Uniforms of the
Dutch East Indies
1795-1873

History of the Regular Units

By C.A. Norman


August 13, 1814

Treaty of London; the Dutch Colonies were returned to them, except for Demerara, Essequebo, and Berbice. In November 1814, 3 companies of Artillery were raised for service in the West Indies. On 15 January 1815, 2 Jager Battalions were raised for the West Indies, numbered 10 and 11 in the Dutch Line; the Artillery companies were officially "attached" to the Dutch 6th. Artillery Battalion (the 2 Jager r Battalions fought at Waterloo in Anthing's "Indian Brigade").

In November 1815 two Dutch squadrons left for the West In,dies carrying these "Colonial Troops". The first under Kapitein ter Zee Jhr. J.E. Lewe van Aduard landed at Curacao on 1 February 1815, after landing detachments at Sint Eustatius, Sint Martin, Saber, Bonaire,and Aruba. The second, under Vice-Admiral A. van Braam, landed at Surinam on 27 February 1816. The forces in Surinam consisted of 8 companies of the 10th jagers (entire bttn), 4 companies of the 11th Jagers and 2 Artillery companies with the remainder split up among the islands. The General Staff, a few engineers, and a miner detachment (the latter until 1832) on Curacao.

January 19, 1818
Corps of Black Jagers re-raised in Surinam, now titled "Corps of Colonial Guides--paid for by colony, rather than a detached unit of Danish Regular army.

Februrary 27, 1819
With the re-ogarization of Dutch Army, the 2 West Indies Jager Battalions were renumbered the 27th and 28th.

April 13 1821
The 2 Jager Battalions combined into a single battalion of 9 companies: the 27th. =Bat ,ai -i~, ,n te t, (o.~ 1_ ~ of which 7 companies were in Surinam, 1 on Curacao, and 1 split between St. Eustatius and St. Martin. At the same time, the Artillery was reduced to 2 companies, the 1st in Surunam and the 2nd split among the islands.

May 20, 1828
The capital of the Dutch West Indies moved from Curacao to Paramaribo, Surinam and the Governor-General's post established.

August 3, 1830
"Corps of Invalides" established in Surinam--disbanded in 1837 with invalids shipped back to Netherlands.

November 29, 1832
27th Jager reduced to 5 companies: 1 each garrison Surinam, St. Eustatius, St. Martin, Curacao, and 1 split among Bonaire, Aruba, and Saba.

December 24, 1834
"Corps of Colonial Guides" reduced to "Company of Colonial Guides."

June 27, 1843

    West Indies OOB:
      Surinam: 3 Jager Co (27th bttn), 1 artillery Co., 1 "Colonial Guides" Co., and a Band (Raised 12 May 1841)

    Curacao and the Islands

      2 Jager companies (27th. Battalion)
      1 Artillery company
      various "Schutterij" or militia.

May 20. 1946
Garrisons were no longer to be provided for the islands of Sint Eustatius and Sint Martin; as a consequence the 27th, Jager Battalion was to be reduced to 4 companies. September 15, 1862. The "Company of Colonial Guides" was disbanded.

October 16, 1868
The 27th. Jager Battalion was to be disdanded, the troops to be reorganized as the "1st, 2nd, and 3rd companies of West Indies Infantry" (2 companies in Surinam, 1 on Curacao).

October 19, 1873
Th.e Artillery was reduced to 2 "Detachments" (one in Surinam, the other on Curacao). At the same time it was specified that all officers were to be detached from the Home Army in the Netherlands. This organization remained standard until at least c.1900, beyond which I have no information.


Uniforms of the Dutch East Indies 1795-1873

Part 2: Uniforms of the Dutch West Indies 1795-1873


Back to Table of Contents -- El Dorado Vol II No. 2
Back to El Dorado List of Issues
Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 1989 by The South and Central Military Historians Society
This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other articles from military history and related magazines articles are available at http://www.magweb.com