Invasion of Surinam (1804)
Invasion of Surinam | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
France | United Kingdom | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Abraham Jacob van Imbijze van Batenburg |
Samuel Hood Sir Charles Green | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Unknown | 2,000+ soldiers |
The 1804 Invasion of Surinam was a campaign for control of the Dutch colony of Surinam between the Batavian Republic and the United Kingdom during the Napoleonic Wars. The colony, which was held by a Dutch garrison, was captured on 5 May 1804 by a British squadron of 31 ships carrying around 2,000 soldiers under the command of Samuel Hood and Sir Charles Green. Following the capture, Green was made governor general of British Surinam.
Preparations
In March 1804, the new Commander-in-Chief,
The country's coastal waters were very shallow making any landing impossible except at the highest point of the tide, and the terrain was difficult to penetrate being covered in thick jungle that stretched down to the shoreline.
Capture
The expedition arrived off Surinam on 25 April after a twenty-two-day journey.[5][6] On 26 April, the sloop Hippomenes, a transport and a further three armed vessels, landed Brigadier-General Frederick Maitland and an advanced corps of over 600 men at Warapee Creek.[5][4] Comprising men from 16th Foot, 64th Foot and 6th West Indian Regiment plus a battery of light artillery, the advanced corps had been ordered to make their way by water from their position, 30 miles east of the Surinam River, to the rear of Fort New Amsterdam.[4] The same night, the captain of HMS Emerald, James O'Brien was ordered to assist Brigadier-General William Carlyon Hughes in the taking of Braam's Point. A sandbar initially prevented Emerald from entering the Surinam River but O'Brien forced her across on the rising tide, with Pandour and Drake following. Anchoring close by, the three British ships quickly put the Dutch battery of 18-pounders out of action. Soldiers from the 64th were then put ashore and captured the fort without loss of life. An invitation to surrender was then dispatched to the colony's governor.[5][7][8]
On 28 April an unfavourable reply to Green’s summons was received but a plan to land soldiers for an attack on Fort Purmerend was thwarted by the low tide and marshes, and had to be abandoned.
Sometime after 22:00, a detachment of 180 men from the 64th and West Indian regiment, under Hughes, was shown to the path by members of an indigenous tribe. Heavy rain had made the trail almost impassable but after a gruelling five-hour march undercover of the forests and swamps, Hughes and his men were able to launch a surprise attack that resulted in the capture of the two forts.[8][9] By this time, most of the squadron had managed to work its way up the river as far as Fort Frederick, General Maitland was advancing along the Commewine River, and with troops poised to attack the fort of New Amsterdam, the Batavian commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Batenburg, duly surrendered.[10]
Following the capture, Green was made governor general of British Suriname.
Order of battle
Ship | Guns | Commander | Notes | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|
Centaur | 74 | Commodore Samuel Hood Captain Murray Maxwell |
[13] | |
Pandour | 44 | Captain John Nash | Armed en flute
| |
Serapis | 44 | Commander Henry Waring | ||
Alligator | 28 | Commander Charles Richardson | ||
Hippomenes | 18 | Captain Conway Shipley | ||
Drake | 16 | Commander William Ferris | ||
Unique | 10 | Lieutenant George Rowley Brand | ||
Guachapin | 14 | Commander Kenneth M'Kenzie | Ships boats only | [14] |
Emerald | 36 | Captain James O'Brien |
British Army
Units | Commanders |
---|---|
16th Regiment of Foot
|
Sir Charles Green Frederick Maitland William Carlyon Hughes |
64th Regiment of Foot
| |
60th Rifles
| |
York Light Infantry Volunteers | |
6th West Indies Regiment
| |
Royal Artillery |
Citations
- ^ Fortescue pp. 186-187
- ^ Fortescue p. 187
- ^ a b Howard p. 120
- ^ a b c Fortescue p. 188
- ^ a b c "No. 15712". The London Gazette. 19 June 1804. pp. 761–762.
- ^ James (Vol III) pp. 288–289
- ^ a b James (Vol. III) p. 289
- ^ a b c d Fortescue p. 189
- ^ James (Vol. III) pp. 289–290
- ^ James (Vol. III) p. 290
- JSTOR 41442164.
- ^ Gooding, Sidney James (1965). An Introduction to British Artillery in North America. Ottawa: Museum Restoration Service. p. 46.
- ^ James, William (1837). The Naval History of Great Britain. Vol. 3. London: Richard Bentley. p. 288.
- ^ James, William (1837). The Naval History of Great Britain. Vol. 3. London: Richard Bentley. p. 289.
References
- George Bruce. Harbottle's Dictionary of Battles. (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1981) (ISBN 0442223366).
- OCLC 650331461.
- Howard, Martin R. (2015). Death Before Glory - The British Soldier in the West Indies in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars 1793-1815. Barnsley: Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-78159-341-7.
- James, William (1827). The Naval History of Great Britain, Volume III, 1800–1805. London: ISBN 0-85177-907-7.