August 09, 1573 - Dutch Fleet Enters New York From the English
Third Anglo-Dutch War
August 09, 1573 - Dutch Fleet Enters New York From the English
The English had tanken New Amsterdam in 1665 during the Second Anglo Dutch War. Dutch forces retook the city on August 9, 1573.
Third Anglo-Dutch War
Lasting from 1672 until 1674, the Third Anglo-Dutch War began because of an incident known at the "Merlin Incident." King Charles II of England lusted for another war with the Netherlands. He created an incident to incite war fever in the English people. Parliament had been reluctant to go to another expensive war. The King hoped that public pressure would force them to support it. The royal yacht, Merlin, needed maintenance while off the Dutch coast. He allowed the ship to pass through the Dutch fleet anchored offshore. A previously signed treaty required the Dutch to strike their flags and fire white smoke from their cannons in salute. The Dutch did not believe that the Merlin was a warship. They struck their flags but did not fire the cannon. The King used their supposed lack of respect to incite a war against the Dutch.
The Dutch Retake the City
On August 8, 1673, a Dutch flotilla of twenty-three ships appeared in New York harbor. The next day they landed 600 Dutch troops under the command of Captain Anthony Colve. Dutch Admirals Evertsen and Binckes demanded the city's surrender. The ships fired some broadsides at the fort in the city, killing and wounding several of the soldiers inside. The militia defending the city consisted of mostly Dutch troops. These troops refused to fight against their compatriots, forcing the British commander to surrender on August 9.
New Orange
Admiral Evertsen renamed the city New Orange after the Dutch Prince of Orange. The conquering Dutch reinstituted Dutch as the official language. They reorganized the government along Dutch lines. The Dutch East India Company had owned and governed the colony prior to English conquest in 1664. However, this new occupying force was a Dutch military operation. Colve, appointed director by Admiral Evertsen, instituted military rule and raised taxes. The Dutch towns along the Hudson accepted Dutch rule, but the Puritan towns that had grown up on Manhattan resisted. They appealed to Connecticut for help. That colony was reluctant to attack the well-defended Dutch garrison. This state of affairs lasted for sixteen months.
Treaty of Westminster
On February 9, 1674, the Dutch and English signed the Treaty of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War. Under the terms of the treaty, the Dutch retained the South American province of Suriname, which they had captured in 1667. They gave up New Orange to the English, seeing it as a less valuable possession than Suriname. The English renamed the city New York and held it until it fell to the Americans during the American Revolution.