Invasion of Surinam (1804)

Invasion of Surinam
Date25 April - 5 May 1804
Location
Surinam colony now part of modern day Suriname
Result British victory
Belligerents
 Batavian Republic
Supported by:
France France
 United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Abraham Jacob van Imbijze van Batenburg Samuel Hood
Sir Charles Green
Strength
Unknown 2,000+ soldiers

The 1804 Invasion of Surinam was a campaign for control of the Dutch colony of Surinam between the Batavian Republic and the United Kingdom during the Napoleonic Wars. The colony, which was held by a Dutch garrison, was captured on 5 May 1804 by a British squadron of 31 ships carrying around 2,000 soldiers under the command of Samuel Hood and Sir Charles Green. Following the capture, Green was made governor general of British Surinam.

Preparations[edit]

In March 1804, the new Commander-in-Chief, Sir Charles Green, along with the 16th and 64th Regiments of Foot, arrived in Barbados from Britain, and plans were immediately made to capture the Dutch colony of Surinam.[1] The previous year, the colonies of Demarara, Essequibo and Berbice had been peacefully taken over and was believed that the people of Surinam were also amenable, though the Dutch authorities were less so. The invasion force comprised a British squadron of 31 ships under the command of Samuel Hood, carrying 2,148 troops from 16 and 64 Regiments of Foot, the 60th Rifles, the York Light Infantry Volunteers, the 6th West Indies Regiment and the Royal Artillery.[2]

1773 map of the Dutch colony of Surinam showing the respective positions of the Surinam and Commewine rivers, Warapee Creek, Braam's point, the redoubt at Purmerend, and the forts Leyden, New Amsterdam and Zeelandia

The country's coastal waters were very shallow making any landing impossible except at the highest point of the tide, and the terrain was difficult to penetrate being covered in thick jungle that stretched down to the shoreline.[3] By far the easiest method of travel was by boat along the rivers and creeks but even this was fraught with the danger of grounding because the waterways were also shallow and full of shoals. Additionally, the Dutch had built a series of fortifications along them. At the mouth of the Surinam estuary, at Braams Point, stood a battery of seven 18-pound guns while a distance upstream on the same bank, were the forts of Frederick, and a mile further on, Leyden, both with 12 large-calibre guns apiece. On the other side of the estuary, almost opposite Leyden was Fort Purmerend of 10 heavy guns. At the junction with the Commewine River, was Fort New Amsterdam, armed with 80 guns of various sizes and guarding Paramaribo itself, Fort Zeelandia, armed with 10 heavy guns.[4] In order to secure the capital, the British would be required to make their way ten miles upstream past this series of well-constructed defences and any ship stranded on one of the numerous shoals would be helpless in the crossfire.[3]

Capture[edit]

The expedition arrived off Surinam on 25 April after a twenty-two-day journey.[5][6] On 26 April, the sloop Hippomenes, a transport and a further three armed vessels, landed Brigadier-General Frederick Maitland and an advanced corps of over 600 men at Warapee Creek.[5][4] Comprising men from 16th Foot, 64th Foot and 6th West Indian Regiment plus a battery of light artillery, the advanced corps had been ordered to make their way by water from their position, 30 miles east of the Surinam River, to the rear of Fort New Amsterdam.[4] The same night, the captain of HMS Emerald, James O'Brien was ordered to assist Brigadier-General William Carlyon Hughes in the taking of Braam's Point. A sandbar initially prevented Emerald from entering the Surinam River but O'Brien forced her across on the rising tide, with Pandour and Drake following. Anchoring close by, the three British ships quickly put the Dutch battery of 18-pounders out of action. Soldiers from the 64th were then put ashore and captured the fort without loss of life. An invitation to surrender was then dispatched to the colony's governor.[5][7][8]

On 28 April an unfavourable reply to Green’s summons was received but a plan to land soldiers for an attack on Fort Purmerend was thwarted by the low tide and marshes, and had to be abandoned.[8] The expedition then pushed up the river, sometimes in water shallower than the frigates drew, until they arrived close to the forts Leyden and Frederick.[7] A landing downstream was at first considered impossible due to the marshes and thick jungle but on 29 April the British learned of a path leading through the forest to the rear of forts.[8]

Sometime after 22:00, a detachment of 180 men from the 64th and West Indian regiment, under Hughes, was shown to the path by members of an indigenous tribe. Heavy rain had made the trail almost impassable but after a gruelling five-hour march undercover of the forests and swamps, Hughes and his men were able to launch a surprise attack that resulted in the capture of the two forts.[8][9] By this time, most of the squadron had managed to work its way up the river as far as Fort Frederick, General Maitland was advancing along the Commewine River, and with troops poised to attack the fort of New Amsterdam, the Batavian commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Batenburg, duly surrendered.[10]

Following the capture, Green was made governor general of British Suriname.[11] Shrapnel shells were used for the first time at the battle, after their creation by Major Henry Shrapnel in Newfoundland.[12]

Order of battle[edit]

Royal Navy[edit]

Ship Guns Commander Notes Refs
Centaur 74 Commodore Samuel Hood
Captain Murray Maxwell
[13]
Pandour 44 Captain John Nash Armed en flute
Serapis 44 Commander Henry Waring
Alligator 28 Commander Charles Richardson
Hippomenes 18 Captain Conway Shipley
Drake 16 Commander William Ferris
Unique 10 Lieutenant George Rowley Brand
Guachapin 14 Commander Kenneth M'Kenzie Ships boats only [14]
Emerald 36 Captain James O'Brien

British Army[edit]

Units Commanders
16th Regiment of Foot Sir Charles Green
Frederick Maitland
William Carlyon Hughes
64th Regiment of Foot
60th Rifles
York Light Infantry Volunteers
6th West Indies Regiment
Royal Artillery

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ Fortescue pp. 186-187
  2. ^ Fortescue p. 187
  3. ^ a b Howard p. 120
  4. ^ a b c Fortescue p. 188
  5. ^ a b c "No. 15712". The London Gazette. 19 June 1804. pp. 761–762.
  6. ^ James (Vol III) pp. 288–289
  7. ^ a b James (Vol. III) p. 289
  8. ^ a b c d Fortescue p. 189
  9. ^ James (Vol. III) pp. 289–290
  10. ^ James (Vol. III) p. 290
  11. ^ Kruijer-Poesiat, Lies (2000). "An Inauguration in Suriname, 1804". Studia Rosenthaliana. 34 (2): 194–197. JSTOR 41442164.
  12. ^ Gooding, Sidney James (1965). An Introduction to British Artillery in North America. Ottawa: Museum Restoration Service. p. 46.
  13. ^ James, William (1837). The Naval History of Great Britain. Vol. 3. London: Richard Bentley. p. 288.
  14. ^ James, William (1837). The Naval History of Great Britain. Vol. 3. London: Richard Bentley. p. 289.

References[edit]

  • George Bruce. Harbottle's Dictionary of Battles. (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1981) (ISBN 0442223366).
  • Fortescue, John (1910). A History of the British Army. Vol. 5. London: Macmillan and Co. OCLC 650331461.
  • Howard, Martin R. (2015). Death Before Glory - The British Soldier in the West Indies in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars 1793-1815. Barnsley: Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-78159-341-7.
  • James, William (1827). The Naval History of Great Britain, Volume III, 1800–1805. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-907-7.