Luitenant-kolonel Haus was a Dutch lieutenant-colonel of infantry in Atjeh in 1876, commander of the western line of posts (Olehleh, Lampasei, Blang-Oë, Sinangri, Lampagar, Pakan Badak, Boekit Seboen, Djempit, Ketapan Doewa and Boekit Daroe) during the consolidation period of that year. He gave the order for the night ambush in the Gli Taroem pass of 8–9 August 1876.
The order of 8 August 1876
When, at the beginning of August, reports from a prisoner and from spies established that enemy parties nightly carried rice bought in the IV and VI Moekims through the pass of Gli Taroem and the other mountain paths to the hungry XXII Moekims, and word came on 8 August that a large enemy transport would most probably pass that night, Haus judged that a favourable opportunity of surprising an enemy convoy must not go unused. He detailed from the garrisons of Djempit, Ketapan Doewa and Boekit Daroe a force of 3 officers and 120 non-commissioned officers and men, prescribed their orders in writing — every post an officer and 40 bayonets, union at the ravine, mutual support, a recognition signal agreed beforehand, the return signal by gun fire from the posts — and gave his further intentions to the young First Lieutenant-adjutant J. B. Van Heutsz, who was to accompany the force. The ambush’s tragic issue by friendly fire is told at the event; his written order is printed verbatim by H. F. Meijer in Atjeh van 26 December 1875 tot 4 September 1876 (1883).
The commander of the western line in 1876 bore the same name as — and was presumably identical with — Colonel J. F. Haus, the first military commandant of Atjeh appointed at the separation of the civil and military commands of April 1881.
See Also
- Gli Taroem night ambush (8-9 August 1876)
- Westerlinie
- J. F. Haus
- 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. 253–255.