Raid on Essequibo and Demerara (1781)
Raid on Essequibo and Demerara | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Great Britain | Dutch Republic | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Six vessels | Unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
None | 14-15 merchant vessels captured |
The raid on Demerara and Essequibo took place between 24 and 27 February 1781 in the context of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (1780–1784). Six British privateers entered the rivers and captured 15 Dutch vessels before withdrawing.
Background
The Fourth Anglo-Dutch War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. The war, contemporaneously related to the American Revolutionary War, broke out over British and Dutch disagreements on the legality and conduct of Dutch trade with Britain's enemies in that war. In 1781 France induced the Dutch to side with them and the Americans.[citation needed]
The raid
The privateers had heard of the outbreak of war between Britain and the Dutch Republic and decided to take advantage of the situation. They did not have letters of marque authorizing offensive action and so had they failed in their attack the Dutch would have been within their rights to hang any captives as pirates. Britain too could have hanged them for piracy, but the privateers "trusted to the Honour of the Government, that no advantage would be taken of that defect, while they only did what appeared to them to be good service to their country as well as to themselves; and what in their judgement would greatly distress the enemy."[1]
The privateers Bellona, Mercury, and Porcupine arrived at Demerara on 21 February. Hornet joined them the next day. Two privateer
They left behind four vessels, two of them American. As of 3 March there were also nine merchant vessels in the river at Essequibo.[3]
Dutch reports agree on the losses but point out that the sole defensive structure at Essequibo, Fort Zeelandia, was in no state to be of any use and that the Council at Essequibo had given the commander, Captain Severyn, instructions to put up no more than a token resistance.[4]
Aftermath
On 27 February 1781 two sloops,
The vessels the privateers had captured became droits to the Admiralty as the privateers had had no commission to seize them.[6]
From 2 February 1782 to February 1783 the
Privateers
Name | Master | Tons (bm) | Armament | Complement | Home port |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bellona[2] | Patrick Driscoll | 150 | 26 × 12 & 6-pounder guns + 6 × swivel guns | Bristol | |
Mercury[8] | Robert Craggs | 200 | 24 guns, or 10 × 4-pounder guns + 8 × swivel guns | 100 | Bristol |
Porcupine[9] | J. Jackson | 90 | 18 guns, or 14 × 4-pounder guns + 6 swivel guns | 70 | Bristol |
Hornet (built Bordeaux c.1777)[10] | John Kimber | 350 | 22 × 24-pounder carronades (main deck) + 10 × 12-pounder guns (Fc) | 180 | Bristol,[10] or Liverpool[3] |
Halton[2] | Oden Whitehouse | 8 guns | Barbados | ||
Polly[2] | Newbold | 4 guns | Barbados |
The first Dutch report of the privateers stated that the squadron consisted of two 3-masted ships, a brig, and two schooners. A letter from the privateers calling for the surrender of the colony bears the names of four captains, with the names being at variance to those in the table above: "Wm. Maclure, Robert Boreal, Fil. Hardy, and Benj. Wenbold".[4] The names of the masters in the table and most of the ship details are consistent with those in the Remembrancer.[3]
Captured vessels
The table below lists 14 vessels that the privateers captured at the mouth of the Demerara River.[3] This list appears to be missing a vessel of 200 tons and 12 guns, given the discrepancy between the numbers in the table and the total tons and armament that Damer Powell reported.[2]
Name | Master | Tons (bm) | Armament | Complement | Cargo | Home port |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Guidl. Vreight | Christ. Catnea | 200 | 12 guns | 32 | Coffee, sugar, & cotton | Flushing |
Eansesindgheyd | Andrew Chris. Denta | 400 | 10 guns | 26 | Flour & lumber | Middleburg |
Vreede | John Deweades | 120 | 4 guns | 26 | Coffee & sugar | Amsterdam |
de Vrouguer, An. Colyns and Ana Maria | Mart. Sclossen | 206 | 8 guns | 18 | Coffee, cotton, & sugar | Amsterdam |
Young Aaron | J.A. Ruge | 152 | 6 guns | 14 | Amsterdam | |
De Boreas | Jean Ricart | 600 | 10 guns | 26 | Provisions, iron, & lumber | Amsterdam |
Yofrowd Ana Louisa | Tunis Sweeris | 400 | 12 guns | 20 | Planks and bricks | Amsterdam |
Zeelente Poost | Cornelius Keifer | 180 | 6 guns | 12 | Coffee and sugar | Amsterdam |
Haast U. Lang Seam Jonge Juff. Margarete | Cornelius Van Kakum | 250 | 12 guns | 37 | Sugar, coffee, and cotton | Middleburg |
Middleburg Hope | Hans Zuidella | 400 | 12 guns | 24 | Sugar, coffee, & cotton | Middleburg |
ship | Barnes | 350 | 8 guns | 20 | Coffee, cotton, & sugar | Amsterdam |
De Vreheyd | Petterse | 350 | 8 | 32 | Sugar, coffee, cotton | Middleburg |
snow | Oudman, Zwartje | 200 | 4 guns | 16 | Provisions and planks | Rotterdam |
schooner | 90 | 8 | Timber | St Eustatius |
Citations
- ^ Clowes et al. (1897-1903), Vol. 4, p.62.
- ^ a b c d e Powell (1930), p. 253.
- ^ a b c d Remembrancer (1780), pp.308-9.
- ^ a b c Rodway (1891), Vol. 1, pp.275-283.
- ^ "No. 12181". The London Gazette. 21 April 1781. p. 1.
- ^ Annual Register (April 1781), p.48.
- ^ a b Henry (1855), p.239.
- ^ Powell (1930), p. 276.
- ^ Powell (1930), p. 279.
- ^ a b Powell (1930), p. 266.
References
- Clowes, W. Laird, et al. (1897-1903) The royal navy: a history from the earliest times to the present. (Boston: Little, Brown and Co.; London: S. Low, Marston and Co.).
- Powell, J. W. Damer (1930). Bristol privateers and ships of war. J.W. Arrowsmith: Bristol.
- Henry, Dalton G. (1855) The History of British Guiana: Comprising a General Description of the Colony: A narrative of some of the principal events from the earliest period of products and natural history.
- Rodway, James (1891) History of British Guiana, from the Year 1668 to the Present Time. (J. Thomson).