Mali — native artillery-rider 2nd class (Inlandsche stukrijder der 2e klasse, pay-list no. 70412) — and Mohamad Daëng Matali — a dwangarbeider (forced-labourer) — were two Bugis volunteers from the besieged column at Kajoe-Lē who, disguised as paddy cutters, slipped through the enemy on the morning of 6 March 1876 and carried Major B. E. Mekern’s report to the chief of staff at Kota Radja — the act that set in motion the relief operation of the following day.
The exploit
After the ambush of 4 March the column at Kajoe-Lē was isolated; an armed escort could only provoke a second attack, so the report had to travel by creeping patrol, and the two men volunteered. At three in the morning of 6 March they left the post, thoroughly disguised and armed only with the machete, creeping forward, stooping, pretending to cut paddy. Too many Atjehers stood on the sawah outside the post, and they had to return; at half past four they tried again, and this time slipped through unnoticed while the enemy carried the harvested paddy to safety in greater dispersion over the fields. About two hours later they reached the chief of the staff, Lieutenant-Colonel of the General Staff H. F. Meijer, and handed over Mekern’s telegraphic-style report of the situation of his column.
Help marched from among the bivouacks that same evening. Meijer names the two Bugis — by name, function and pay-list number — as the rescuers of the column, in Atjeh van 26 December 1875 tot 4 September 1876 (1883).
See Also
- Bugis couriers from Kajoe-Lē (6 March 1876)
- Majoor B. E. Mekern
- Kolonel Meijer
- Kajoe-Lē
- Dwangarbeiders
- Storming of Lambaroe (7 March 1876)
Source
Atjeh van 26 December 1875 tot 4 September 1876, door H. F. Meijer (Breda: P. B. Nieuwenhuijs, 1883), chapter VI, pp. 121–123.