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The Batavian navy ( nl, Bataafsche marine) was the navy of the
Batavian Republic The Batavian Republic ( nl, Bataafse Republiek; french: République Batave) was the successor state to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 and ended on 5 June 1806, with the accession of Louis Bona ...
. A continuation of the ''Staatse vloot'' (Dutch States fleet) of the
Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...
. Though thoroughly reorganized after the Batavian Revolution of 1795, the navy embarked on several naval construction programs which, at least on paper, made her a serious rival of the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
during the
War of the Second Coalition The War of the Second Coalition (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on periodisation) was the second war on revolutionary France by most of the European monarchies, led by Britain, Austria and Russia, and including the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, N ...
. However, the
Capitulation of Saldanha Bay The Capitulation of Saldanha Bay was the surrender in 1796 to the British Royal Navy of a Dutch expeditionary force sent to recapture the Dutch Cape Colony. In 1794, early in the French Revolutionary Wars, the army of the French Republic overr ...
, the
Battle of Camperdown The Battle of Camperdown (known in Dutch as the ''Zeeslag bij Kamperduin'') was a major naval action fought on 11 October 1797, between the British North Sea Fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan and a Batavian Navy (Dutch) fleet under Vice-Admiral ...
and the Vlieter incident showed that she did not measure up to that expectation. Nevertheless, the organizational reorganizations proved durable, when the
Batavian Republic The Batavian Republic ( nl, Bataafse Republiek; french: République Batave) was the successor state to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 and ended on 5 June 1806, with the accession of Louis Bona ...
was succeeded by the
Kingdom of Holland The Kingdom of Holland ( nl, Holland (contemporary), (modern); french: Royaume de Hollande) was created by Napoleon Bonaparte, overthrowing the Batavian Republic in March 1806 in order to better control the Netherlands. Since becoming Emperor ...
, and later, the
Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...
, so that the present-day
Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy ( nl, Koninklijke Marine, links=no) is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. During the 17th century, the navy of the Dutch Republic (1581–1795) was one of the most powerful naval forces in the world an ...
should trace its ancestry through her.


Background

Before the
Fourth Anglo-Dutch War The Fourth Anglo-Dutch War ( nl, Vierde Engels-Nederlandse Oorlog; 1780–1784) was a conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. The war, contemporary with the War of American Independence (1775-1783), broke out over ...
, the
Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...
embarked on a program of fleet expansion after many years of neglect of the fleet. In the period from 1777 to 1789, 92 warships were built, of which 45 were
ships of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colum ...
. But in the next period of six years only six ships (which two ships of the line) were added, and the fleet again suffered from neglect. While the new ships were also built with inferior materials new naval technologies were introduced, like coppering of the hulls, and new armament, like
carronade A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century. Its main func ...
s. Naval establishments, like the port at Nieuwediep and the
dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...
at
Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushing ...
were repaired and improved. In 1792, the decision was finally taken to reserve a fixed sum on the war budget for maintenance of the fleet (which had up to that time been the responsibility of the five Dutch admiralties). The
stadtholder In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and H ...
proposed in 1792 to form a permanent
corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...
of
marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...
, but this was rejected. A few years later, he was more successful with the establishment of a corps of gunners. Plans for establishing a corps of midshipmen, to revise the articles of war for the navy, and to have the state pay for the meals of the crews (instead of charging them for food) did not go anywhere. The officers and crews of the navy were experienced and professional. However, the officers lacked knowledge of
naval tactics Naval tactics and doctrine is the collective name for methods of engaging and defeating an enemy ship or fleet in battle at sea during naval warfare, the naval equivalent of military tactics on land. Naval tactics are distinct from naval strate ...
. Officers like Admiral
Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen, Count of Doggerbank (1 May 1735 – 24 May 1819), was a Dutch naval officer. Having had a good scientific education, Van Kinsbergen was a proponent of fleet modernization and wrote many books about naval organization, d ...
published theoretical works to remedy this situation in the 1780s. He also improved the ''General Seinbook'' (General signal book) which was used to communicate at sea between ships. Van Kinsbergen also introduced reforms to improve military discipline in the fleet. A certain number of improvements were therefore made after the war, but the incompetence of the admiralties was a big drag on progress. Grand Pensionary
Laurens Pieter van de Spiegel Laurens Pieter van de Spiegel (19 January 1736, in Middelburg – 7 May 1800, in Lingen) was Grand Pensionary of Zeeland and, from 9 November 1787 to 4 February 1795, of Holland. He was an Orangist, which means that he was a supporter of Prince W ...
, therefore, attempted to abolish them and reorganize the navy into a modern navy department, but he was thwarted in these attempts by vested interests. The state of the fleet, therefore, was dire when
war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
with the revolutionary French republic broke out, and the Dutch Republic was eventually overrun by the French in early 1795.


Establishment of the Batavian navy


Abolition of the admiralties and other institutions of the ''Staatse vloot''

The ''Staatse vloot'' in its entirety was a war booty for the
French army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...
.The greater part of the ''Staatse vloot'', immobilized by ice in the roadstead of the Texel, surrendered to French cavalry on 23 January 1795, after the ''Gecommitteerde Raden'' (Executive) of the
States of Holland The States of Holland and West Frisia ( nl, Staten van Holland en West-Friesland) were the representation of the two Estates (''standen'') to the court of the Count of Holland. After the United Provinces were formed — and there no longer was a c ...
had ordered captain Reintjes, the commanding officer, to surrender on 21 January. (Other parts of the fleet had already surrendered earlier on the orders of the Dutch supreme command.) There exists a
myth Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...
that the fleet was surprised by a squadron of French
hussar A hussar ( , ; hu, huszár, pl, husarz, sh, husar / ) was a member of a class of light cavalry, originating in Central Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely ...
s, who sneaked up on it by crossing the ice on horseback while the sailors were sleeping. The Dutch historian
de Jonge De Jonge is a Dutch surname meaning the younger. People with this surname include:: * Bonifacius de Jonge (1567-1625), Grand Pensionary of Zeeland *Bonifacius Cornelis de Jonge (1875–1954), Dutch politician *Brendon de Jonge (born 1980), Zimbabwe ...
spends several pages in his authoritative history, based on documentary sources from the Dutch National Archives, on debunking this myth; de Jonge, pp. 178-193
At the same time seven Dutch warships and a number of
VOC VOC, VoC or voc may refer to: Science and technology * Open-circuit voltage (VOC), the voltage between two terminals when there is no external load connected * Variant of concern, a category used during the assessment of a new variant of a virus ...
and other merchantmen were impounded in British ports. These ships were declared
prizes A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.
in March 1796 by the British authorities and pressed into the Royal Navy or the British merchant marine, of whatever description; de Jonge, pp.199-201
The officers and crews were paid off, and French crews took over the Dutch ships. However, after the Treaty of Den Haag had been concluded, the ships were returned to the
Batavian Republic The Batavian Republic ( nl, Bataafse Republiek; french: République Batave) was the successor state to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 and ended on 5 June 1806, with the accession of Louis Bona ...
. Meanwhile, the old organisational structure of the Dutch navy had been overturned. The office of
Stadtholder In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and H ...
, who also had been Captain-General of the
Dutch States Army The Dutch States Army ( nl, Staatse leger) was the army of the Dutch Republic. It was usually called this, because it was formally the army of the States-General of the Netherlands, the sovereign power of that federal republic. This mercenary army ...
, and Admiral-General of the fleet, was abolished right away in the first days of the Batavian Revolution. Soon the admiralty boards were abolished and replaced by a standing Committee on Naval Affairs of the Provisional Representatives of the People of Holland.This was done on the initiative of
Pieter Paulus Pieter Paulus (9 April 1753 – 17 March 1796) was a Dutch jurist, fiscal (prosecutor) of the Admiralty of the Maze and politician. He was one of the ideologues of the Dutch Patriot movement and is considered by many Dutch as the founder of their ...
, a former ''advocaat fiscaal'' (military prosecutor) of the
Admiralty of Rotterdam The Admiralty of Rotterdam, also called the Admiralty of de Maze, was one of the five Dutch admiralties in the Dutch Republic. History The Admiralty of Rotterdam was founded in 1574 during the Dutch Revolt, when (after the Capture of Brielle) ...
, who was chairman of the Provisional Representatives. He also assumed the chair of the new Committee, in which capacity he managed to push through a large number of reforms, even though he soon died in office. To avoid misunderstandings: the Provisional Representatives were an organ of the province of Holland, whereas most of the reforms were formally instituted by the
States General of the Batavian Republic The States General of the Batavian Republic was the name for the Dutch government between January, 1795 and March 1796. It was nominally the same as the States-General of the Dutch Republic, the predecessor of the Batavian Republic, as the old con ...
. However, this may be explained by the fact that (as under the old Republic) Holland had the most influential delegation in the States General, and often took the initiative that then was rubber stamped by the other provincial delegations. After April 1796 the Committee for Naval Affairs was replaced by a similarly named body of the new
National Assembly of the Batavian Republic The National Assembly of the Batavian Republic (Dutch: ''Nationale Vergadering'') was the Dutch parliament between 1796 and 1798. The National Assembly was founded in 1796 after general elections. It replaced the States-General of the Batavian Re ...
; de Jonge, pp. 207-208
A measure that would have a long-lasting deleterious influence was the wholesale
cashiering Cashiering (or degradation ceremony), generally within military forces, is a ritual dismissal of an individual from some position of responsibility for a breach of discipline. Etymology From the Flemish (to dismiss from service; to discard r ...
of the corps of naval officers.


Personnel reforms

In 1787, after the repression of the Patriot revolution through Prussian military intervention, the Dutch navy was purged of suspected members of the Patriot faction. Many were forced to go into exile (among them
Jan Willem de Winter Jan Willem de Winter (French: Jean Guillaume de Winter, 23 March 1761 – 2 June 1812) was a Dutch admiral during the Napoleonic Wars. Biography Early life De Winter was born in Kampen and entered naval service at a young age. He disting ...
, the future commander-in-chief of the Batavian navy, who was a lieutenant at the time). Many of these people returned with the Dutch troops in the army of the French Republic (de Winter as a
général de brigade Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed to ...
). They felt not only hatred for the defeated
Stadtholderate In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and H ...
, but also for its adherents under the naval officers, who had conducted the purge in 1787. The purge that the Naval Affairs Committee now instituted probably was therefore motivated by this rancor, and also by the fear that the "old guard" officers would constitute a "
Fifth column A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. According to Harris Mylonas and Scott Radnitz, "fifth columns" are “domestic actors who work to un ...
". But the immediate effect of the rash measure was that the navy lost a large number of experienced and competent officers, like Admiral Van Kinsbergen, who later refused to return to the service, when they were asked. The Batavian navy, therefore, started out with a new officer corps that was qualitatively substandard, many flag officers having been promoted from subaltern ranks, without having acquired the necessary experience, especially in combat. The new officer corps also became divided between the "new" and "old" officers (after some of those returned) who mutually mistrusted each other, leading to frequent suspicions of disloyalty, even treason The new navy needed a new commander-in-chief immediately and in this post, the former navy lieutenant (but now general) de Winter was appointed (12 March 1795).This decision was also hastened by the fact that a French rear-admiral, Pierre Jean Van Stabel, had come to Flushing, apparently to take command of the Batavian fleet. This was something the leaders of the Republic wanted to avoid at any price; de Jonge, p, 211 This was followed by the appointment of six vice-admirals (one of whom was de Winter) and three rear-admirals on 26 July 1795. The quick elevation of de Winter above his older, and more experienced, colleagues could only cause jealousy, and this later proved a dangerous flaw for the leadership of the navy. Another source of discontent was that the pay scales for the officers were not established for another two yearsAt the same time the establishment of the officer corps was then set at 1 lt-admiral, 4 vice-admirals, 6 rear-admirals, 12 captains first class, 12 captains second class, 36 commanders, 36 first lieutenants, and several hundred subaltern officers; this for a fleet of 20 to 25 ships of the line, and 50 to 60 frigates and smaller vessels; de Jonge, p.214, note 1 (which caused much uncertainty among them, and was seen as a sign of low esteem). To assure the quality of the education of naval officers
Jan Hendrik van Swinden Jean Henri van Swinden (The Hague, 8 June 1746 – Amsterdam, 9 March 1823) was a Dutch mathematician and physicist who taught in Franeker and Amsterdam. Biography His parents were the lawyer Phillippe van Swinden and Marie Anne Tollosan. H ...
was appointed "examinator-general." To manage the naval shipyards (each admiralty previously had had one, autonomous, shipyard to build warships) one "constructor-general" was appointed (Pieter Glavimans, the superintendent of the Rotterdam shipyard). The criminal justice system in the navy was put in the hands of a
Provost marshal Provost marshal is a title given to a person in charge of a group of Military Police (MP). The title originated with an older term for MPs, '' provosts'', from the Old French ''prévost'' (Modern French ''prévôt''). While a provost marshal i ...
for the navy. A commission for
Pilotage Piloting or pilotage is the process of navigating on water or in the air using fixed points of reference on the sea or on land, usually with reference to a nautical chart or aeronautical chart to obtain a fix of the position of the vessel or air ...
was formed under direct control of the Naval Affairs Committee, and an officer charged with surveying the harbors and coastal waters and publishing naval charts. Finally, the 1702
Articles of War The Articles of War are a set of regulations drawn up to govern the conduct of a country's military and naval forces. The first known usage of the phrase is in Robert Monro's 1637 work ''His expedition with the worthy Scot's regiment called Mac-k ...
for the navy were modernized (punishments like
keelhauling Keelhauling (Dutch ''kielhalen''; "to drag along the keel") is a form of punishment and potential execution once meted out to sailors at sea. The sailor was tied to a line looped beneath the vessel, thrown overboard on one side of the ship, and d ...
, inconsistent with the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, adopted by the Provisional Representatives on 31 January 1795, were abolished, and replaced with more humane forms). The General Order for the Service at Sea was also modernized.


Commission on the state of the fleet

The fleet had been severely neglected in the years before the revolution by the old regime (for which the Stadtholder was held responsible by the new regime). To get a view of what the real state of the fleet was, the Naval Affairs Committee appointed a commission, consisting of its member, the distinguished scientist Henricus Aeneae, the future rear-admirals
Samuel Story Samuel Story (2 October 1752 – 8 January 1811) was a vice admiral of the Batavian Republic Navy. He commanded the squadron that surrendered without a fight to the Royal Navy at the Vlieter incident in 1799. Early life Story was born in Maas ...
and Engelbertus Lucas, and Constructor-General Glavimans to inspect the ships then in service (26 February 1795). The commission already reported on 26 May 1795.''Rapport wegens den staat van 's Lands schepen van oorlog en kleinere vaartuigen tot den zeedienst betreklyk: midsgaders den staat der havens, scheeps- timmerwerven, magazynen, arsenaalen, enz. : zoo als zich die, by inspectie van de Ondergeteekende Leden eener door Hun Hoog Mogenden daar toe aangestelde Commissie bevonden, in het voorjaar, of in de maanden van Maart en April, des Jaars 1795'', Volume 1 ('sLands drukkerij 179

/ref> It reported that the navy had available 40 ships of the line of different Rating system of the Royal Navy, ratings, 35 frigates, and 104 smaller vessels. However, many of these ships were in bad repair, and could only be made operational after expensive repairs would be made. The commission judged that only four ships of the line of 74 guns, fourteen of 60 to 68 guns, and six of 50 to 56 guns, would be worth the trouble to be made operational; likewise, five frigates of 40 to 46 guns, eight of 36, and eleven of 20 to 24 guns (24 ships of the line and 24 frigates in total). The remainder should be scrapped (at a cost of 3.3 million
guilder Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' "gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Empir ...
s, while the cost of the repairs would be 4.7 million guilders). Fortunately, the state of the shipyards was satisfactory, though the stocks of materials were below par. The state of the naval installations, like ports and docks, varied, with some needing appreciable investments


Fleet building program of 1795 and 1796

Though the Naval Affairs Committee waited for a formal reaction to the commission's report till 18 December 1795, informally it started making policy on the basis of provisional recommendations it received. On 17 March 1795 it submitted a proposal to the States General to vote a budget of 7.8 million guilders to reconstruct twelve ships of the line, fourteen frigates, and six smaller vessels, plus eleven coastal defense ships to guard the coastal inlets, to be manned by 9880 sailors. In addition, it proposed the new construction of three ships of the line and three frigates at an estimated cost of 2.4 million guilders. In addition a sum of five million guilders had to be supplied to pay the overdue debts of the old admiralties, as credit for new construction would otherwise not be forthcoming from suppliers. The entire financial need for the next twelve months for the navy was estimated at 15.2 million guilders. The States General then voted a total budget for sea and land forces of 32 million guilders. The provincial delegations in the States General then committed themselves to supply ten million (seven million from Holland alone) guilders as an emergency budget, of which six million was destined for the navy. The financing having been secured, the navy then started with alacrity to implement the construction program. The shipyards of the old admiralties were in principle available, but they needed administrative reform. It was therefore decided to concentrate the bulk of big-ship construction at the Amsterdam shipyard. On the other hand,
Hoorn Hoorn () is a city and municipality in the northwest of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the largest town and the traditional capital of the region of West Friesland. Hoorn is located on the Markermeer, 20 kilometers ( ...
would henceforth specialize in the construction of frigates, and
Enkhuizen Enkhuizen () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. History Enkhuizen, like Hoorn and Amsterdam, was one of the harbor-towns of the VOC, from where overseas trade wi ...
be relegated to the construction of small vessels. Harlingen would henceforth limit itself to the construction of
brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...
s for the inland waterways and
Medemblik Medemblik () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. It lies immediately south of the polder and former municipality of Wieringermeer. History Medemblik was a prosperous ...
would be given the naval installations to support an anchorage for the reserve fleet in the
Zuiderzee The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee'') was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an o ...
. The
roadstead A roadstead (or ''roads'' – the earlier form) is a body of water sheltered from rip currents, spring tides, or ocean swell where ships can lie reasonably safely at anchor without dragging or snatching.United States Army technical manual, TM 5- ...
at the Texel, though it had been improved with
hydraulic engineering Hydraulic engineering as a sub-discipline of civil engineering is concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water and sewage. One feature of these systems is the extensive use of gravity as the motive force to cause the mov ...
, was not yet deemed usable as a fixed naval base. Though the new shipbuilding activity was started with great enthusiasm (and it stimulated the local economy of Amsterdam no end), it soon got into financial difficulties as the land provinces were remiss in providing the promised emergency financing. Construction ground to a halt in the second part of 1795, until the Naval Affairs Committee, in desperation, threatened to resign in September 1795. This had the desired result. Up to the middle of 1796 the fleet grew to 66 ships, among which 20 ships of the line, and 30 frigates.


Naval calamities: causes and consequences


Recruitment problems

After the crews of the old navy had been paid off in February 1795, remaining the fleet became an urgent need. Re-enlistment of some previous naval personnel was helped by the fact that due to the dire economic situation of the shipping industry there was widespread unemployment under able seamen. However, recruitment turned out to be slow. The Dutch navy had never used
impressment Impressment, colloquially "the press" or the "press gang", is the taking of men into a military or naval force by compulsion, with or without notice. European navies of several nations used forced recruitment by various means. The large size of ...
, like the Royal Navy, and
conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
, both for the navy and the army, would only be introduced in the Netherlands after the annexation by the French empire in 1810. So the Batavian navy had to use moral suasion (an appeal to the patriotism of the citizens) and high enlistment bonuses to persuade suitable candidates to enlist. This attracted many foreign sailors, who had been employed by the Dutch merchant marine, but were now unemployed. Dutchmen needed more encouragement, so the navy was forced to use many less-suitable candidates, like the pupils in the orphanages. Also the government decided to force a number of the mercenaries of the Batavian army to transfer to the navy, a very unpopular policy, that caused the desertion rates in the army to increase. The dearth of professional non-commissioned officers was especially pressing. These career navy personnel, like bosuns and bosun's mates, and specialists like, gunners and gunner's mates could only be found among the ranks of personnel of the old navy. But these people were among the most pro-Organist and anti-Patriot groups in the country, and therefore either unwilling to re-enlist, or if they did (because of economic necessity), they formed an unreliable element among the ship's crews. That unreliability was particularly important, because these NCOs and specialists formed the intermediary layer between officers and common seamen, and as the "natural leaders" of the men had a special influence on opinion formation. Repeatedly, these key personnel proved to be either Organist "agitators" themselves, or at least to turn a blind eye to political agitation, that would foment mutinies at crucial moments. The first consequence of this recruitment problem was that the newly-operational ships had to stay in port, due to lack of personnel to sail in them. The government, therefore, intensified its efforts to make enlistment more attractive. A propaganda effort was mounted, a commission of notables promoted enlistment, and most importantly, financial incentives were given or at least promised, and this finally got the stream of enlistees going, so that in the Spring of 1796 the fleet was sufficiently manned, to at least put the ships to sea. But then the government did something in March 1796 that undermined the morale of the new crews. Up to that moment, the Batavian Republic had still used the flag of the old Republic, known as the
Prince's Flag The Prince's Flag ( nl, Prinsenvlag) is a Dutch flag, first used in the Dutch Revolt during the late 16th century. The Prince's Flag is based on the flag of Prince William of Orange-Nassau, hence the name. The colours are orange, white and ...
. But the authorities now decided to do away with this symbol of the old regime, and to issue a proclamation by which a new flag design was instituted (see illustration at the top of this article). This measure was, of course, popular with the partisans of the government, but very unpopular with the Organists in the country, many of whom belonged to the groups in the population from which the navy recruited its enlistees. The new flag therefore mainly served to undermine the morale of the sailors in the fleet, which would prove to have dire consequences in the future.


The Saldanha Bay capitulation

The
Dutch Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie) was a Dutch United East India Company (VOC) colony in Southern Africa, centered on the Cape of Good Hope, from where it derived its name. The original colony and its successive states that the colony was inco ...
had been captured by the British in September 1795. This put the communication lines to the
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
(which had become the responsibility of the Batavian government after the
VOC VOC, VoC or voc may refer to: Science and technology * Open-circuit voltage (VOC), the voltage between two terminals when there is no external load connected * Variant of concern, a category used during the assessment of a new variant of a virus ...
went bankrupt and was nationalized) in jeopardy. The government, therefore, felt constrained to mount an expedition in early 1796 that was charged with the reconquest of the Cape Colony, and subsequently would sail on to the Indies. A fleet, commanded by captain Engelbertus LucasLucas, though only a captain, was selected for the command, as he seems to have been the only senior officer who had been to the Indies before (with an expedition under command of Commodore Sylvester from 1785 to 1789). The old Dutch navy habitually limited itself to the European waters and the Atlantic Ocean, as the VOC possessed a substantial navy of itself and was usually able to dominate the fleet of the rival British
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
, at least until the Royal Navy started to intervene during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War; de Jonge, p. 237, and note 1
of three ships of the line, five frigates and an armed merchantman (with letters of marque),The ships of the line ''Revolutie'' (cap. Lucas), ''Dordrecht'' (cap. Rynbende), ''Tromp'' (cdr. Valkenburg), and the frigates ''Castor'' (cdr. Claris), ''Brave'' (cdr. Zoetemans), ''Sirene'' (cdr. de Cerf), ''Bellona'' (cdr. de Falck), ''Havik'' (lt. Besemer), and the armed merchantman ''Vrouwe Maria'' (lt. Barbier); de Jonge, p. 237. 340 guns and 1972 men, set sail on 23 February 1796 (together with another fleet under Vice-Admiral Adriaan Braak, destined for the
Dutch Caribbean The Dutch Caribbean (historically known as the Dutch West Indies) are the territories, colonies, and countries, former and current, of the Dutch Empire and the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean Sea. They are in the north and south-wes ...
). After sailing around Scotland the two fleets split up. Lucas followed the usual route to the
Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...
, and from there to
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, to take advantage of the westerlies toward the
Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...
. The fleet stayed no less than 34 days at the bay of La Luz,
Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that co ...
to take in water and supplies. During that period two events happened that would have a great influence on further developments. First, a frigate was observed, that was probably , that would warn the British forces of the imminent arrival of the Batavian force. But Lucas did not have the ship pursued. Next, a ship of the line, flying the Spanish flag was observed sailing past the bay, but again Lucas did nothing, despite the protest of his captains. This may have been under Rear-Admiral
Thomas Pringle Thomas Pringle (5 January 1789 – 5 December 1834) was a Scottish writer, poet and abolitionist. Known as the father of South African poetry, he was the first successful English language poet and author to describe South Africa's scenery, nati ...
, convoying a flotilla of transports with British troops for the Cape on board. After crossing the
Tropic of Cancer The Tropic of Cancer, which is also referred to as the Northern Tropic, is the most northerly circle of latitude on Earth at which the Sun can be directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward ...
on 21 May, Lucas hoisted his rear-admiral's pennant, as his promotion now came into effect. After consulting his officers he set sail for
Praia Praia (, Portuguese language, Portuguese for "beach") is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde.
on
Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...
, and from there to
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
, where he omitted, however, to take in water, as by then he apparently had already privately decided to sail directly to
Saldanha Bay Saldanha Bay ( af, Saldanhabaai) is a natural harbour on the south-western coast of South Africa. The town that developed on the northern shore of the bay, also called Saldanha, was incorporated with five other towns into the Saldanha Bay Local Mu ...
in the Cape colony, despite the fact that he knew that the Cape was in British hands. He had secret instructions to sail on to
Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...
in case the Cape were securely in British hands (which had been uncertain when the fleet sailed, but had now been confirmed), but he did not inform his council of war of this, so his officers agreed with the plan to go to the bay, also because the lack of water became pressing. The fleet arrived in the bay on 6 August, without having met British ships. What happened next, therefore, was for a large part the fault of Rear-Admiral Lucas and his neglectful conduct. He was soon confronted by a superior British force, both at sea and on land even though he had been warned by people living nearby that an appreciable British infantry force was nearing. The work of taking in water was going forward very slowly, as it had to be obtained from far inland, so the fleet lost several days in which it would still have been able to get away. The sailors who went ashore showed a disturbing tendency to desert or defect to the enemy. Meanwhile, Lucas did not make haste, mostly because he discounted news of a British fleet coming near. Departure had been set for 16 August, but again was delayed. And by then it was too late and the fleet was surrounded both on land, and by sea. Lucas at first prepared to fight at anchor, but mutinies broke out aboard the ships of the line ''Revolutie'' and ''Dordrecht'', and the frigate ''Castor''. The mutineers, apparently led by their "deck officers" (
NCOs A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...
), threatened to shoot the officers if they would open fire on the British ships. The British General James Craig, commanding the troops on land, meanwhile threatened to deny quarter to the Dutch crews in case attempts were made to beach or otherwise sabotage the ships. Lucas and his council of war then decided to capitulate more or less unconditionally, after Vice-Admiral
George Elphinstone George Elphinstone of Blythswood (died 1634) was a Scottish landowner, courtier, and Provost of Glasgow. Life George Elphinstone was the son of George Elphinstone of Blythswood (died 2 April 1585), a leading Glasgow merchant and shipowner, and ...
refused offers of conditional surrender. After the fleet had surrendered, the Batavian officers entreated the British to take possession of the ships as soon as possible, and to disarm the mutineers, as they were in fear of their lives. After the British had taken possession, all military discipline aboard the Batavian whips' collapsed. Drunken sailors, shouting Organist slogans, trampled the Batavian flag, and officers and sailors of known Patriot sympathies were assaulted, and had to defend themselves with their
side arm Sidearm, side-arm or Side Arm(s) may refer to: *Sidearm (weapon), a backup weapon *Sidearm (baseball), a baseball throwing technique *Sidearm, a flying disc (Frisbee) throw *'' Side Arms Hyper Dyne'', a 1986 arcade game *AGM-122 Sidearm The ...
s. Stores of victuals and especially liquor, were looted. This went on until the British intervened and arrested the ringleaders. Most of the crew members defected to the British. The officers were transported to the Batavian Republic in a
cartel ship Cartel ships, in international law, are ships employed on humanitarian voyages, in particular, to carry communications or prisoners between belligerents. They fly distinctive flags, including a flag of truce. Traditionally, they were unarmed but ...
, after having given their
parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
. After Lucas returned to the Netherlands, he was arrested by the Naval Affairs Committee, and imprisoned in the
Huis ten Bosch palace Huis ten Bosch ( nl, Paleis Huis ten Bosch, ; English: "House in the Woods") is a royal palace in The Hague, Netherlands. It is one of three official residences of the Dutch monarch; the two others being the Noordeinde Palace in The Hague and ...
, pending his court-martial. During this imprisonment his health deteriorated so fast, that he had to be allowed to go home, and he died soon afterward, on 21 June 1797. Exceptionally, the
National Assembly of the Batavian Republic The National Assembly of the Batavian Republic (Dutch: ''Nationale Vergadering'') was the Dutch parliament between 1796 and 1798. The National Assembly was founded in 1796 after general elections. It replaced the States-General of the Batavian Re ...
decided to impanel a ''Hoge Zeekrijgsraad'' (High Naval Court) itself (19 May 1797). Jacobus Spoors was appointed prosecutor. As Lucas had died, he could no longer be tried, however. So it was decided to commission Spoors to conduct an investigation into Lucas' conduct, and write a report. This report was eventually adopted by the Court, and presented to the National Assembly. As the report put the main responsibility for the loss of the fleet on Lucas, the other officers were acquitted of dereliction of duty. Spoors' report was (with some redactions because of national security) published in 1798 ''Rapport van Jakob Spoors, als fiscaal van den hoogen zee-krygsraad, omtrend het gedrag van den capitein Engelbertus Lucas en verdere commandanten der schepen behoord hebbende tot het esquader in den jaare 1796, naar de Oost-indien gedestineerd: benevens de resolutie en sententie ten deze door den hoogen zee krygsraad genomen en geslagen'' ('sLands drukkerij 179

/ref>


The "Enterprise of Ireland"

Mutiny was not only a problem for the Batavian navy. In April and May 1797 (barely a half year after the mutiny at Saldanha Bay) the British fleet mutinied at Spithead and Nore mutinies, Spithead and Nore. In both cases, politically motivated unrest was behind the mutinies. In the Dutch case, it was the adherents of the conservative, even reactionary, ideology of Organism, who proved to be unreliable. In the British case, on the other hand, the initiative for the mutinies came from the partisans of the ideas of the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
. Those ideas also inspired revolutionaries in Ireland, who already in 1796 appealed to the
French Directory The Directory (also called Directorate, ) was the governing five-member committee in the French First Republic from 2 November 1795 until 9 November 1799, when it was overthrown by Napoleon, Napoleon Bonaparte in the Coup of 18 Brumaire and r ...
to support a revolution in Ireland. This idea appealed to the French, because they saw Ireland as the strategic backdoor to Great Britain. This resulted in the failed expedition to Ireland at the end of 1796. After this defeat the French did not give up, but started planning for an even more grandiose enterprise, that would consist of a two-pronged invasion of Ireland. The southern prong would take a Franco-Spanish fleet to the South of Ireland, while the northern prong would have the Batavian fleet convoy a fleet of transports with 25,000 French troops (conveniently located in the Batavian Republic as the French army of occupation) aboard around the north of Scotland, toward Northern Ireland. The battle of Cape St. Vincent in February 1797 knocked the Spanish fleet out of the race, and the victory of the French royalists in the April 1797 French elections temporarily cooled the ardor of the radicals in the Directory. However, their radical colleagues in the Batavian Commission on Foreign Affairs of the National AssemblyA secretive standing committee of the National Assembly, that had managed to subordinate the sister-committees on Naval Affairs and Alliance and Army Affairs to itself on the pretext that the "leaking" of state secrets to enemy (Great Britain) and ally (France; this was seen as even worse) by those committees had become intolerable. The Commission consisted of selected members of the three committees, that together usurped the foreign-policy-making powers of the National Assembly; de Jonge, pp.284-287 were still keen to show their dedication to the revolutionary cause (and incidentally prove to the French Directory that an independent Batavian Republic was worth supporting). So the "northern" prong of the planned invasion in Ireland was kept alive, with the 25,000 French troops replaced with 15,000 troops from the Batavian army under command of the Batavian revolutionary hero, Lt.-General
Herman Willem Daendels Herman Willem Daendels (21 October 1762 – 2 May 1818) was a Dutch revolutionary, general and politician who served as the 36th Governor General of the Dutch East Indies between 1808 and 1811. Early life Born in Hattem, Netherlands, on 21 Octob ...
. These troops were embarked in a fleet of transports, lying in the Texel roadstead, in June. They spent the summer of 1797 in steadily increasing misery aboard the ships, while the Batavian fleet was kept in the roadstead by the seasonal westerly winds, which prevented it from sailing out. In this frustrating time interval the Channel squadron of Admiral Adam Duncan became operational again after the spring mutinies; Great Britain amassed an army of 80,000 troops in Ireland; General
Lazare Hoche Louis Lazare Hoche (; 24 June 1768 – 19 September 1797) was a French military leader of the French Revolutionary Wars. He won a victory over Royalist forces in Brittany. His surname is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on ...
, the great promoter of the plan for the invasion died; and the Irish revolutionary
Wolfe Tone Theobald Wolfe Tone, posthumously known as Wolfe Tone ( ga, Bhulbh Teón; 20 June 176319 November 1798), was a leading Irish revolutionary figure and one of the founding members in Belfast and Dublin of the United Irishmen, a republican socie ...
, who spent the summer aboard ''Vrijheid'', Admiral de Winter's flagship, lost heart. The Commission on Foreign Affairs, therefore, decided to cancel the operation at the end of the summer, and ordered the debarkation of the troops on 9 September 1797


The Battle of Camperdown and its aftermath

Five day earlier the
Coup of 18 Fructidor The Coup of 18 Fructidor, Year V (4 September 1797 in the French Republican Calendar), was a seizure of power in France by members of the Directory, the government of the French First Republic, with support from the French military. The coup wa ...
took place in France, once again putting the radicals in the Directory in charge. For their allies in the Batavian Commission on Foreign Affairs this was an extra motivation to have the fleet in the Texel "do something, anything" to promote the cause of Revolution and harm the cause of Reaction, and to erase the shame of Saldanha Bay. The plan this time was to have the fleet in the Texel make a sortie with the objective of freeing the ship of the line ''Kortenaer'', that (together with the frigate ''Scipio'') was blockaded in the roadstead of
Hellevoetsluis Hellevoetsluis () is a small city and municipality in the western Netherlands. It is located in Voorne-Putten, South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water and it includes the population centres Nieuw-Helvoet, Nieuwenhoorn ...
by a British flotilla, and possibly surprising that flotilla. This should be an easy victory that would stimulate national morale in the Batavian Republic no end. Waxing even more ambitious, the Commission (repeating the secret instructions it had given him on 9 July;) ordered Admiral de Winter to accept battle from even stronger British forces, as long as they were not obviously superior (an order that would have disastrous consequences). De Winter was understandably very dubious about this rash command, but when the Commission waved away his objections,Those objections did not number suspicion about the reliability of his crews among them, as the British historian Padfield has speculated (Padfield, Peter (2000), ''Nelson's War''. Wordsworth Military Library. ., p. 97), as the correspondence with the Commission does not mention this. In any case, during the battle the crews proved fully reliable, individual cases of cowardice excepted; this time mutiny did not play a role. he started to make serious preparations to execute it. But again, adverse winds prevented the immediate sailing of his fleet of sixteen ships of the line and ten frigates and brigs. This prompted an acrimonious exchange of express-letters between the Commission and the Admiral, in which the Commission ordered the admiral ever more stringently to stop dallying and get out to sea. This exchange proved very embarrassing to the Commission when the political Opposition in the National Assembly got hold of them after the battle The obstructing westerly winds finally abated and at 9.30 AM Dutch time, which was one hour later than English time, as it is nowadays. on October 7, 1797And not on October 8, as some British historians apparently have it; de Jonge is quite insistent on this, as this fact plays a role in the later quarrel about when the final peremptory order of the Commission reached de Winter; de Jonge, pp. 307-309 the fleet weighed anchor and left the Texel anchorage. De Winter plotted a course for the Meuse estuary in the expectation that his order to the commander of ''Kortenaer'' to leave his anchorage would be obeyed, but adverse winds again prevented this. The fleet, therefore, spent the next few days cruising up and down that area of the Dutch coast and futilely chasing the squadron of captain
Henry Trollope Admiral Sir Henry Trollope, GCB (20 April 1756 – 2 November 1839) was an officer of the British Royal Navy. Early life Henry Trollope was born the son of the Reverend John Trollope of Bucklebury on 20 April 1756. His paternal grandfather, al ...
that was observing him from a tantalizingly close distance. The Batavian ships were too slow,The slowness of Dutch capital ships was a well-known problem, due to the fact that the constraints on
draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...
of ships, imposed by the shallowness of Dutch coastal and inland waters, prevented Dutch ship constructors from making their ships as hydrodynamically agile as ships of other navies, blessed with no such constraints. Because the Dutch still needed big ships, they were forced to make them broad and flat-bottomed, and this caused a speed penalty. The problem was not fully understood during the 18th century, as hydrodynamics was not yet fully developed, and this resulted in much acrimony between shipbuilders and navy officers. Dutch Admiral Cornelis Schrijver, when still a captain, complained loud and often about the problem in the 1720s, which caused the
Admiralty of Amsterdam The Admiralty of Amsterdam was the largest of the five Dutch admiralties at the time of the Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven ...
to import British shipwrights to lead the Amsterdam admiralty shipyard, in hopes that they would possess the secret of the faster British ships (which did not turn out to be the case; they faced the same constraints as their Dutch colleagues). The controversy (after decades of festering) burst into the open in the 1750s when Schrijver (then a lt.-admiral) accused the Dutch shipwrights of incompetence in a pamphlet, which elicited a public polemic with a number of shipwrights of other admiralty shipyards, who finally opened up about their design practices, which they had considered proprietary information up to then. It turned out that the Dutch shipwrights were not as technically backward as Schrijver (and many later historians, on his authority) have asserted. The whole controversy was described in Hoving A.J., and A.A. Lemmers, ''In tekening gebracht. De achttiende-eeuwse scheepsbouwers en hun ontwerpmethoden''(Bataafse Leeuw 2001), pp.13-21
however. Meanwhile, Duncan was re-victualing in Yarmouth with his fleet of about equal strength, but he soon returned to the Texel in the expectation that de Winter would not be too far away. In the morning of October 11 the two fleets discovered each other on the latitude of the village of
Camperduin Camperduin (Kamperduin) is a hamlet in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Bergen, and lies about 12 km northwest of Alkmaar. The hamlet was first mentioned between 918 and 948 Campthorpa. The current name m ...
on the Dutch coast. The wind was NW and the weather blustery. Duncan had the
weather gage The weather gage (sometimes spelled weather gauge) is the advantageous position of a fighting sailing vessel relative to another. It is also known as "nautical gauge" as it is related to the sea shore. The concept is from the Age of Sail and is no ...
which gave him a distinct tactical advantage. De Winter decided that in view of his instructions from the Commission he had to accept battle and at 9 AM English time; all times henceforth converted to English time. hoisted signal No. 655 of the Dutch General Signal book: come to line of battle, close-hauled on the port tack, behind your assigned predecessors. Due to the limitations of square-rigged ships, which generally could not get closer to the wind than under an angle of 70 degrees with the wind direction, this worked out as a compass course of NE. The Batavian fleet had been sailing with "short sail" in three divisions: the future vanguard under Rear-Admiral Bloys van Treslong in ''Brutus'' to
windward Windward () and leeward () are terms used to describe the direction of the wind. Windward is ''upwind'' from the point of reference, i.e. towards the direction from which the wind is coming; leeward is ''downwind'' from the point of reference ...
; the center division under Rear-Admiral
Samuel Story Samuel Story (2 October 1752 – 8 January 1811) was a vice admiral of the Batavian Republic Navy. He commanded the squadron that surrendered without a fight to the Royal Navy at the Vlieter incident in 1799. Early life Story was born in Maas ...
in ''Staten Generaal'', including the flagship ''Vrijheid'' of Vice-Admiral de Winter himself, in the middle; and the future rearguard under Vice-Admiral ReintjesTogether with Rear-Admiral Frederik Alexander Meurer. Reintjes had suffered a stroke shortly before the fleet sailed, and was assigned Meurer as an "assistant", because he was clearly unfit for command; de Jonge, p.330 in ''Jupiter'' to leeward. De Winter had issued a directive about the order of battle, giving the sequence in which the ships were supposed to form the line of battle, on 6 July. But he issued a slightly different directive on 17 July, just for the case the fleet would be attacked while exiting the roadstead of Texel, and had to form the line of battle then. This nuance had not been adequately communicated by his staff, and this caused Rear-Admiral Bloys van Treslong to assume that the directive of 17 July was in force, while de Winter intended the directive of 6 July. Though the rest of the van assumed the correct positions, ''Brutus'' and ''Tjerk Hiddes'' held back, and assumed positions behind ''Vrijheid'' in the center division. De Winter ordered ''Tjerk Hiddes'' forward to the back of the van, but he somehow omitted to do this for ''Brutus''. The consequence of this error was that the vanguard missed both a flag officer to lead it, and a strong ship of the line. De Winter later asserted that this was one of the main reasons why he lost the battle. Likewise, the order of battle of the rearguard differed from the intended one, as ''Delft'' (which ship had been sent to investigate a number of sails to leeward, and therefore had difficulty rejoining the fleet in time) was directed by Admiral Reintjes to take up the last position in the line. The strength of the rearguard was thereby weakened, in the opinion of the commander of ''Delft'', and many others, as this ship was one of the two most-lightly armed of the Batavian ships. Finally, two of the ships: ''Wassenaar'' and ''Haarlem'', were notoriously ''onbezeild'' (difficult to handle, due to a bad trim), and therefore had difficulty maintaining their position in the line. This caused two "gaps" in the line, in front of both ships mentioned, which de Winter tried to correct, but not in time. These gaps were later exploited by the British fleet. Meanwhile, Admiral Duncan apparently had some difficulties with his own battle formation. But he had the luxury of having the weather gage, which allowed his ships to approach the Batavian line of battle before the wind, and to select more or less freely where they would engage that line, so the fact that the British fleet did not form a nice, evenly spaced, line-abreast formation, but was eventually divided into two ragged divisions, one of nine ships total, under Rear-Admiral Onslow in HMS ''Monarch'', to windward of the British formation, and one consisting of the remaining British ships under Admiral Duncan, in HMS ''Venerable'', to the British lee, made no real difference to the outcome of the battle.Tactical maneuvering at the time was "routine" for naval officers, who studied tactical manuals, like the Dutch Admiral Van Kinsbergen's ''Grondbeginselen der zee-tacticq'' (1782) (Principles of Naval Tactics) in which all kinds of tactical situations were "gamed out" in exhausting detail, with prescriptions on what formations to adopt, what courses to steer, and what signals to hoist. The most junior naval lieutenant should at least in theory be able to plan a battle according to these lines, as he would have had to pass an examination before receiving his commission. Presumably, de Winter followed these strictures to the letter. Onslow fell onto the Batavian rearguard, apparently aiming for Admiral Reintjes' flag in ''Jupiter'', as he went through the gap between ''Jupiter'' and ''Haarlem'', thereby "breaching" the Batavian line-of-battle. This enabled him to luff up to leeward of ''Jupiter'' and engage that ship from a position that Reintjes had difficulty covering, as his leeward battery could not be brought to bear. ''Jupiter'' therefore had to bear away to lee, widening the break in the Batavian line. According to the experts in the naval court martial that was held after the battle this already was the moment on which the battle was lost for de Winter, as from this time on his line of battle started to unravel, leading to a
melee A melee ( or , French: mêlée ) or pell-mell is disorganized hand-to-hand combat in battles fought at abnormally close range with little central control once it starts. In military aviation, a melee has been defined as " air battle in which ...
, which the line of battle, as a tactical formation was designed to preventOne may compare the line-of-battle with a line of
bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. ...
s in a defensive military formation on land, in which each bunker is able to give supporting fire to its neighbors. As long as the line remained closed-up, the enemy would ''normally'' not be able to cross to leeward, as the line would form an unbreachable "wall", while going around an end should not be possible, as the line of ships should be moving at the same speed as the enemy ships, so those enemy ships should not be able to come up from behind and overtake the respective ships in the line of battle, but be left in their wake. However, in this case the Batavian ships were sailing under "short sail" (i.e with only their
topsail A topsail ("tops'l") is a sail set above another sail; on square-rigged vessels further sails may be set above topsails. Square rig On a square rigged vessel, a topsail is a typically trapezoidal shaped sail rigged above the course sail and ...
s, and not their courses,
topgallant sail On a square rigged sailing vessel, a topgallant sail (topgallant alone pronounced "t'gallant", topgallant sail pronounced "t'garns'l",C.S. Forester, ''Beat to Quarters'', Chapter VI. is the square-rigged sail or sails immediately above the topsai ...
s and royals deployed; Cf. Hourigan, P.W., ''Manual of Seamanship for the Officer of the Deck : Ship Under Sail Alone'' (1903), p. 82). No doubt, de Winter had made this disposition to make the ships more manageable, and let them
heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower Human leg, leg. Structure To distribute the compressive for ...
less. But the consequence was, that the Batavian ships were sailing more slowly than the British ones, enabling the latter to overtake them on their parallel courses, as is reported time and again in accounts of the battle. In theory, the Batavian ships could have speeded up, by setting more sail, but once the battle had started, this would be more difficult. Imagine doing this while the enemy is pouring broadsides of
shrapnel Shrapnel may refer to: Military * Shrapnel shell, explosive artillery munitions, generally for anti-personnel use * Shrapnel (fragment), a hard loose material Popular culture * ''Shrapnel'' (Radical Comics) * ''Shrapnel'', a game by Adam C ...
through the rigging.
Because in a melee the enemy could deal with each ship at his leisure, creating "local superiority of forces" by surrounding the victims with two or more ships, and overwhelming them with broadsides from all sides. This is what happened time and again in the remainder of the battle, and the fact that Duncan in HMS ''Venerable'' repeated the breach of the line of battle through the gap between ''Staten General'' and ''Wassenaar'' a quarter of an hour later, is mere detail. We can dispense with the tales of the individual duels, except for that between ''Vrijheid'' and a number of British ships, among which HMS ''Ardent'' and HMS ''Venerable'', as in a way it was emblematic for the stoic heroism displayed on both sides. After ''Venerable'' had driven ''Staten General'' out of the line of battle with the same tactic HMS ''Monarch'' earlier used against ''Jupiter'', she engaged ''Vrijheid'' on her leeward, while that ship at the same time was engaged with HMS ''Ardent'' on her windward. There may have been one other British ship involved. De Winter, being in the minority, tried to signal the remainder of the center division (''Brutus'', ''Leyden'' and ''Mars'') under Rear-Admiral Bloys van Treslong, to come to his aid, but his signal-rigging was shot away repeatedly While the four ships were busy firing at each other, with much loss of life, but no decisive effect, they suddenly encountered the flaming wreck of the Batavian ship ''Hercules'' (which had earlier been set on fire by a
carronade A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century. Its main func ...
salvo of HMS ''Triumph''). As this posed a mortal danger for all ships in its neighborhood, ''Vrijheid'' was able to use the temporary "truce" that all were forced to observe to break off the fight, bear away to leeward,
jibe A jibe (US) or gybe (Britain) is a sailing maneuver whereby a sailing vessel reaching downwind turns its stern through the wind, which then exerts its force from the opposite side of the vessel. Because the mainsail boom can swing across ...
, and sail back along the line with the intent to take up a new position behind ''Mars''. However, he encountered HMS ''Director'' (captain Bligh) who came barreling down to her from windward; gave her a devastating broadside, which shot down both the foremast and main mast of ''Vrijheid'' ; jibed behind her, came up on her other side, and shot down the
mizzen The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, and giving necessary height to a navigation ligh ...
also. Thus completely dismasted, ''Vrijheid'' endured the broadsides from ''Director'' and other ships, among whom also ''Venerable'', who had followed ''Vrijheid'', for another half hour, before her batteries were silenced. De Winter was brought from ''Vrijheid'' to HMS ''Venerable'', on whose quarterdeck he offered his sword to Duncan. According to legend Duncan refused to accept it in a gesture of respect and gallantry. This ended the battle. Rear-Admiral Story in ''Staten General'', who had only briefly participated in the battle, when ''Venerable'' forced him to bear away remained a safe distance away to leeward, where he kept cruising while other stragglers from the battle, and the frigates and other smaller ships, that had maintained a parallel course to leeward of the main line of battle, joined his flag. In this way he saved about half of de Winter's fleet. The Batavian navy lost nine of the sixteen ships of the line, and one frigate.The frigate ''Monnikendam'', which bravely, though imprudently, had attacked HMS ''Monarch'' when that ship breached the line of battle. Some British historians claim that the frigate ''Embuscade'' was made a British
prize A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.
, but subsequently, in a similar manner as ''Monnikendam'', was lost on the coast of
Walcheren Walcheren () is a region and former island in the Dutch province of Zeeland at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Eastern Scheldt in the north and the Western Scheldt in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus. The two ...
during the storm that followed the battle. However, de Jonge claims that this ship entered the Texel roadstead safely, together with the other ships in Story's makeshift squadron, in the morning of 12 October, according to his sources. Cf. de Jonge, p. 356, note 2. It may also be noted that ''Embuscade'' was present in 1799 at the Vlieter surrender.
The losses could have been even larger if Duncan had pursued Story's ragtag fleet-remnant, but Duncan declared in his dispatch to the Secretary of the Admiralty of 13 October 1797 that he felt that he was getting too close to the Dutch shore and shallows to safely do this. The losses on both sides were relatively heavy. British historians are able to give a rather precise number of British casualties, but the numbers of casualties on the Batavian side are imprecise. De Jonge says that those losses amounted to 1200 casualties in total, of which 400 immediately killed, and 600 wounded, on the captured ships alone. Among the casualties were Vice-Admiral Reintjes (died in captivity), and Rear-Admiral Bloys van Treslong (lost an arm), and several of the captains of the ships. Among the officers made prisoner of war were, beside de Winter himself, cdr. Holland of ''Wassenaar'' (who like de Winter survived, though the British historian
William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. James is considered to be a leading thinker of the lat ...
declared them both dead) and Rear-Admiral Meurer, and the captains of ''Delft'', ''Alkmaar'', and ''Gelijkheid'' who were all treated very gallantly by the British. They had earned the respect of the British, as James remarks "Respect of the enemy" and "admiration of the world" were, however, cold comfort to the members of Commission on Foreign Affairs (though they certainly craved those encomiums), who now faced the wrath of the "radical" opposition in the National Assembly, who painted the defeat as the direct result of the chaos "eating away at the heart of the government". Certainly, even objective observers, like de Jonge, fifty years later, blame primarily the rashness of the Commission in forcing de Winter's hand for the debacle. Nevertheless, the National Assembly, after lively debate, accepted the explanation of the Commission. So the focus of the Batavian public's demand for Answers became de Winter and his officers. All were initially hailed as Heroes, especially de Winter, but inevitably more critical questions were eventually raised, prompting the admiral after his return from captivity in 1798 (he and his officers were let go on giving their
paroles ''Paroles'' (; "Words") is a collection of poems by Jacques Prévert, first published in 1946. Lawrence Ferlinghetti Lawrence Monsanto Ferlinghetti (March 24, 1919 – February 22, 2021) was an American poet, painter, social activist, and co-f ...
) to demand that a ''Hoge Zeekrijgsraad'' judge his, and his officers', conduct before, during and after the battle. The ensuing controversy, with the finger pointing and acrimony between the admiral, and most of his officers, did almost as much damage to the Batavian officer corps, as the battle itself had done. De Winter felt "betrayed" by especially Rear-Admiral Bloys van Treslong, but also by Rear-Admiral Story and the combination Vice-Admiral Reintjes/Rear-Admiral Meurer (not to speak of the captains who had really acted in a cowardly way, like cdrs. Souter of ''Batavier'' and Jacobsson of ''Cerberus''). De Winter was himself acquitted of dereliction of duty (but only with a 4-3 majority), and Bloys van Treslong and Meurer convicted. So of the flag officers who had started in the battle only Story remained in a position to lead the Batavian navy (de Winter could no longer serve, as he was considered a "not-exchanged" prisoner of war, who had given his word not to fight against Great Britain "for the duration of the war")De Winter was released from his parole under art. IX of the
Convention of Alkmaar The Convention of Alkmaar was a 18 October 1799 agreement concluded between the commanders of the expeditionary forces of Great Britain and Russia on the one hand, and of those of the First French Republic and the Batavian Republic on the other, i ...
in 1799 and declared to be "exchanged"; cf. de Jonge, p. 507


Surrender in the Vlieter

The National Assembly, and the French Directorate, felt that the losses of Camperdown needed to be made good as soon as possible. This necessitated a fresh dose of "extraordinary taxation". The Committee on Finance of the National Assembly, therefore, proposed an eight percent tax on income, based on a sliding scale, and starting with annual incomes over 300 guilders, in November 1797. This was a complete novelty, as this was to be a ''national'' tax, whereas heretofore all taxes were apportioned and levied at the provincial level. This novelty was only possible because the defeat at Camperdown had caused a "national emergency". This proposal was as gasoline on the already raging fire of the fight between ''Unitarists'' and ''Federalists'' for the soul of the Batavian Republic. The tax was adopted on 2 December 1797, but the fight exacerbated the already strained relations between "radicals" and "conservatives", which eventually led to the Coup of 21–22 January 1798. The Committee for Naval Affairs took the necessary steps to rebuild the navy. The ships that had returned to the Texel were repaired; two coastal-defense guard ships were converted to ships of the line; the new ships that were still in the stocks were ordered to be expeditiously finished; the construction of four new ships of the line of 68 guns was ordered; and three new frigates started. Early in the Spring of 1798 two ships of the line of 76 guns, seven of 68 guns, two of 56 guns, and two
razee A razee or razée is a sailing ship that has been cut down (''razeed'') to reduce the number of decks. The word is derived from the French ''vaisseau rasé'', meaning a razed (in the sense of shaved down) ship. Seventeenth century During the ...
s of 44 guns, six frigates of 22 to 36 guns, and four brigs of 16 to 18 guns were operational. And in the course of 1798 several more ships of the line were launched. Despite these good results, after the Coup of January 1798 the new ''
Uitvoerend Bewind The Uitvoerend Bewind (Dutch for ''Executive Authority'') was the name of the government of the Batavian Republic between 1798 and 1801. The president of the Uitvoerend Bewind was head of state of the Batavian Republic. Unitarian Democrats The p ...
'' (Executive Authority) decided to replace the Committee for Naval Affairs (like all standing committees of the National Assembly) with a so-called ''Agent'' for the Navy (like other ''Agents'' were appointed to lead other government departments), with which the organizational structure of a government department under a Minister was for the first time introduced for the Dutch navy (as this structure was retained under later regime changes). The first ''Agent'' was Jacobus Spoors, who was, however, very reluctant to assume the new office. The first task for the new fleet would be the support of General
Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
's project of an invasion of England in 1798. However, the general had other ambitions. He decided to give priority to his
invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...
of
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, and so the Batavian navy spent a lot of money and effort in vain on a project that did not go ahead. Similar projects: another planned invasion of Ireland in early 1799, and when that plan was cancelled, an expedition to the Dutch East Indies with the same ships and troops, were also cancelled by early 1799. But then rumors of an impending Anglo-Russian invasion of the Batavian Republic began to circulate. This convinced the ''Uitvoerend Bewind'' that any foreign adventures had to be abandoned until this danger had been averted. The rumors eventually proved to be more than rumors, and the
invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...
took place in August of 1799, beginning with the British amphibious landing at
Callantsoog Callantsoog ( West Frisian: ''Kallantsouge'') is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Schagen, and lies about 18 km south of Den Helder. Callantsoog was a separate municipality until 1990, wh ...
, covered by a British fleet under Admiral
Andrew Mitchell Andrew John Bower Mitchell (born 23 March 1956) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sutton Coldfield since 2001. A member of the Conservative Party, Mitchell was previously the MP for Gedling from 1987 to 1 ...
. Unbeknownst to the Batavians, Admiral Mitchell had a "secret weapon" on board his
flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
, in the person of the ''Erfprins'' (Hereditary Prince of OrangeThe
courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some co ...
''Erfprins'' (''Erbprinz'' in German) is customarily used for the presumptive heir to the title of a
Fürst ' (, female form ', plural '; from Old High German ', "the first", a translation of the Latin ') is a German word for a ruler and is also a princely title. ' were, since the Middle Ages, members of the highest nobility who ruled over states of ...
, or
Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
of the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
, which the Prince of Orange technically was, as the
Principality of Orange The Principality of Orange (french: la Principauté d'Orange; oc, Principat d'Aurenja) was, from 1163 to 1713, a feudal state in Provence, in the south of modern-day France, on the east bank of the river Rhone, north of the city of Avignon, an ...
, to which the name refers, was originally a
fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...
of that empire. One might compare the title to that of "crown prince", but then for non-royal noble families. The title is commonly used in the historiography of the era, to distinguish the son from the father, to avoid confusion; the father was nominally the Captain-General of the
Dutch States Army The Dutch States Army ( nl, Staatse leger) was the army of the Dutch Republic. It was usually called this, because it was formally the army of the States-General of the Netherlands, the sovereign power of that federal republic. This mercenary army ...
during the
Flanders Campaign The Flanders Campaign (or Campaign in the Low Countries) was conducted from 20 April 1792 to 7 June 1795 during the first years of the War of the First Coalition. A coalition of states representing the Ancien Régime in Western Europe – Aus ...
, but his son, the ''Erfprins'' was commander-in-chief of the Dutch field army that conducted operations during that campaign. In this particular period the ''Erfprins'' was emphatically not the Prince of Orange, a misunderstanding that may arise, because after 1815 the title "Prince of Orange" was given as a courtesy title to the Crown Prince of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...
. Another common misunderstanding is that the ''Erfprins'' is called this, because he was to inherit the Stadtholderate, which at this time indeed had become hereditary in the House of Orange. However, the ''title'' of Prince, and the ''office'' of stadtholder formally should be seen as completely unconnected.
), the future
King William I of the Netherlands William I (Willem Frederik, Prince of Orange-Nassau; 24 August 1772 – 12 December 1843) was a Prince of Orange, the King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg. He was the son of the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, who went ...
and eldest son of the Stadtholder
William V William V may refer to: *William V, Duke of Aquitaine (969–1030) *William V of Montpellier (1075–1121) *William V, Marquess of Montferrat (1191) *William V, Count of Nevers (before 11751181) *William V, Duke of Jülich (1299–1361) *William V, ...
. This "
Serene Highness His/Her Serene Highness ( abbreviation: HSH, second person address: Your Serene Highness) is a style used today by the reigning families of Liechtenstein, Monaco and Thailand. Over the past 400 years, it has also used as a style for senior members ...
", though a former general commanding troops in battle, at this point in time was no more than an
émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French ''émigrer'', "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Huguenots fled France followi ...
, who had joined forces with the
British government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...
of Foreign Secretary
William Grenville William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, (25 October 175912 January 1834) was a British Pittite Tory politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1806 to 1807, but was a supporter of the Whigs (British political pa ...
. Grenville in his turn had high hopes of an easy military victory, as he expected the Dutch populace to reject the ideological trappings of the French-imposed Batavian authorities. Though a
Foxite Foxite was a late 18th-century British political label for Whig followers of Charles James Fox. Fox was the generally acknowledged leader of a faction of the Whigs from 1784 to his death in 1806. The group had developed from successive earlier ...
himself, and so relatively enlightened, Grenville was very
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
, in the mold of Irish statesman
Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_ NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style"> ...
, compared to the politicians in the Batavian Republic. The ''Erfprins'' and he felt a certain philosophical and political affinity, which made him believe that that person would be a reliable manager of national interests in the Netherlands when "normalcy" (in the sense of the
Act of Guarantee The Act of Guarantee (Dutch: ''Akte van Garantie'') of the hereditary stadtholderate was a document from 1788, in which the seven provinces of the States General and the representative of Drenthe declared, amongst other things, that the admiralty ...
and Triple Alliance) would have been restored in that country. Grenville expected the Dutch populace to share his distaste for the "revolutionary evils" that had befallen the Netherlands since 1795, and he thought that, given the chance, the soldiers and sailors of the Batavian armed forces would go over to the forces of the
Coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...
to the last man, and the population would erupt into armed insurrection, as soon as the Orange standard had been raised. But there was more than just this ideological predilection. Organist secret agents, like Charles Bentinck, had brought tales of disaffection under the Dutch population, that tended to confirm what Grenville already believed, and thus reinforce Grenville's optimism. There were also stories about the weakness of the defending forces (that later proved incorrect), and of the unreliability of those forces, like the National Guard, and of course, the navy. It was therefore with some confidence that the Secretary for War
Henry Dundas Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, PC, FRSE (28 April 1742 – 28 May 1811), styled as Lord Melville from 1802, was the trusted lieutenant of British Prime Minister William Pitt and the most powerful politician in Scotland in the late 18t ...
could instruct General
Ralph Abercromby Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Abercromby (7 October 173428 March 1801) was a British people, British soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was appointed Gov ...
, the officer commanding the army forces in the invasion in a letter dated 5 August 1799, not only on the military, but also on the ''political'' approach he was to take after he had made his landing, and he was encouraged to make use of the services of the supporters of the "antient constitution"(sic), wherever he could find them. To set these political effects in motion, the general was to promulgate a Proclamation, that had been issued for the occasion by the ''Erfprins'' in the name of his father, which in peremptory terms ''commanded'' the Dutch people to rally to the cause of the House of Orange. Dundas had counselled the Prince to sweeten his tone with some conciliatory language, and hints at reform, but in his arrogance the Prince opted for clear language, which only served to alienate the population, as soon turned out. As far as the Batavian fleet in the Texel roadstead was concerned, Organist agents actively suborned a number of naval officers in that fleet, like
Aegidius van Braam Aegidius van Braam (30 July 1758 in Gorinchem – 17 May 1822 in Delft) was a Dutch naval officer who attained the rank of vice-admiral. When the Dutch Republic was overrun by French Revolutionary troops in 1795, he remained loyal to the House of ...
and
Theodorus Frederik van Capellen Vice-admiral Jonkheer Theodorus Frederik van Capellen, GCMWO, KCB (Nijmegen, 6 September 1762 – Brussels, 15 April 1824) was a Dutch naval officer. He was married to Petronella de Lange (1779–1835).Frederiks Alexine Tinne, female explor ...
, respectively the captain of ''Leyden'' and Rear-Admiral Story's flag captain on ''Washington''This ship of the line was launched in 1795 as ''Staten Generaal'', but was renamed ''Washington'' in 1798 after the former
U.S. president The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
, who was greatly admired by the Patriot faction in the Batavian Republic, but abhorred by the Orangist faction, for exactly that reason. No doubt, the renaming was also expected to show the political sympathies of the Dutch; de Jonge, p. 237, note 1
who were among the officers from the old navy, who had been let go in 1795, but had been recommissioned after Camperdown to fill the many vacancies in the officer corps. They frequently appear in the correspondence of secret agent Charles Bentinck about Batavian officers he deemed pro-Orangist, and willing and able to lead a mutiny in the fleet. It is against this background that we need to see the series of events around the squadron of Rear-Admiral Story, consisting of the ships of the line ''Washington'' (cap. Van Capellen), ''Leyden'' (cap. Van Braam), ''Cerberus'' (cap.de Jong), ''Utrecht'' (cap. Kolff), ''de Ruyter'' (cap. Huys), ''Gelderland'' (cdr. Waldeck), ''Beschermer'' (cap. Eylbracht), and ''Batavier'' (cap. Van Senden); the frigates ''Amphitre'' (cdr. Schutter), ''Mars'' (cdr. Bock), ''Embuscade'' (cdr. Rivert), and the brig ''Galathee'' (lt. Droop) that started with the arrival of the British fleet before the Texel on 19 August, and was followed by the visit of three
parlimentaire A Parlimentaire (also Parlementaire) is defined by the U.S. Department of Defense as "an agent employed by a commander of belligerent forces in the field to go in person within the enemy lines for the purpose of communicating or negotiating openl ...
s, col.
Frederick Maitland General Frederick Maitland (3 September 1763 – 27 January 1848) was a British Army officer who fought during the American War of Independence, the Peninsular War and later served as Lieutenant Governor of Dominica. Life The youngest son ...
, cap. Robert Winthrop, and Lieutenant
George Collier Vice Admiral Sir George Collier (11 May 1732 – 6 April 1795) was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars. As commander of the fourth-rate shi ...
, to Admiral Story aboard ''Washington'' on 21 August. They were sent by General Abercromby and Admiral Duncan to demand that Story and his squadron "come over" to the ''Erfprins'', in which case they would be able to sail out to the British fleet unmolested and join that fleet. The visit was certainly irregular, in the sense that the pilot boat in which the parlimentaires traveled was allowed to pass the guard line, maintained by ''Amphitre'' and ''Embuscade'', without warning Story, and they boarded ''Washington'' without his permission. This misplaced leniency was later held against Story at his court-martial, because it allowed the parlimentaires to spy out the strengths and weaknesses of the fleet, and even contact members of crews. The latter was allowed to happen when the parlimentaires had to wait for the arrival of the officer commanding the shore batteries at Den Helder, col. Gilquin, who Maitland wanted to hand the ultimatum to in person. Cap. Van Capellen even accompanied them on board ''Washington'', allowed them to address members of the crew, and to hand out copies in both English and Dutch of the proclamation of Abercromby and the ''Erfprins''. In this way the crew of the ''Washington'' (and probably also ''Embuscade'') received knowledge of the approach of the British fleet, with the ''Erfprins'' on board, and also of the coming Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland. This information appears to have made a profound impression on the crew of ''Washington'' (and other ships), especially as "agitation" already appears to have been going on. Story might have stopped the rot by kicking the parlimentaires of his ship for this "unparlimentairy" conduct, and by punishing Capt. Van Capellen, but he did nothing.It is not known what was ''exactly'' said in the interview between the British parlimentaires and Story, van Braam, van Capellen and de Jong, but from the note sent by col. Maitland to Secretary Dundas on 9 September 1799, describing the event, it may be inferred that the three captains ''in so many words'' "...did declare their attachment to the Stadtholder and the former government, and their disgust at the present government and their French connection." Maitland then emphasizes that this fact should be kept secret in order not to endanger the relatives of the three captains, indicating that their behavior might be construed as being treasonous. Cf. Colenbrander, pp. 393-394. Apparently, secrecy was indeed maintained, as de Jonge does not mention this incriminating note. Story and Gilquin limited themselves to rejecting the ultimatum. The landing at Callantsoog started on 23 August, and eventually the defending Batavian troops under General Daendels were defeated, which prompted the latter to over-hastily order the strategic retreat of the troops manning the shore batteries at Den Helder (of course after spiking the guns). Those batteries had recently been augmented to about 80 heavy pieces of artillery, that together with the artillery on the fleet in the roadstead, should have been adequate to defend the anchorage from a naval incursion. Four days before the British landing the ''Agent'' for the Navy, Spoors, had sent Story an order, allowing him to retreat to the nearby anchorage of the ''Vlieter'' (a tidal trench between sandbanks near what is in our days the western end of the
Afsluitdijk The ''Afsluitdijk'' (; fry, Ofslútdyk; nds-nl, Ofsluutdiek; en, "Closure Dyke") is a major dam and causeway in the Netherlands. It was constructed between 1927 and 1932 and runs from Den Oever in North Holland province to the village of ...
), in case the anchorage would have become indefensible, but he had retracted that order a few days later, and ordered Story to defend against a naval incursion with the fleet in the Texel anchorage. However, Story later vehemently denied having received that second order. Seeing that the loss of the shore batteries had indeed made the Texel anchorage indefensible, Story now made the fateful decision to retreat to the ''Vlieter''. The fleet left the Texel anchorage in the morning of 28 August, to make the short trip to the new anchorage, but because of the southerly wind, was forced to anchor before the trench, instead of inside it. Story later defended taking this unfavorable position (if he had anchored at the narrowest point of the channel, his position would have been far stronger), because he intended to return to the Texel anchorage as soon as the British transports would have entered that anchorage, to attack that fleet in a vulnerable state. But as the wind now turned north he could not execute this plan, so he decided to take up the position in the channel after all, where he had the fleet go into line of battle on 29 August. Then the wind turned southwest in the morning of 30 August, enabling the British fleet to enter the Texel roadstead and to sail toward the Batavian fleet in the ''Vlieter'', leaving Story no other options than to defend an unfavorable position, or to surrender. Meanwhile the crews on several of the ships had given indications of disaffection and disobedience, that did not yet amount to mutiny (except on ''Washington'', where the crew had put unauthorized guards on the doors of the powder room in the night of 29 August, because rumors were circulating that the officers intended to blow up the ship), but were sufficiently serious to worry Story. However, he neglected to take steps to nip the impending mutiny in the bud, fearing that taking forceful action would only make matters worse (a standpoint shared by the other officers). The British squadron under Admiral Mitchell aboard HMS ''Isis'' (with a "double prince's flag" on the main mast), that sailed toward the ''Vlieter'' consisted of eleven ships of the line, seven frigates, five
corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...
s, armed with 16 32-pdr carronades, and numerous smaller ships with heavy artillery. Even though it was just a part of the British fleet, its force was far superior to that of Story's fleet. To win time (as he later asserted) to restore order among his crews, Story now sent captains Van Capellen and de Jong as
parlimentaire A Parlimentaire (also Parlementaire) is defined by the U.S. Department of Defense as "an agent employed by a commander of belligerent forces in the field to go in person within the enemy lines for the purpose of communicating or negotiating openl ...
s to ''Isis'' to warn that he intended to defend himself to the death, which probably would result in the total annihilation of the ships Mitchell had earlier said he hoped to acquire for his navy. This ambiguous message did not impress Mitchell, who countered with an ultimatum to hoist the Prince's flag, and surrender the fleet, or Mitchell's fleet would be ordered to engage. Mitchell gave Story an hour to weigh his options and make his decision Meanwhile, things had gotten out of hand on ''Washington''. The crew stormed the quarter deck, threatened the officers, declared that they would refuse orders to fight, and even started to throw ammunition overboard. Instead of repressing this mutiny, Story signaled the captains of the other ships aboard for a council of war. He told the assembled captains of the ongoing mutiny, and told them that he would be unable to make his ship take part in the fight. Many of the other captains then told of similar problems on their own ships, equally preventing their ships from taking part in the impending battle. The council of war therefore unanimously decided to surrender the fleet, making it clear that they did not hand it over, as Mitchell had demanded, but gave in to superior power, and considered themselves prisoners of war. The captains Van Capellen and de Jong were again sent out to convey the message to Admiral Mitchell. At the news of the surrender the crews burst out in an orgy of joy and mayhem. Batavian flags were mutilated and trampled; known Patriot sympathizers molested (one was even thrown overboard from ''Embuscade''), and generally the riots that had occurred at Saldanha Bay were repeated, until the British restored order. Mitchell took over the ships, had the prince's flag hoisted, and had the ships sailed over to England, mostly with their own crews and officers. Most of the crew members, being Scandinavian and German mercenaries, went into British service, as did some of the officers. Everybody the Batavian authorities could put their hands on (some officers returned voluntarily) were arrested and brought before a ''Hoge Zeekrijgsraad''. Rear-Admiral Story and captains Van Braam and Van Capellen remained abroad. They were tried ''in absentia'', just like Capt. Kolff, who managed to escape from prison. Most received severe sentences. Story was sentenced to death by decapitation; captains Van Braam, Van Capellen, and Kolff to death by firing squad. As they were outside the reach of Batavian justice, this amounted to perpetual banishment. Those still alive in 1813 were pardoned by the former ''Erfprins'', future king William I in his capacity of "Sovereign Prince" of the Netherlands.


Return to the Dutch Navy

The expected general insurrection of the Dutch people failed to materialize; the British and Russian advances in North-Holland province were frustrated by the combined Franco-Batavian army; and seeing that the expedition was a failure the Coalition forces concluded the
Convention of Alkmaar The Convention of Alkmaar was a 18 October 1799 agreement concluded between the commanders of the expeditionary forces of Great Britain and Russia on the one hand, and of those of the First French Republic and the Batavian Republic on the other, i ...
with the commander of the French troops in the Batavian Republic, General
Guillaume Brune Guillaume Marie-Anne Brune, 1st Count Brune (, 13 March 1764 – 2 August 1815) was a French military commander, Marshal of the Empire, and political figure who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Early life Bru ...
, that allowed them to evacuate under favorable conditions. In the six years until the preliminaries of the
Peace of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (french: la paix d'Amiens, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition. It marked the end of the French Revolutionary Wars; after a short peace it se ...
brought hostilities to a halt, the Batavian navy lost no less than 64 ships to all kinds of calamities, among which 21 ships of the line, and 22 frigates, not exactly a good record, especially as eleven of the ships of the line were lost as a consequence of the two big mutinies referred to above. In September 1801 another coup d'etat took place, executed by the French General
Pierre Augereau Charles Pierre François Augereau, 1st Duke of Castiglione (21 October 1757 – 12 June 1816) was a French military commander and a Marshal of the Empire who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. After serving in ...
. He intervened in one of the many quarrels between the ''Uitvoerend Bewind'' and the National Assembly to put an autocratic constitution in place, that rolled back the democratic gains of the previous years and replaced the ''Uitvoerend Bewind'' with a new Executive under the name ''
Staatsbewind {{Unreferenced, date=December 2009 The Staatsbewind (translated into English as "state council" or "state authority") was a governing council of the Batavian Republic between 1801 and 1805. The presidents of the Staatsbewind were acting heads of st ...
''. As a byproduct, the ''Agent'' for the Navy was replaced by a Navy Council.This council consisted of H. Aeneae (who had been the chairman of the commission that wrote the report on the state of the navy in 1795), G.J. Jacobson (since 1795 commissioner of the Rotterdam department of the navy), and H. van Royen (a former member of the admiralty board of Zeeland); de Jonge, p.528, note 1 The Organists were very happy with this development, as it enabled them to gain a foothold in the new regime (and they were in favor of the autocratic tenor of the new constitution). The Peace of Amiens had a number of favorable consequences for the Republic and its navy (beside the fact that it now received diplomatic recognition from Great Britain and its allies). In the first place the stadtholder gave up his claims to reinstatement (in exchange for receiving some fiefs in Germany, where he now became a "sovereign prince"), thereby depriving the Organists from their political rallying point; many now made their peace with the ''Staatsbewind'' regime; there would be no more Organist-inspired mutinies on the Batavian fleet. The many Dutch colonies captured by the British in the East and West Indies were returned to the Republic (without Ceylon, but including the Cape Colony), and the Batavian navy sent several squadrons to renew the Dutch control over these colonies, and garrison them. One, under now ''captain'' Bloys van Treslong went to
Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...
; two others, one under Rear-Admiral Simon Dekker, the other under Vice-Admiral Pieter Hartsinck went to the Cape and onwards to
Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
. The Batavian envoy to the Peace Conference,
Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck (31 October 1761 – 15 February 1825), Lord of Nyenhuis, Peckedam and Gellicum, was a Dutch jurist, ambassador and politician who served as Grand Pensionary of the Batavian Republic from 1805 to 1806. Education ...
, attempted to have the ships that were surrendered in the Vlieter mutiny returned to the Batavian navy. Some of those ships had served under Dutch officers and crews in the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
, ferrying troops to
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, now that they were under the command of the stadtholder as "admiral-general" of the navy (though they had to swear allegiance to
King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
as well). Those crews were now paid off (and allowed to return to the Netherlands under an
amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...
), and the ships were laid up. Schimmelpenninck's efforts proved unsuccessful. According to British historian William James. they were eventually sold to the Royal Navy, with the proceeds going to the former stadtholder, William V.


Napoleon's planned invasion of England

One of the Organists who made their peace with the Batavian Republic was Carel Verhuell. He had been one of the old-navy officers dismissed in 1795 (as a commander), and had like many others refused to take up a new commission. He now, however, became involved with the preparations for the Dutch part of Napoleon's "Grand Scheme" of an invasion of Great Britain. The ''Staatsbewind'' made vain attempts not to become engaged in the new
war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
, that broke out shortly after the Peace of Amiens had been concluded, but France showed no inclination to honor the part of the Peace that obligated her to withdraw her troops from the Batavian Republic, and so, willy-nilly, the Republic became once again a reluctant partner of the French republic in war.
First Consul The Consulate (french: Le Consulat) was the top-level Government of France from the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 10 November 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire on 18 May 1804. By extension, the term ''The Con ...
Napoleon Bonaparte imposed a new Convention (of 25 June 1803), supplemental to the treaty of alliance of 1795, on the ''Staatsbewind'' that included very onerous obligations, especially in the naval field. Specifically for the planned expedition (so in addition to already standing obligations) the Batavian navy was required to supply by December 1803: five ships of the line,These were ''Brutus'' (76), ''Joan de Witt'' (68), ''Doggersbank'' (68), ''Neptunus'' (68), and ''Hersteller'' (68); de Jonge, p. 537, note 1. five frigates, 100 small
gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...
s, and 250 flat-bottomed transport craft, holding 60 to 80 men each. In total the Dutch were to provide 25,000 men and 2,500 horses, all vessels to be provisioned for 25 days from sailing time.The French text of the Convention of 25 June 1803 is published in Colenbrander, H.T. ''Gedenkstukken der Algemeene Geschiedenis van Nederland van 1795 tot 1840. Vierde deel, tweede stuk''. Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatien, Grote Serie, Vol 6 (1908), pp. 441-442. Verhuell (given the rank of rear-admiral for the occasion) was appointed commissioner of the Republic to liaise between the shipyards and assembly places in Flushing and the Texel, and the French military authorities, and with the First Consul personally.De Jonge tells us that originally admiral de Winter was selected for this role, but that Bonaparte did not want him, possibly because of his well-known "republican proclivities." The ''Staatsbewind'' then selected an older brother of Verhuell, who declined the honor, but put forward his younger brother; de Jonge, p. 540 The ''Staatsbewind'' intended for him to represent Batavian interests, and "cushion" them against the French leader's continuously erupting outburst of displeasure, but they were to be disappointed. Bonaparte was very dissatisfied with the "foot-dragging" of the Dutch, and Verhuell shared his zeal for ramping up production. Pleasantly surprised that a Dutchman should share his views, Bonaparte took a liking to Verhuell, and soon began to shower all kinds of favors on him. Verhuell was given the command over the right wing of the invasion fleet, for instance. Napoleon also gave him a "travel-expenses allowance" of 24,000
Francs The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centu ...
from the French treasury, on top of the generous ''
per diem ''Per diem'' (Latin for "per day" or "for each day") or daily allowance is a specific amount of money that an organization gives an individual, typically an employee, per day to cover living expenses when travelling on the employer's business. A '' ...
'' he already received from the ''Staatsbewind''. Verhuell had a close affinity to the authoritarian ways of Bonapartist France. As an Organist already steeped in anti-democratic attitudes, he had a great appreciation for the "Strong Man" at the head of the French Republic, and he became a willing instrument of that person in implementing his designs. Despite the fact that Bonaparte's demands became more and more outrageous (going far beyond what had been agreed in the Convention of June 1803), Verhuell made sure that they were implemented to the letter. When the authorities in The Hague pleaded lack of resources, Verhuell filed a very negative report to Bonaparte that elicited the expected explosion of rage toward the poor members of the Navy Council from the Great Man. It should cause no surprise that the members of that council started to mistrust Verhuell. Protests against his behavior were waved aside by the First Consul, however, and the Batavian government had to give in. In February 1804 the member of the Navy Council van Royen (himself from Zeeland) was sent to Flushing to smooth over things with the French and to expedite the construction of the vessels that were still missing from the Flushing flotilla, destined for the invasion fleet. The result was that the final ships were soon delivered, and the flotilla of 378 vessels in total became ready to be transported to the invasion ports in France. The flotilla consisted of three divisions of 18 gun
schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...
s each and 216 gunboats. It was manned with 3,600 Batavian sailors, and a substantial number of French soldiers. It was armed with 1,300 pieces of regular artillery (mostly 6 to 30-pdrs), and
carronade A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century. Its main func ...
s, and
hand mortar The hand mortar is a firearm and early predecessor of modern grenade launchers that was used in the late 17th century and 18th century to throw fused grenades. The action was similar to a flintlock, matchlock, or wheellock firearm (depending on ...
s. The quality and morale of the officers and crews was good, thanks to the personnel policies of Verhuell. On 17 February 1804 Verhuell received Bonaparte's order to start moving the flotilla to the invasion ports. But that was not an easy order to execute. Outside the
Scheldt The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corr ...
estuary was the British blockade fleet, ready to engage any ship that would come out of the shoals which flanked the
Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...
coast. The "mosquito fleet" that Verhuell had assembled were ship-for-ship no match for the larger British warships. Verhuell therefore decided to spread the risk and move the flotilla in small divisions and short stages, first to
Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...
, and later to
Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.horse artillery Horse artillery was a type of light, fast-moving, and fast-firing artillery which provided highly mobile fire support, especially to cavalry units. Horse artillery units existed in armies in Europe, the Americas, and Asia, from the early 17th to t ...
. On one such occasion, on 15 May 1804, things got especially hairy when a division of gun schooners and gunboats was engaged by a superior force under Admiral Sidney Smith. Verhuell distinguished himself during this running battle, for which he was made an officer in the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...
by Emperor Napoleon. The Batavian ''Staatsbewind'' was less forthcoming, however, and had to be prodded to give him his due, but relented in June 1804, by promoting him to vice-admiral. All in all a flotilla of 360 vessels had reached Dunkirk by the Spring of 1805, but Napoleon needed them in or near
Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...
, the projected jump-off point for the invasion. So Verhuell was now ordered to proceed to
Ambleteuse Ambleteuse (; vls, Ambeltuwe) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. History Ambleteuse began as a hamlet of a few huts in the middle of the dunes, from which the derisory name of “carcahuttes" (huts made from old-b ...
(two miles north of Boulogne), where Napoleon had had the harbour improved to give protection to the Batavian flotilla. Verhuell again decided to proceed in stages with small divisions. This often worked out well, except on 24–25 April 1805 when a division under temporary-captain C.P.W. Keller was surprised by (capt. Robert Honyman), which managed to capture eight of the small Batavian vessels near
Cap Gris-Nez Cap Gris-Nez (literally "cape grey nose"; ) is a cape on the Côte d'Opale in the Pas-de-Calais ''département'' in northern France. The 'Cliffs of the Cape' is the closest point of France to England – from their English counterparts at Do ...
. The great majority of the division arrived safely in Ambleteuse after a running fight. On 17 July 1805 Verhuell himself took command of 32 gunboats and four French prams under command of Cdr. Bernard-Isidore Lambour to venture the trip to Ambleteuse. Arriving at the latitude of
Gravelines Gravelines (, ; ; ) is a commune in the Nord department in Northern France. It lies at the mouth of the river Aa southwest of Dunkirk. It was formed in the 12th century around the mouth of a canal built to connect Saint-Omer with the sea. As ...
he discovered a fleet of 15 British shipsJames says that it was only (20) under Capt. Edward King with six to eight smaller vessels; James, op.cit. 1837, p. 309 that attacked him, and forced several gunboats to beach themselves (though some of those managed to regain the flotilla later on). The British force broke off the fight at nightfall and Verhuell decided to anchor in the roadstead of
Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...
. During the night his chief-of-staff captain A.A. Buyskes, back in Dunkirk, sent off more gun schooners, which joined Verhuells flotilla without being molested, in the morning of 18 July. The British with 19 ships (among which two ships of the lineJames gives the following order of battle for the British: (50) under Capt. George Argles, (28) under Capt. Stephen Thomas Digby, with three
sloops A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...
, and the squadron with HMS ''Trusty'' already mentioned; James, op.cit. 1837, p. 310
) again engaged the flotilla in a long-range gun duel, that however did little damage to the Batavian ships. The French shore batteries also took part in the duel. The combined fire of the Dutch schooners and French heavy artillery forced the British fleet to break off the fight after two hours. The flotilla suffered the loss of 11 gunboats, that had to enter the harbour of Calais. His flotilla thus reduced to 21 gun schooners, Verhuell decided to round Cap Gris-Nez, well aware that the British were waiting for him. Much against his better judgment, the French
Marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...
Davout Louis-Nicolas d'Avout (10 May 1770 – 1 June 1823), better known as Davout, 1st Duke of Auerstaedt, 1st Prince of Eckmühl, was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who served during both the French Revolutionary Wars and th ...
joined him aboard the schooner ''Heemskerk'', and around 3 PM Verhuell weighed anchor to proceed toward the Cape. He was now faced by a British squadron of two ships of the line, six frigates and thirteen brigs that neared him to often only the distance of a pistol shot. Two brigs attempted to board ''Heemskerk'', but were repelled. The Batavian ships were from the shore supported by Davout's horse artillery, and the British ships mostly over-shot the low-lying Dutch vessels, so that the damage remained limited. Finally, Verhuell's flotilla managed to round the Cape, after which the British attack abated, though they followed the flotilla till it had safely reached Ambleteuse around 7 PM. The British then made a final attempt to sink the Dutch flotilla, lying at anchor below the shore batteries, by gunfire, but were driven off by the French heavy guns after an hour.While Verhuell was underway to Ambleteuse, the French admiral,
Lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...
, launched a diversionary action with ships from the Boulogne flotilla. These were met by a squadron with HMS ''Immortalité'' under Capt. Edward Owen, and . This separate action often gets convoluted with the one involving the Batavian flotilla in the stories of these individual ships, because the British ships later joined the squadron with HMS ''Vestal'' that made the final attempt at Ambleteuse.) escaped annihilation. James shows that these actions were actually separate in time and place; James, op.cit. 1837, p. 311. Verhuell, not one to leave his exploits in the dark, wrote a glowing dispatch to the acting Secretary of State for the Navy, van Royen, on 22 July 1805, that was immediately published; French reports appeared in the '' Moniteur'' of 3 and 21 Thermidor, An XIII (22 July and 9 August 1805); de Jonge, p. 574, note 1
In the course of August, the last Batavian vessels of the Verhuell flotilla reached Ambleteuse, and the Franco-Batavian invasion force was now poised to launch the invasion. In Brest and the Texel French and Batavian fleets This was a fleet of five Batavian ships of the line, several frigates, and many transports with 24,000 French and Batavian troops under the French General
Marmont Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont (20 July 1774 – 22 March 1852) was a French general and nobleman who rose to the rank of Marshal of the Empire and was awarded the title (french: duc de Raguse). In the Peninsular War Marmont succeede ...
; de Jonge, pp. 577-578.
were waiting to sortie and engage the British blockade fleet. But the waiting was for the return of the French fleet of Admiral Villeneuve, who had made a feint toward the
French Antilles The French West Indies or French Antilles (french: Antilles françaises, ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy fwansez) are the parts of France located in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean: * The two overseas departments of: ** Guadeloup ...
to lure the British fleet away from the
English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
. On his return to Europe he met a British squadron in the inconclusive Battle of Cape Finisterre on 22 July 1805, and instead of sailing to Brest, as ordered, took his fleet to
Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...
, rendering the execution of Napoleon's Grand Scheme impossible. In a great rage Napoleon broke up his army camp in Boulogne, and ordered Verhuell to send his flotilla to Boulogne. Verhuell transferred command to captain Gerbrands and himself went back to The Hague, where he accepted appointment to the post of Secretary of State of the Navy from the new Grand Pensionary
Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck (31 October 1761 – 15 February 1825), Lord of Nyenhuis, Peckedam and Gellicum, was a Dutch jurist, ambassador and politician who served as Grand Pensionary of the Batavian Republic from 1805 to 1806. Education ...
The Batavian Republic had changed its regime for the last time in April 1805 on the orders of Napoleon. The new constitution, written by Schimmelpenninck, concentrated power in a stadtholder-like office, that however, for obvious reasons, had to be given a different name; the choice had fallen on the ancient name of ''Raadpensionaris''. With the change in regime returned the departmental structure for the navy, with a "minister" at its head, in this case called "Secretary of State". in November 1805. The Batavian flotilla remained in Boulogne for the next year and a half, kept ready in case Napoleon decided to restart his invasion enterprise. However, on 25 August 1807 he issued an imperial decree in
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
, where he happened to be at that moment, ordering the dissolution and disarmament of the French and Dutch troops in Boulogne.de Jonge, p. 580 By that time the Batavian Republic and Batavian navy no longer existed, as the Republic had been forced to "petition" the emperor to be allowed to accept the emperor's brother
Louis Bonaparte Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (born Luigi Buonaparte; 2 September 1778 – 25 July 1846) was a younger brother of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French. He was a monarch in his own right from 1806 to 1810, ruling over the Kingdom of Holland (a French cl ...
as
king of Holland The monarchy of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. As such, the role and position of the monarch are governed by the Constitution of the Netherlands. Consequently, a large portion of it is devoted to the monarch. Roughly a third of ...
on 5 June 1806. With the change in regime the Batavian Navy automatically became the royal navy of the kingdom of Holland.


Notes and references


Notes


References


Sources

* * *Lloyd, Christoffer, ''St. Vincent and Camperdown''. Pickle Partners Publishing, Jul 11, 2017 * Schama, S. (1977), ''Patriots and Liberators. Revolution in the Netherlands 1780-1813'', New York, Vintage books, {{DEFAULTSORT:Batavian navy 1795 establishments in Europe Naval history of the Netherlands Military history of the Batavian Republic Military units and formations established in 1795 Military units and formations of the French Revolutionary Wars