 officers, 60 European and 44 native non-commissioned officers and men, together with Lieutenant Stoppendaal’s section of mountain artillery and 24 forced-labourers with stretchers — was ordered not to move until there was certainty that Lucas had nearly reached the enemy position, to keep off the enemy’s bands in the plain and to cover the stormers’ withdrawal. When the first volley on the hill brought the enemy bands alive everywhere, his well-posted company and the artillery section held them at a proper distance on the plain while the stone breastwork above was demolished.
H. F. Meijer, in Atjeh van 26 December 1875 tot 4 September 1876 (1883), printed his and Lucas’s strengths verbatim from the disposition, adding his criticism of the practice of mixing company halves — required in Atjeh by the scattering of the field battalions over the posts but violating the organisation of the field battalions and repeatedly eroding their cohesion.
See Also
- Capture of the gun position near Biloel Zuid (24 May 1876)
- Kapitein Lucas (1876)
- Biloel Zuid
- Atjeh van 26 December 1875 tot 4 September 1876
Source
Atjeh van 26 December 1875 tot 4 September 1876, door H. F. Meijer (Breda: P. B. Nieuwenhuijs, 1883), chapter VII, pp. 189–191.