The Saint-Barthélemy Mutiny was a mutiny against Swedish rule on the then Swedish controlled

Saint Barthélemy Saint Barthélemy, officially the Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Barthélemy, also known as St. Barts (English) or St. Barth (French), is an overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean. The island lies about southeast of the island ...

by the Gustavian Militia.

Background

Acquisition of Saint-Barthélemy

Gustav III Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of King Adolf Frederick and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Sweden. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what he saw ...

had always wanted a Swedish base in the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

, which he finally acquired in a treaty with the French King,

Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...

on July 1 1784. Unfortunately for the Swedes, the island had little to offer, with a population of only 739-950 when the ship ''Enighet'' arrived in 30 January 1785'','' The island also lacked clean drinking water and had little fertile ground.

Establishment as a free port

In 1786, the Swedes made a significant policy change, being the classification of the newly settled Gustavia as a

free port A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re-exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subject to ...

. It was modelled after Dutch and Danish predecessors in the region.Wilson, V. (2013). Saint Barthélemy as a Caribbean free port, 1784 – 1820. Åbo Akademi University These predecessors had seen success before, especially during international conflicts, leading to a Swedish interest.

French Revolutionary Wars

After news of the French Revolution reached the Caribbean in 1789, Many Frenchmen took refuge on neutral islands, including Saint Barthélemy. According to Anne Pérotin-Dumon, a great wave of immigration took place in 1793-1794 by groups of inhabitants from Guadaloupe and Martinique, mainly consisting of royalists and supporters of the revolution. In May 1793, Carl Fredrik Bagge af Söderby, the Governor of Saint Barthélemy, commented on the arrival of French families to the island. On one hand, he dissaproved of giving protection to the "foreign adventurers and bankrupt persons", while also welcoming them as they brought "considerable property, slaves, households, and cash."

Mutiny

On September 22, the merchant and mariners in Gustavia took up arms against the Swedish authorities, specifically Governor Hans Henrik Anckarheim, Samuel Fahlberg, and Anders Bergstedt. The motives for the mutineers was initially unclear, other than that they were reacting to Governor Anckarheims order to disband the town militia which he called "unruly, disorganized, and rebellious". Bergstedt was quickly captured by the mutineers, and when Anckarheim heard of the mutiny he ordered Fahlberg to escape to the nearby fortress. Anckarheim, who was suffering from

gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of pain in a red, tender, hot, and Joint effusion, swollen joint, caused by the deposition of needle-like crystals of uric acid known as monosodium urate crysta ...

, was captured by the mutineers. The mutineers, according to Anckarheim, claimed to have "a thousand reasons for complaints against ergstedtwhich they humbly wished to put before His Royal Majesty to consider". Later in the evening, after Anckarheim had negotiated with the mutineers, he ordered Fahlberg to not attack the mutineers and return home. A few days later, August Nyman had claimed that Fahlberg ordered him to fire on the rebellious militia, but that he refused due to them being his own countrymen. Due to the mutiny the Swedes temporarily lost control of the island to the mutineers.

Aftermath

Due to the mutiny, the demands from the mutineers that Bergstedt was to be exiled was accepted, along with Fahlberg.

References

{{reflist Wars involving Sweden Rebellions in Sweden Conflicts in 1810 History of Saint Barthélemy Swedish colonial empire