J. B. van Heutsz

Joannes Benedictus van Heutsz was born on 3 February 1851, in Coevorden in the Netherlands. He was the second son of Joannes Franciscus van Heutsz and Maria Lucilla Kocken. Both his father and his grandfather were artillery officers.[1][2]

Van Heutsz, who was a difficult and talkative student, went to school in Breda. His family could not afford to send him to the Royal Military Academy, in Breda, and so he later went to the Instruction Battalion in Kampen from 1867 to 1872.[1][2]

Lieutenant-General Van Heutsz in c. 1900

After 25 years of protracted warfare, van Heutsz was appointed as Military Governor of Aceh.[3] In consort with the Islamic scholar Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje, van Heutsz succeeded in weakening the Acehnese resistance by exploiting tensions between the Acehnese aristocracy and the religious ulama. He also solicited the support of the Acehnese ruling classes and isolated the rebels from their rural bases. On the advice of an Acehnese noble, he also altered the tactics of the Royal Dutch East Indies Army by introducing small mobile forces, which were successful against the Acehnese guerrilla tactics.[4]

Van Heutsz commissioned Colonel Gotfried Coenraad Ernst van Daalen with the challenge of breaking any remaining resistance. Van Daalen destroyed several villages, killing at least 2,900 Acehnese, among whom were 1,150 women and children. Dutch losses numbered just 26, and van Daalen was promoted.

By 1903, van Heutsz's tactics had succeeded in convincing several secular Acehnese resistance leaders, including Sultan Muhammad Daud, Tuanku Raja Keumala, Tuanku Mahmud and Teuku Panglima Polem Muda Perkasa, to surrender to the colonial authorities.[3] Having overcome the secular elements of the resistance, Aceh was declared by the Dutch to be officially pacified by 1903.[4] However, resistance from the ulama continued until 1913.[3]

Lieutenant General van Heutsz with his staff during the attack on Batèë Iliëk, 12 March 1901

Attack on Batèë Iliëk in 1901, by Jan Hoynck van Papendrecht

Hendrikus Colijn, a future Dutch prime minister, was the adjutant of van Heutsz. In the Netherlands, van Heutsz was then considered a hero, named as the "Pacificator of Aceh" and was promoted to the position of Governor-General in 1904.[4] His efforts boosted support for imperialism in Dutch society and government and weakened the position of the anti-imperialists.[4]

Tomb of Joannes Benedictus van Heutsz at the Nieuwe Ooster Begraafplaats in Amsterdam

Van Heutsz moved to Amsterdam in 1909. After his wife died in 1919, he moved to Bussum. He lived in Montreux, Switzerland, and Merano, in Italy, from 1922. He died in Montreux on 11 July 1924 at the age of 73. On 9 June 1929, he was reburied in Amsterdam.[1][2]

• Kraton Medal
• Knight First Class of the Military Order of William (1876)
• Honorary Sabre participants for their bravery (26 June 1890)
• Commander of the Military Order of William (1899)
• Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion (1899)
• Grand Officer of the Military Order of William (1901)
• Grand Cross of the Military Order of William (1903)
• Grand Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Dutch Lion (4 December 1919)
• Expedition Cross with two clasps
• Long Service Medal for Officers
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Eagle

• J.B. van Heutsz - "The Pacifier of Aceh" 1851-1924 on YouTube
• The Aceh War 1873-1914 on YouTube
• Ibrahim, Alfian. "Aceh and the Perang Sabil." Indonesian Heritage: Early Modern History. Vol. 3, ed. Anthony Reid, Sian Jay and T. Durairajoo. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet, 2001. 132-133
• Reid, Anthony (2005). An Indonesian Frontier: Acehnese & Other Histories of Sumatra. Singapore: Singapore University Press. ISBN 9971-69-298-8.
• Vickers, Adrian (2005). A History of Modern Indonesia. New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 10–13. ISBN 0-521-54262-6.

• Media related to Joannes Benedictus van Heutsz at Wikimedia Commons