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Vlieter incident
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Vlieter incident
In the Vlieter incident of 30 August 1799, a squadron of the Batavian Navy, commanded by Schout-bij-nacht Samuel Story, surrendered to the British navy. The incident occurred during the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland. It occurred in the tidal trench between Texel and the mainland that was known as De Vlieter, near Wieringen.
During the War of the First Coalition, the Dutch Republic was invaded in 1794 by the armies of the French Republic, which led to the flight of Stadtholder William V, Prince of Orange, to England, and the proclamation of the Batavian Republic. The Dutch now changed sides in the war, entering into an offensive and defensive alliance with France.[citation needed]
In the course of the War of the Second Coalition, which actually was a continuation of the first war, without France, Great Britain, or the Batavian Republic having concluded a peace, Great Britain and Russia decided to launch an invasion of the Batavian Republic in the peninsula of North Holland in August 1799. It was hoped that this invasion would cause a popular uprising of the Dutch population against a French-imposed republic. The former Stadtholder and his eldest son the Hereditary Prince tried to support the expedition by propaganda efforts and intrigues with disaffected officers. The loyalty of the Batavian navy was especially in doubt, as this was a hotbed of Orangist sentiment. The British Major General George Don, who conducted a reconnaissance of the Republic in July, estimated that the Helder squadron of the Batavian fleet would fall into British hands without a fight, if the Allies played their cards right.
To accomplish this bloodless capture, the Allied fleet came stocked with the Prinsenvlag, pro-Orangist pamphlets, and Dutch émigrés, the most important of whom was the Hereditary Prince. One of the Orangist officers who had left the Navy in 1795, Carel Hendrik Ver Huell, had on behalf of the Prince contacted two of his former colleagues, Theodorus Frederik van Capellen and Aegidius van Braam (who had re-enlisted in the Batavian navy), with the object of getting them to organize a mutiny in the Helder squadron (where they each commanded a ship of the line). However, it is not clear whether the two officers indeed made a determined organizational effort before the fatal day.
The invasion fleet of about 200 warships and transports left England on 13 August. Inclement weather at first prevented it from approaching the Dutch coast. However, on 22 August, British Vice-admiral Andrew Mitchell was able to approach the roadstead of Den Helder where the squadron of Schout-bij-nacht Samuel Story lay at anchor. Mitchell sent over parlimentaires demanding that Story defect to the Prince with his fleet, but Story refused indignantly. He replied further that he would ask for further instructions from the Batavian government. The British ships then withdrew and the weather again turned bad for a few days.[citation needed]
On 26 August an Anglo-Russian invasion fleet of eleven ships-of-the-line and seven frigates arrived at the roadstead of Texel, flying the flag of the Prince of Orange. They started to disembark troops on the 27th, without opposition from the Batavian fleet, which had withdrawn into the Zuider Zee. General Herman Willem Daendels, the commander of the Batavian land forces, ordered the evacuation of the coastal forts of Den Helder after losing the Battle of Callantsoog.[citation needed]
On 28 August, Story returned with his squadron to the Vlieter roadstead. He was forced to anchor because of adverse winds that prevented the fleet from mounting a direct attack on Allied forces. Enervated by the sight of the Orange Prince's Flag on the forts and church steeples of Den Helder, several ships' crews began to mutiny. Among the ships whose crew rebelled was Van Braam's ship, the Leyden. He later admitted he could have easily suppressed the revolt aboard his ship, but that he decided against it. Instead, he informed his commanding officer, Story—who himself had to counter an incipient mutiny on the flagship Washington—of the "precarious situation" aboard the other ships of the fleet.
Story subsequently sent his flag captain, Van Capellen, and Cerberus' captain, De Jong, under a flag of truce to parlay with the commander of the British squadron, Andrew Mitchell. Van Capellen and De Jong were to instruct Mitchell that the Dutch fleet intended to give battle in accordance with explicit orders from the agent for the Navy of the Batavian Republic, Jacobus Spoors, but that Story had requested further orders and proposed to await those. Story requested a temporary truce to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. He would later go on to state that this had merely been a ruse to buy him some time—necessary to restore order back to the fleet.
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Vlieter incident
In the Vlieter incident of 30 August 1799, a squadron of the Batavian Navy, commanded by Schout-bij-nacht Samuel Story, surrendered to the British navy. The incident occurred during the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland. It occurred in the tidal trench between Texel and the mainland that was known as De Vlieter, near Wieringen.
During the War of the First Coalition, the Dutch Republic was invaded in 1794 by the armies of the French Republic, which led to the flight of Stadtholder William V, Prince of Orange, to England, and the proclamation of the Batavian Republic. The Dutch now changed sides in the war, entering into an offensive and defensive alliance with France.[citation needed]
In the course of the War of the Second Coalition, which actually was a continuation of the first war, without France, Great Britain, or the Batavian Republic having concluded a peace, Great Britain and Russia decided to launch an invasion of the Batavian Republic in the peninsula of North Holland in August 1799. It was hoped that this invasion would cause a popular uprising of the Dutch population against a French-imposed republic. The former Stadtholder and his eldest son the Hereditary Prince tried to support the expedition by propaganda efforts and intrigues with disaffected officers. The loyalty of the Batavian navy was especially in doubt, as this was a hotbed of Orangist sentiment. The British Major General George Don, who conducted a reconnaissance of the Republic in July, estimated that the Helder squadron of the Batavian fleet would fall into British hands without a fight, if the Allies played their cards right.
To accomplish this bloodless capture, the Allied fleet came stocked with the Prinsenvlag, pro-Orangist pamphlets, and Dutch émigrés, the most important of whom was the Hereditary Prince. One of the Orangist officers who had left the Navy in 1795, Carel Hendrik Ver Huell, had on behalf of the Prince contacted two of his former colleagues, Theodorus Frederik van Capellen and Aegidius van Braam (who had re-enlisted in the Batavian navy), with the object of getting them to organize a mutiny in the Helder squadron (where they each commanded a ship of the line). However, it is not clear whether the two officers indeed made a determined organizational effort before the fatal day.
The invasion fleet of about 200 warships and transports left England on 13 August. Inclement weather at first prevented it from approaching the Dutch coast. However, on 22 August, British Vice-admiral Andrew Mitchell was able to approach the roadstead of Den Helder where the squadron of Schout-bij-nacht Samuel Story lay at anchor. Mitchell sent over parlimentaires demanding that Story defect to the Prince with his fleet, but Story refused indignantly. He replied further that he would ask for further instructions from the Batavian government. The British ships then withdrew and the weather again turned bad for a few days.[citation needed]
On 26 August an Anglo-Russian invasion fleet of eleven ships-of-the-line and seven frigates arrived at the roadstead of Texel, flying the flag of the Prince of Orange. They started to disembark troops on the 27th, without opposition from the Batavian fleet, which had withdrawn into the Zuider Zee. General Herman Willem Daendels, the commander of the Batavian land forces, ordered the evacuation of the coastal forts of Den Helder after losing the Battle of Callantsoog.[citation needed]
On 28 August, Story returned with his squadron to the Vlieter roadstead. He was forced to anchor because of adverse winds that prevented the fleet from mounting a direct attack on Allied forces. Enervated by the sight of the Orange Prince's Flag on the forts and church steeples of Den Helder, several ships' crews began to mutiny. Among the ships whose crew rebelled was Van Braam's ship, the Leyden. He later admitted he could have easily suppressed the revolt aboard his ship, but that he decided against it. Instead, he informed his commanding officer, Story—who himself had to counter an incipient mutiny on the flagship Washington—of the "precarious situation" aboard the other ships of the fleet.
Story subsequently sent his flag captain, Van Capellen, and Cerberus' captain, De Jong, under a flag of truce to parlay with the commander of the British squadron, Andrew Mitchell. Van Capellen and De Jong were to instruct Mitchell that the Dutch fleet intended to give battle in accordance with explicit orders from the agent for the Navy of the Batavian Republic, Jacobus Spoors, but that Story had requested further orders and proposed to await those. Story requested a temporary truce to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. He would later go on to state that this had merely been a ruse to buy him some time—necessary to restore order back to the fleet.
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