Lampoe Idjoe was a kampong on the Atjeh-rivier upstream of the Kraton, near the spot where the Dutch reconnaissance of 29 January 1874 met unexpected enemy resistance and was forced to retire with losses. In Borel’s account it is one of the recurring posts of the enemy’s eastern line above the Kraton, where an Atjehneesche vlag flew above a benteng (fortification) from May 1874 and the terrain was kept under intermittent Dutch artillery fire from Pakan Atjeh.
The January 1874 échec
On 29 January 1874, only five days after the fall of the Kraton, a colonne of two bataljons infanterie with a batterij veld-artillerie rukte uit to reconnoitre the left bank of the Atjeh-rivier. Van Swieten and Verspijck both accompanied the column. Near Lampoe Idjoe the column met unexpectedly strong resistance, was fired on from both banks, and at a kreek with a versterking “stootten bepaald het hoofd” — butted its head against a wall. The artillerie “had spoedig al hare munitie verbruikt,” and van Swieten “besloot den strijd op te geven en onverrichter zake terug te trekken.” Losses were two officers and “ruim 20 minderen” killed or wounded. Borel’s critical verdict is that the column operated on only one bank, leaving the other bank in enemy hands.
Later operations
From the high observatie-post at Pakan Atjeh on 15 May 1874 the Dutch discovered an Atjehneesche vlag waving above a new benteng at the height of Lampoe Idjoe upstream — proof that the enemy had re-occupied the ground the January reconnaissance had failed to clear. The artillerie at Pakan Atjeh immediately opened fire, the shots being gecorrigeerd from the observatiepost; the uitwerking was “moeilijk na te gaan,” but the Atjehneezen “binnen hunne werken te Pendetti geen stand konden houden.” Lampoe Idjoe, Lampoe Oek, Longbatta and Blang Tjoet were reconnoitred and cleared on 4 January 1875 by Pel with two columns, with no resistance; the houses were burned. From 1 February 1875 the enemy tried to retaliate with a dawn attack on the nipa-benteng at Lampoe Oek.
See Also
- Atjeh-rivier
- Pakan Atjeh
- Lampoe Oek
- Pendetti
- Reconnaissance of the Atjeh-rivier (29 January 1874)
- Conquest of Mandarsa Poeti (28 January 1875)
- Jan van Swieten
- Generaal Verspijck
Source
Onze vestiging in Atjeh, critisch beschreven, by G. F. W. Borel, Kapitein der Artillerie. ‘s-Gravenhage: D. A. Thieme, 1878. pp. 33, 35–36, 43, 56, 117, 124, 131, 137, 144, 238.