Defense of the
Dutch Republic 1793
Dutch During the
Revolutionary Wars Part 11
The Defence of Zeeland
by Geert van Uythoven, Netherlands
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Jumbo Map of Zeeland 1793 (extremely slow: 494K) And by using the waterways, the French would be able to supply their army directly from Antwerp. These were reasons enough to make sure Zeeland was defended well. With ViceAdmiral van Mnsbergen paying his direct attention to the river front, as already described, it was decided to appoint Naval Captain Jan Schreuder Haringman to command the Dutch naval forces in Zeeland. The forces on land, consisting of about nine to ten infantry battalions, were commanded by Major General C. de Braauw. Officially under the overall command of Van Kinsbergen, Haringman was to operate using his own initiative. Initially, a British squadron commanded by Commodore Murray, consisting of a 4th Rate 50-gun ship, two 32-gun frigates, a ship of 28 guns, one of 18 and one of 16 guns, supported Captain Haringman. These ships however left one after another, when the British were of the opinion that enough Dutch ships had arrived. The defence of Zeeland can be split up in two different aims. First, the river Scheldt and in this way the city Antwerp had to be blockaded, in order to prevent the French to enter the waterways of Zeeland. For this blockade, the Dutch held fortress of Bath, opposite the mouth of the Scheldt, was very important. Secondly, the waterways itself had to be protected; because of their advance into the Dutch Republic the French controlled a large part of the banks of the waterways near Brabant, including some harbours, and would therefore be able to hamper Dutch shipping using small boats. In the harbour of Oudenbosch at the river Dintel, the French had captured for example ten big ships and five smaller ones. It was reported that on the biggest captured ship, the "Pr. de Keulenaar", the French had cleared the deck, made a rampart of sandbags, and placed guns on it, changing it into a driving artillery platform. Except for a number of smaller gunboats and ships, order of battle of Haringmans' naval forces was as follows: [11]
Captain en Chef: Naval Captain Jan Schreuder Haringman
Right Wing (Naval Captain Jan Schreuder Haringman)
On and at the mouth of the river Scheldt, near the fortress Bath.
Centre (Naval Captain count F.S. van Bylandt)
At Flushing.
Left wing (Naval Captain M.J. Haringman)
On the Krarnmer and the Slaak.
North Sea
Opposing the Dutch on the Scheldt was a small French squadron, which was gradually reinforced with smaller ships moving through the canals from Ostend. [12]
On both banks of the Scheldt, opposite each other, the French held the fortresses Lillo and Liefkenshoek. Between those fortresses, in the middle of the Scheldt, the gun-brig "La St. Lucie" (Captain Castagnier, 14 guns) was anchored. With half March his naval forces in place, and receiving reports about the events in the eastern part of the Dutch republic, Captain Haringman conferred with Captain count van Bylandt in which way they could damage the French might on the Scheldt. First it was proposed to capture the fortresses Lillo and Liefkenshoek. But while the naval might was strong enough, the Dutch had no troops to spare to undertake the final attack on, and to occupy both fortresses. So in the end it was decided to attack the gun-brig "La St. Lucie" under cover of darkness, to capture it, and if that was not possible to bum it. The attack would be made by 140 volunteers; sailors and officers taken from the ships lying before Bath, and led by Lieutenant Willem Otto Blois van Treslong. They would row upstream the Scheldt under cover of darkness, in seven armed boats, guided by the pilot Jan Danckaerts.
Leaving in the evening of 20 March the boats rowed upstream, staying close to the riverbank. Arriving near the fortress Liefkenshoek, the Dutch party observed the "La St. Lucie", anchored in the middle of the river. A little bit west of the gun-brig, an armed gaffelaar (eight 2-pdr guns) was anchored. Arriving on the same height as the "La St. Lucie", the boats rowed towards the gun-brig as fast as possible. But the French were alert and spotted the boats early, engaging them with fire from muskets and pistols, and the swivelguns.
Luck was however with the Dutch. By coincidence, the captain of the "La St. Lucie" was not on board of his ship, and probably because of this the French defence was confused and un-coordinated. Noticing the disorder and despite the heavy French fire, Lieutenant Blois van Treslong gave the order to board the ship. After a short fight, the Dutch took possession of the "La St. Lucie". A few French managed to escape in a small boat, the remainder were killed or taken prisoner.
After this success, Lieutenant Blois van Treslong decided also to board the gaffelaar, to which purpose he dispatched two of his boats, commanded by the Lieutenants M. Hoelands and C.J. Wolterbeek. But by now the fortresses were also alerted. Both boats received heavy fire from the gaffelaar as well as from the fortress Lillo, which hit the boat from Lieutenant Wolterbeek, he and his men saved by the other one. In spite of this setback, the gaffelaar was also boarded and captured. Form both ships the anchor cables were cut, and with their prizes the Dutch sailed down the Scheldt, arriving before the fortress Bath around midnight, cheered at by the sailors from the ships lying there.
As can be expected, Dutch morale received a boost by this faith of arms. It was unknown to the Dutch how many casualties the French had, because all dead were thrown overboard immediately after the capture of both ships. They took 57 prisoners (five wounded) of which two were officers. Dutch losses were minor, four dead and four wounded. In addition, both ships were a welcome reinforcement to the Dutch fleet, while the French naval might was obviously proportionally weakened. [13]
Captain Schreuder Haringman as well as Lieutenant Blois van Treslong received the compliments from the Stadtholder AdmiralGeneral Willem V, and a few weeks later, Captain Schreuder Haringman was promoted to rear-admiral, Lieutenant Lieutenant Blois van Trestong to captain.
Defense of the Dutch Republic 1793 Dutch in Revolutionary Wars Part 11
The Dutch During the Revolutionary Wars
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Special care had to be taken for the defence of the province Zeeland. Not because a French advance in this region was probable. The many waterways and islands would make any French advance a slow undertaking. But Zeeland was important to provide the Dutch cities in Holland with food, especially grain.