1874

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tagsyear, 19th-century, aceh, aceh-war, colonial, dutch
aliases1874, Year 1874, 1874 in Atjeh, 1874 in Aceh, Kraton capture year

6 min read

1874 was a decisive year in the Aceh War, marked by the capture of the Acehnese capital, the death of the sultan, and the Dutch proclamation of annexation. The second Dutch expedition, led by Generaal Van Swieten, finally captured the kraton in Koeta Radja on 24 January. The event—followed two days later by the death of the young sultan—appeared to improve prospects for rapid pacification, but the resistance led by Panglima Polim demonstrated that the war would not end with the fall of the capital.

Chronology

Strategic significance

Panglima Polim (then Sri Moeda Perkasa) refused submission and made his territory in the XXII Moekims a gathering place for continued resistance. Although the capture of the kraton and the death of the sultan seemed to improve prospects for peace, the resistance organised from the XXII Moekims—combined with the spiritual leadership emerging in Keumala—ensured that the conflict would continue for another three decades.

Account from Verstege’s Een beroep op het Nederlandsche volk (1886)

Verstege’s pamphlet of 1886 fixes the year’s decisive episodes. After the fall of the Kraton on 24 January, the opperbevelhebber van Swieten — under whose Dagorder of that day the enemy was declared “conquered but not yet subdued” — issued the proclamations of 28 January and 31 January and reported to the chiefs of the three Sagies, and on 12 February he passed to the annexation of the whole realm while two days before he had told his journal (4 February) that “iedere ontmoeting met den vijand, iedere beweging veroorzaakt ons verliezen, die schier niet meer aan te vullen zijn” (“every meeting with the enemy, every movement causes us losses hardly to be replenished any more”) — in the same hours telegraphing to Batavia that with the conquest of the Kraton “the power of resistance was broken” (4 February) and “geene vijandelijkheden … Volk is vredesgezind” (“no hostilities … the people is peace-minded”, 7 February). On 29 January a reconnaissance to Longbattah had to retire before a numerous enemy. The secret sessions of the Kamer of 16-18 April discussed the origin of the war; minister Gericke van Herwijnen closed with “In plaats van den aangeboden olijftak verkozen zij het zwaard” (“Instead of the offered olive branch they chose the sword”) — words Verstege subscribed, but on which he commented that it was then inadmissible to keep offering olive branches that were answered with klewang blows. On 16 April the storm-force suffered, close by the walls south of Lampoe Oek, a painful defeat of 9 dead and 86 wounded, including 10 officers (see Battle of Lampoe Oek (16 April 1874)). On 26 April van Swieten departed with the so-called main force (see Departure of Jan van Swieten from Atjeh (April 1874)), leaving behind a chain of posts numbered in the pamphlet: 128 officers and 3,151 men, of whom 178 Europeans and 41 natives in hospital. The same evening the enemy moved in force south and east of the Kraton, and the next day punished the friendly moekim Marassa, burning seven kampongs; on 27 April the Marinebenting and the river posts were alarmed. Sickness ravaged the garrison all year: on 12 May 308 ambulance patients and 223 sick in quarters, on 20 May one-seventh of the force, and by December 902 dead and 1,917 evacuated; reinforcements had to be demanded repeatedly: three companies on 11 September, further companies on 8 October, and two half battalions with artillery on 8-9 December, bringing the garrison to double the strength van Swieten had fixed. Van Swieten preached the “zuiver afwachtende houding” (pure waiting posture) to his successor Pel in the note of 22 April (“De politiek moet en zal voltooien, wat de wapenen zoo gelukkig begonnen hebben”), wrote to the Governor-General from Buitenzorg on 19 July his list of moderate demands, and answered ministerial inquiry from the Netherlands on 17 October (“de versterkte kampong daarachter en daarnaast … viel niet in de bedoeling om die aan te tasten”) and 27 October 1874 (“niet wij, maar hij wordt door die vruchtlooze aanvallen uitgeput”) — judgments the year was to disprove. His proclamation of 12 February 1874 was that same year confirmed by minister Fransen van de Putte, whom van Goltstein replaced on 28 August 1874. The year ended with the decision of war, the old troops and the new reinforcements alike foreshadowing that harder work of 1875 (see 1875).

See Also

Account from Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu

31 March: Van Swieten’s proclamation. General van der Heijden given civil and military authority. Teukoe Bintara Keumangan’s conditional submission (rule must stay in his family).

Source: J. Jongejans, Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu (Baarn: Hollandia Drukkerij N.V., c. 1938), pp. 39.

Source

De expeditiën naar Atjeh 1873-1874, W.W.F. Herfkens, Koninklijke Militaire Academie, 1900, pp. 50–70.

Het einde van den Atjeh Oorlog (Overdruk uit de Evening Post van 25, 26 en 27 Augustus 1903, pp. 4–6); Somer, Dr. J. M. Het Atjeh-probleem van 1890-1900 (Overdruk uit Journal / Organ van de Netherlands-Indies Officers Association, [1935], pp. 4–5); Damste, H. T. “Atjeh-historie,” Koloniaal Tijdschrift 1916.

Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu, by J. Jongejans, Oud-Resident van het Gewest Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, with a foreword by Dr. H. Colijn (Baarn: Hollandia Drukkerij N.V., c. 1938), pp. 39.

Een beroep op het Nederlandsche volk in zake het Atjeh-vraagstuk, door J. J. W. E. Verstege (Amsterdam: J. H. de Bussy, 1886), pp. 25-40, 48-51, 118-126. OCR: DLP-158.

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