Glitaroem was a mountain pass in the interior of Acheh that formed a critical route for the Dutch expeditionary force in 1875–1876. Columns under Major Diepenheim and Major B. Mekern traversed the pass to enter the IX Moekims territory.
Military Use
The pass was described as the “eastern exit” leading to the kampong of Daroe. Its steep, marshy surroundings made movement difficult for infantry, artillery, and cavalry.
Account from H. F. Meijer (1883) — the pass of Gli Taroem
Meijer’s thorough description of the pass — a footnote meant to correct the old error of the first campaign — gives Gli Taroem not as a ravine (kloof), as it had been repeatedly misnamed, but as a mountain path forming the regular communication between the IX and IV Moekims. The saddle lies about 95 metres above sea level and is about 100 metres long. On the eastern side the path begins just west of Boekit Terin, very steep, washed out of the rocky mountain and strongly uneven, climbing to the culmination through the bottom of a ravine over countless great and small boulders; on the west side the slope is considerably flatter and the way much easier. The heights are covered with light undergrowth; on the saddle the path runs through tall alang-alang between shrubs.
The pass fell into Dutch hands with the invasion of the IX Moekims at the end of January 1876; the Dutch held its mouth from Boekit Daroe and its watchers from the fort on Boekit Terin. Through it moved the enemy bands between the two districts — in 1876 the means of the nightly rice transport from the IV Moekims to the hungry XXII Moekims, the traffic spied out and attacked by the Dutch in the night ambush of 8-9 August. Through it, on 28 July, Major Diepenheim marched from Boekit Seboen back to Boekit Daroe, and through it the enemy’s bands answered the Voigt expedition by leaving the IV Moekims.
See Also
Source
Verslagen der Marine‑Vereeniging III 1889‑1890, pp. 229‑233. 20260707_232246_DLP-55-De_geschiedenis_van_het_Nederlandsche_Korps_Mariniers_van_1665_1945_OCR.txt, pages 138‑141.
Account from Een Vaderlandsch Belang by H. Borel (1878)
Glitaroem was the bergpas (mountain pass) connecting the IV and IX Moekims in Groot-Atjeh, taken by Pel’s colonne on 28 January 1876 in the third phase of the great winter offensive. The pass was the operational key to the IX Moekims: as long as the Atjehneezen held it, they could move reinforcements between the IV and IX Moekims at will; once the Dutch held it, the IX Moekims was isolated from the IV.
The strategic position
The Glitaroem pass ran through the bergachtig terrein (mountainous terrain) that separated the IV Moekims — conquered by Pel’s colonne in the march through the Blang Kalla kloof on 15 January 1876 — from the IX Moekims to the south-east. As long as the Atjehneezen held the pass, any Dutch operation against the IX Moekims could be flanked from the IV Moekims through Glitaroem; conversely, any Dutch force moving from the IV to the IX Moekims had to secure the pass to keep its line of communication open. The Glitaroem pass was therefore the natural hinge of the entire winter offensive: its fall would convert the separate conquests of the VI and IV Moekims into a continuous Dutch front against the IX Moekims and the XXII Moekims behind it. Pel’s plan for the third phase of the offensive called for the simultaneous seizure of Glitaroem and the attack on Boekit Daroe.
The fall of the pass
On 28 January 1876 the invasion of the IX Moekims began. At Boekit Daroe, about an hour south of Ketapang Doewa, vinnig gestreden (sharply fought), and the enemy suffered a gevoelig verlies (sensitive loss). The Glitaroem pass fell into Dutch hands the same day. With the pass open, the troepen moved eastward, taking Lampermej and Oeleh Soesoe on 31 January 1876. At Oeleh Soesoe the enemy offered hevigen tegenstand but had to zwichten; several kampongs were burned. In the first days of February Lamkoenjit, Toeram and Beloel were also conquered, and the IX Moekims was fully in Dutch hands. From Toeram, which bordered the gebied of Toekoe Bait of the XXII Moekims, the Dutch made an inval (inroad) into that sagi on 3 February 1876, driving the enemy out of Atoeh after a heeten strijd. The Glitaroem pass had thus opened the way not only into the IX Moekims but, through Toeram, into the borders of the XXII Moekims itself — the kern van Atjeh’s weerstandsvermogen (core of Atjeh’s power of resistance).
See Also
- IV Moekims
- IX Moekims
- XXII Moekims
- Blang Kalla
- Boekit Daroe
- Ketapang Doewa
- Atoeh
- Toekoe Bait
- Generaal Pel
- Pel’s offensive against the VI, IV and IX Moekims (1875–1876)
Source
Onze vestiging in Atjeh, critisch beschreven, by G. F. W. Borel, Kapitein der Artillerie. ‘s-Gravenhage: D. A. Thieme, 1878. pp. 327–329, 336.