Luitenant Neelmeyer was a Dutch lieutenant of the Netherlands East Indies Army serving as acting controleur in the territory of T. Tjoet Toengkoeb in the XXVI Moekims of Groot-Atjeh, whose night ride of March 1896 to warn the garrisons of Toengkoeb and Tjot Rang of the defection of Toekoe Oemar was singled out by G. B. Hooijer as an act of exceptional coolness.
Acting controleur
Hooijer described Neelmeyer as the acting controleur in Toekoe Tjoet’s district, and as an officer who zooveel slag had met hem om te gaan — who had so good a knack of dealing with him. He appears on the plate showing Toekoe Tjoet’s dwelling, seated on a visit beneath the house with another officer, the host himself being absent.
The warning ride of March 1896
When the going-over of the Panglima Prang Besar — Teukoe Oemar — became known to him, Neelmeyer set out in the evening in the company of Toekoe Tjoet and some of the latter’s followers from Pakan Kroeng Tjoet, a point inside the geconcentreerde linie, to Toengkoeb and Tjot Rang, in order to warn the garrisons of those posts. His purpose was to prevent Toengkoeb from being overrun by the Achehnese auxiliary bands which, as he knew in his capacity as controleur, were to assemble there early the next morning to undertake a patrol with the Dutch.
Hooijer emphasised that he thereby placed his life defenceless in the hands of dien weinig betrouwbaren Atjeher — that little trustworthy Achehnese — who two days later followed Toekoe Oemar’s example and defected. Whether because the Toekoe was not yet fully informed of what had occurred, or because he had not yet determined on which side to place himself, Neelmeyer carried out his intention undisturbed and was back in Tjot Iri, a post inside the Dutch line, before daybreak — just before communication with the posts he had warned was cut. Zijn kameraden op die posten vonden dat een kranige streek en wij zijn van hetzelfde gevoelen, Hooijer wrote: his comrades at those posts thought it a plucky stroke, and the author was of the same opinion.
The evacuation of Toengkoeb
Later, under the leadership of the same officer, the garrison was withdrawn from Toengkoeb and the post evacuated zonder dat daarbij een enkel schot viel — without a single shot being fired.
See Also
- T. Tjoet Toengkoeb
- Toengkoeb
- Tjot Rang
- Tjot Iri
- Pakan Kroeng Tjoet
- Defection of Teukoe Oemar (1896)
- Controleur
Source
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. 22, 32, 34.