The Dutch West Indies campaign was a series of minor conflicts in 1781 and 1782, in 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 ...

and the American Revolutionary War. Following Great Britain's declaration of war on the Dutch Republic in December 1780, British Admiral George Brydges Rodney, the commander of the Royal Navy in the West Indies, was notified by a fast-sailing packet ship of the declaration. He immediately acted to ensure control over as many of the Dutch colonies as possible, capturing Sint Eustatius, a vital entrepot of French and Dutch trade between their colonies and Europe, in early February 1781. He also captured Saba and Sint Maarten, and orchestrated the capture of the Dutch colonial outposts of

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

, Demerara, and

Essequibo Essequibo is the largest traditional region of Guyana but not an administrative region of Guyana today. It may also refer to: * Essequibo River, the largest river in Guyana * Essequibo (colony), a former Dutch colony in what is now Guyana; * Esseq ...

in South America. A planned expedition by Samuel Hood against

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

was called off on rumors that a French fleet was approaching. A French expedition in 1782 captured Demerara and Essequibo, although the fate of the other colonies were settled at the conclusion of the war.

References

*Koch, Cristopher. ''The Revolutions Of Europe Being An Historical View Of The European Nations From The Subversion Of The Roman Empire In The West, To The Abdication Of Napoleon'' # Whittaker Ave Maria Lane Publishing (1839) ASIN B0011HSJG8 * *Marley, David
''Wars of the Americas: a chronology of armed conflict in the New World, 1492 to the present''
*Rodway, James
''History of British Guiana'', Volume 1
Conflicts in 1781 Conflicts in 1782 Dutch West Indies Dutch West Indies Battles involving Great Britain Battles involving France Battles involving the Netherlands 18th century in the Caribbean 1781 in the Caribbean 1782 in the Caribbean 1781 in the British Empire 1782 in the British Empire {{Netherlands-battle-stub