The Kwala Tjangkoel is the waterway into the lagune of Gigieng on the north coast of Groot-Atjeh, through which ships passed under the guns of Toekoe Nanta’s artillery at the fortified places of Lampanti, Lamti and Sabang along the lagune’s edge until those were reduced. As long as the Kwala Tjangkoel remained open, the closure of the Kwala Gigieng and of the Kroeng Tjoet mouth by the Dutch in February 1876 could be bypassed through the lagune itself.
The waterway and its defences
The Kwala Tjangkoel gave access from the sea to the lagune of Gigieng and, through the lagune, to the Kroeng Tjoet upstream — the major contraband supply channel of the XXVI Moekims. Toekoe Nanta of the VI Moekims, one of the principal hostile chiefs of the war, had built or occupied three fortified places along the lagune’s edge — Lampanti, Lamti and Sabang — and armed them with artillery that commanded any vessel attempting to pass through the Kwala Tjangkoel. The Dutch post at Moesapi on the north-eastern corner of the stelling-Pel, armed with two 12 c.M. voorlaadkanonnen, was supposed to cover the lagune, but its guns could not reach the Kwala Tjangkoel. As long as Toekoe Nanta’s artillery held the waterway, the closure of the Gigieng lagune could not be completed.
Reduction
The Kwala Tjangkoel became passable for the Dutch only after the reduction of Toekoe Nanta’s fortified places at Lampanti, Lamti and Sabang. The reduction was a consequence of Pel’s great winter offensive of 1875–1876 against the VI Moekims, IV Moekims and IX Moekims. After the conquest of Lemboe (7 November 1874), the conquest of Kota Alam (13 November 1874), and the gradual extension of the stelling-Pel through Kwala Titipandjang (17 February 1875) and Moesapi (reoccupied in 1874), the Dutch had been progressively closing the eastern approaches to the lagune. With the establishment of the post at Kwala Gigieng and of the island post of Kota Pohama in the lagune on 26 February 1876 by Engel, the closure was completed; the Kwala Tjangkoel was no longer a viable supply channel for the Atjehnees resistance.
See Also
- Kwala Gigieng
- Kroeng Tjoet
- Kota Pohama
- Moesapi
- VI Moekims
- IV Moekims
- IX Moekims
- Toekoe Nanta
- Generaal Pel
- Pel’s offensive against the VI, IV and IX Moekims (1875–1876)
- Kwala
Source
Onze vestiging in Atjeh, critisch beschreven, by G. F. W. Borel, Kapitein der Artillerie. ‘s-Gravenhage: D. A. Thieme, 1878. pp. 322–325, 336, 342–344.