Declaration of war The British government saw the danger of this move (it might embroil Great Britain in war with
Russia and the Nordic powers
Sweden and
Denmark–Norway also), so declared war on the republic shortly after it announced its intentions in December 1780. To forestall Russia from coming to the aid of the Dutch (something Empress
Catherine II of Russia was not keen on, either), the British government cited a number of grievances that were ostensibly unrelated to the Dutch accession to the league. One of these was the shelter the Dutch had (reluctantly) given to the American privateer
John Paul Jones in 1779. More importantly, much was made of a draft treaty of commerce, secretly negotiated between the Amsterdam banker
Jean de Neufville and the American agent in
Aix-la-Chapelle,
William Lee, with the connivance of the Amsterdam
pensionary Van Berckel, and found among the effects of
Henry Laurens, an American diplomat who had been apprehended by the British cruiser
HMS Vestal in September 1780, on the high seas. He had been sent by the
Continental Congress to establish diplomatic relations with the Dutch Republic. The draft treaty was cited as proof by the British of the non-neutral conduct of the Dutch.
Progress of the war Dutch naval power had been in decline since 1712. The fleet had been long neglected, and the Dutch navy, having only 20 ships of the line at the start of the conflict, was no match for the British
Royal Navy. Although the States General had decided on a substantial expansion of the fleet in 1779, just before the fateful decision to offer limited convoys, and had even voted the funds for such a naval-construction program, it progressed but slowly. Another reason for the slow expansion of the Dutch fleet was a lack of suitable recruits—the Dutch navy paid lower wages than the merchant marine and did not use
impressment like the Royal Navy. The number of available ships was diminished even more at the start of the war when several ships were captured by the British in the West Indies because they were unaware the war had started. A convoy under Rear Admiral
Willem Krul was lost this way near St. Eustatius in February 1781, and the admiral was killed in the short action; in a different action, Captain Bylandt (a nephew of the admiral of the same name) surrendered his ship. The pronounced inferiority of the Dutch fleet, and its state of "unreadiness" was a frequently reiterated excuse for the Dutch naval commanders, especially Vice Admiral Andries Hartsinck, who commanded the
Texel squadron, to keep the fleet at anchor, thereby ceding dominance of the
North Sea to the blockading British fleet. Within a few weeks of the beginning of the war, more than 200 Dutch merchantmen, with cargo to the amount of 15 million guilders, had been captured by the British and 300 more were locked up in foreign ports. Another reason for the lack of activity of the Dutch navy was the fact that diplomatic activity never ceased and gave the Dutch government the illusion that the war would be of only short duration. Empress Catharine, though she refused to come to the aid of the Dutch, was very active in offering her services to mediate the dispute. Both the British and the Dutch, with varying amounts of sincerity, cooperated in these diplomatic manoeuvres, which came to nothing, but helped to keep military activities at a low level while they lasted. The British government also made overtures to the Dutch to come to a speedy conclusion of hostilities, especially after the cabinet of
Lord North had been replaced by that of
Rockingham and
Fox in March 1782. Fox immediately proposed a separate peace on favourable conditions to the Dutch government. Unfortunately for the Dutch, they had just bound themselves closer to France by agreeing to act "in concert" with France in naval actions, so a separate peace was no longer an option. A real military alliance with France was, however, still blocked by the stadtholder, despite the fact that many in the republic favoured it. The war, as far as it went, was fought in three main theatres. Britain blockaded Dutch ports in Europe, and embarked on expeditions to seize Dutch colonial properties throughout the world. These were almost entirely successful; only an
attempt to capture the Dutch
Elmina Castle on the Africa's Gold Coast (modern
Ghana) failed. While many Dutch territories in the West Indies were taken by the British, some, like
Curaçao, were not attacked due to their defensive strength.
West Indies by the British fleet in February 1781. The island is sacked by the British. As far as the Dutch were concerned, the war in the
West Indies was over almost before it had begun. Admiral
Rodney, the commander of the
Leeward Islands station of the Royal Navy, attacked the Dutch colonies in that part of the
Caribbean: St. Eustatius,
Saba, and
Saint Martin, as soon as he had received word of the declaration of war, in the process surprising a number of Dutch naval and merchant ships, which were still unaware of the start of hostilities. St. Eustatius (
captured on 3 February 1781), that had played such a large role in the supply of the American rebels with arms, was completely devastated by him. He proved himself especially vengeful against the Jewish merchants on the island. All goods on the island were confiscated and all merchants, Dutch, American, French, even British, deported. Part of the loot was auctioned off on the spot, but an appreciable amount was put on a convoy destined for Britain. However, much of the convoy was captured in the English Channel by a French squadron under Admiral
Picquet de la Motte. The French did not return the goods to the Dutch, however. Though an attempt was made to likewise capture the Dutch
Leeward Antilles, these remained in Dutch hands, as did
Suriname, though neighbouring
Berbice,
Demerara, and
Essequibo were rapidly taken by the British early in 1781. These were retaken by the French captain
Armand de Kersaint in 1782, and restored to the Dutch after the war.
European waters Admiral Hartsinck at first proved himself highly reluctant to risk his fleet. However, political pressure to venture outside the safety of the
Texel roadstead mounted and several cautious attempts were made to capture British convoys, or escort Dutch convoys. In one of those forays, an unusually strong squadron, under Admiral
Johan Zoutman and his second-in-command, Rear Admiral
Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen, encountered in August 1781 a British squadron of about equal strength under Admiral
Hyde Parker in the
Battle of Dogger Bank, which ended in a tactical draw. Another promising venture seemed to be what has become known as the
Brest Affair. In September 1782, after the Dutch politicians had hesitantly agreed to coordinate their actions with the French, acting "in concert", an opportunity seemed to exist to combine a Dutch squadron of 10
ships of the line with the French squadron at
Brest, as the British fleet in the channel had suddenly sailed south. However, Hartsinck, as usual, made objections, based on intelligence that British ships lay in ambush. When this proved false, the stadtholder ordered him to send the squadron, under command of Vice Admiral Count
Lodewijk van Bylandt to Brest. However, as had happened several times before, Bylandt, after having inspected the ships, declared them "unready" to put out to sea. In this refusal, he was supported by the other flag officers. The incident caused a political storm that threatened to engulf the stadtholder himself, as he was responsible as commander-in-chief for both the state of readiness of the fleet and its strategic decisions (though the officers were tactically and operationally responsible, and could not decline responsibility for the alleged state of "unreadiness" themselves). The opponents of the stadtholder demanded an investigation that was, however, very long drawn out, and quietly terminated after the stadtholder was restored in his full powers after 1787, long after the end of the war. Though, except for the Battle of Dogger-Bank, no major engagements were fought in European waters, and the British blockade encountered little opposition from the Dutch fleet, the blockade itself exacted its toll on the British seamen, who were at sea for long times at a stretch (which even exposed them to the danger of
scurvy) and the ships that suffered from severe wear and tear. Also, because an appreciable number of ships had to be detached to maintain naval superiority in the North Sea, the already overstretched Royal Navy was even more strained after 1781. Ships that were needed to blockade the Dutch coast could not be used against the French, Americans, and Spaniards in other theatres of war.
Asian waters The
Dutch East India Company (VOC) had been responsible for defending its own colonies east of the
Cape Colony, but for the first time, had to request assistance from the Dutch navy. However, ships were lacking at first and what naval forces were available were unable to prevent Britain from taking full control of
Dutch India. In early 1782 British Admiral Sir
Edward Hughes captured Trincomalee on the eastern coast of
Dutch Ceylon, considered to be the finest harbour in the
Bay of Bengal. In March 1781, British Admiral
George Johnstone was sent to capture the Cape Colony. France, which had already planned to send a fleet to India, received intelligence of this, and directed its commander, the
Bailli de Suffren, to try to reach the Cape before Johnstone. After Johnstone and Suffren met in a happenstance
battle in the Cape Verde Islands, Suffren was able to arrive before Johnstone, and the strength of French troops he left dissuaded Johnstone from attacking the colony. After capturing a number of VOC ships in the nearby
Saldanha Bay, he returned to North Atlantic waters. Suffren had continued on to
Isle de France (now
Mauritius) and then India. There, he arrived and fought a number of actions against Hughes. Suffren attempted to take the Dutch port of
Negapatam (
taken by the British in 1781), but was
frustrated by Hughes. In August, the French
recaptured Trincomalee, and Suffren fought Hughes to a standstill in a naval battle several days later. The two fleets withdrew and the British repaired in
Bombay while the French refitted in the Dutch colony of
Sumatra. Hughes and Suffren
met again in 1783, but news of preliminary peace between France and Britain ended hostilities in India. In August 1781, word of the war reached Sumatra, where both the Dutch and British companies had trading outposts. The directors of the British company at
Fort Marlborough received instructions from Bombay to destroy all of the Dutch outposts on the west coast of Sumatra. Quite fortuitously, a fleet of five East Indiamen arrived not long after, and the directors seized the opportunity for action. Henry Botham, one of the directors, commandeered the fleet, and with 100 company soldiers sailed for
Padang. On 18 August, Jacob van Heemskerk, the VOC chief resident at Padang,
surrendered all of the west coast outposts without a fight, unaware that Botham's force was relatively weak. The capture netted the British 500,000
florins in goods and money. The fortress at Padang was destroyed before the town was returned to VOC control in 1784.
Ceasefire and Treaty of Paris The republic did not form a formal military alliance with France and her allies before the end of the war. A treaty of amity and commerce was, however, concluded with the Americans in October 1782, after John Adams, who succeeded Henry Laurens, had managed to obtain diplomatic recognition of the American republic from the States General in April 1782. The republic was the second European power (after France, but before Spain) to recognise the United States. Adams also succeeded in raising a substantial loan for the Americans on the still-significant Dutch capital market. The republic involved itself in the peace congress that the French foreign minister,
Vergennes, organised, negotiating separately with the British commissioners. The Dutch demands were not supported by the French, and this put them into an untenable position when the French and their allies went ahead with the signing of the general peace. The Dutch, therefore, were forced to sign a preliminary peace just before that general treaty was signed. The republic joined the armistice between Britain and France in January 1783. The signing of the
Treaty of Paris (1783–1784) made
Negapatnam, in India, a British colony.
Ceylon was restored to Dutch control. The British gained the right of free trade with part of the
Dutch East Indies, which had been a major war aim for British merchants. The French also returned the other Dutch colonies they had recaptured from the British, including the ones in the West Indies (like St. Eustatius that had been taken by Admiral
Rodney in February 1781, but was retaken by the French Admiral
De Grasse on 27 November 1781). ==Aftermath==