The Battle of The James River took place in June 1667 during the

Second Anglo-Dutch War The Second Anglo-Dutch War or the Second Dutch War (4 March 1665 – 31 July 1667; nl, Tweede Engelse Oorlog "Second English War") was a conflict between Kingdom of England, England and the Dutch Republic partly for control over the seas a ...

. A Dutch force of five ships led by

Abraham Crijnssen Abraham Crijnssen (died 1 February 1669) was a Dutch naval commander, notable for capturing the English colony in Suriname in 1667 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, resulting in the establishment of a long-term colony under Dutch control. The ...

sailed through the

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

searching for English ships. They eventually found them - where they burned and captured them.

Background

During the

, the Dutch Republic dispatched Admiral

with a fleet of seven ships on December 30, 1666. His mission was to recapture the Dutch colonies in the West Indies and inflict maximum damage on the enemy in the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

region. The expedition was initiated by Pieter de Huybert, the Grand Pensionary of Zeeland, who hoped to force the enemy into peace negotiations through devastation and ruin. Crijnssen's fleet consisted of three

frigates A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

, a

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

, a

hoy Hoy ( sco, Hoy; from Norse , meaning "high island") is an island in Orkney, Scotland, measuring – the second largest in the archipelago, after Mainland. A natural causeway, ''the Ayre'', links the island to the smaller South Walls; the tw ...

, a

fluyt A fluyt (archaic Dutch: ''fluijt'' "flute"; ) is a Dutch type of sailing vessel originally designed by the shipwrights of Hoorn as a dedicated cargo vessel. Originating in the Dutch Republic in the 16th century, the vessel was designed to facilit ...

, and a snauw, crewed by 750 sailors and 225 soldiers. By sailing along the west coast of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, Crijnssen reached the "Wild Coast" of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

in early 1667. On February 25, he Captured Surinam. He stayed in the colony for another month to establish governance before departing with five ships to reclaim

Berbice Berbice is a region along the Berbice River in Guyana, which was between 1627 and 1792 a colony of the Dutch West India Company and between 1792 to 1815 a colony of the Dutch state. After having been ceded to the United Kingdom of Great Britain ...

and

Tobago Tobago () is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trini ...

, bringing both islands back under Dutch control. Via Martinique, Crijnssen set course for

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

, attempting to intercept an English war fleet near Nevis on May 20, 1667. Despite joining forces with a French squadron, their efforts proved unsuccessful. Disappointed by the lack of commitment from the French, Crijnssen redirected his course northward.

Battle

Fate was kind to Crijnssen. Without being discovered he arrived at the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

in June 1667. One heavily

armed merchantman An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...

was taken immediately, as was a ship sailing out of the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

. Those on board told him about a large number of ships loaded with

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

upstream on

would lie. With the English flag in the top as a stratagem, the Zeelanders went up the river and found twenty ships there guarded by the English warship Elisabeth. The totally surprised Englishman was overpowered, as well as eighteen

merchantmen A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are us ...

. About five or six thousand tons of tobacco were divided among eleven ships and van provide a prize crew. With this fleet, the journey home accepted.

References

{{coord missing, Virginia Battles of the Anglo-Dutch Wars Conflicts in 1667 Battles involving England Battles involving the Dutch Republic Second Anglo-Dutch War 17th century in South America 1667 in North America 1667 in the British Empire 1667 in the Dutch Empire Naval battles of the Second Anglo-Dutch War