Capture of Saint Martin (1633)

1633 naval battle of the Eighty Years' War

Capture of Saint Martin

Part of the Eighty Years' War

Spanish capture of Saint Martin by Juan de la Corte (1597-1660), oil on canvas. Naval museum of Madrid
| Date| 25 June to 1 July 1633

|

Location|

Saint Martin Dutch Antilles, Caribbean Sea

18°01′44″N 63°02′41″W﻿ / ﻿18.028967°N 63.044733°W﻿ / 18.028967; -63.044733
Result|  Spanish victory
Belligerents
Dutch Republic|  Spain
Commanders and leaders
Jan Claeszoon van Campen|  Lope de Hoces
Marquess of Cadreita
Strength
140[1]|  24 men-of-war
31 transports
1300 men
Casualties and losses
3 ships captured
8 killed or wounded[1]|  26 killed or wounded[1]

* v
* t
* e

Thirty Years' War

|  Bohemian Revolt (1618–1620)

* Pilsen
* Lomnice
* Sablat
* Wisternitz
* Bautzen
* White Mountain
* Neu Titschein

Palatinate campaign (1620–1623)

* Bad Kreuznach
* Oppenheim
* Bacharach
* Jülich
* Mingolsheim
* Wimpfen
* Höchst
* Bergen op Zoom
* Heidelberg
* Fleurus
* Mannheim
* Frankenthal
* Stadtlohn

Transylvanian invasions of Hungary (1619–1621, 1623–1624, 1626)

* Humenné
* Érsekújvár
* Tyrnau [de]
* Hodonín
* Vlach uprisings

Danish intervention (1625–1629)

* Breda
* Dessau Bridge
* Oldenzaal
* Lutter am Barenberge
* Groenlo
* Stralsund
* Wolgast
* 's-Hertogenbosch

Swedish intervention (1630–1635)

* Swedish landing
* Frankfurt
* Magdeburg
* Werben
* 1st Breitenfeld
* Bamberg
* Rain
* Maastricht
* Nuremberg
* Wiesloch
* Alte Veste
* Fürth
* Lützen
* Oldendorf
* Pfaffenhofen
* Steinau
* Konstanz
* 1st Breisach
* 1st Rheinfelden
* Liegnitz [de]
* 1st Nördlingen
* Strasbourg Bridge

Swedish-French Period (1635–1648)

* Les Avins
* Leuven
* Schenkenschans
* Ray-sur-Saône
* Dömitz [de]
* Haselünne [de]
* Raon
* Tornavento
* 2nd Magdeburg
* Somme
* Wittstock
* 2nd Breda
* Venlo
* Leipzig
* Hanau
* 2nd Rheinfelden
* Saint Omer
* Fuenterrabía
* Kallo
* Wittenweiher
* Thann [de]
* Vlotho
* 2nd Breisach
* 1st Freiberg
* Chemnitz
* Melnik
* Thionville
* Salses
* Cambrils
* Montjuïc
* Preßnitz
* Plauen
* La Marfée
* Dorsten
* Wolfenbüttel
* Kempen
* Honnecourt
* Schweidnitz
* 2nd Breitenfeld
* 2nd Freiberg
* Rocroi
* 1st Brno
* Tuttlingen
* Kolding
* Freiburg
* Philippsburg
* Jüterbog
* Bysjön
* Jankau
* 2nd Brno
* Mergentheim
* 2nd Nördlingen
* 3rd Hulst
* Korneuburg [de]
* Totenhöhe [de]
* Hohentübingen [de]
* Mardyck
* Dunkirk
* Triebl
* Naples
* Zusmarshausen
* Wevelinghoven
* Lens
* Dachau [de]
* Prague

Naval battles

* Gibraltar
* Genoa
* The Slaak
* 1st Saint Martin
* Lizard Point
* Dunkirk
* Channel
* The Downs
* Cape St. Vincent
* 2nd Saint Martin
* Lister Dyb
* Colberger Heide
* Fehmarn

Treaties

* v
* t
* e

Eighty Years' War

Origins – List of battles

* * *

1566–1572

Western Europe

* Beeldenstorm
* Valenciennes
* Wattrelos
* Lannoy
* Oosterweel
* Dahlen
* Heiligerlee
* Jemmingen
* Jodoigne
* Le Quesnoy

* * *

1572–1576

Western Europe

* Brielle
* Mons
* 1st Mechelen
* Goes
* Naarden
* Middelburg
* Haarlem
* IJsselmeer
* Alkmaar
* 1st Geertruidenberg
* Leiden
* Delft
* Valkenburg
* Mookerheyde
* Oudewater
* Schoonhoven
* Zierikzee

European waters

* Flushing
* Borsele
* Haarlemmermeer
* Zuiderzee
* Reimerswaal
* Lillo

* * *

1576–1579

Western Europe

* 1st Antwerp
* Gembloux
* Rijmenam
* 1st Deventer
* Borgerhout

* * *

1579–1588

Western Europe

* 1st Maastricht
* 2nd Mechelen
* Diest
* 1st Steenwijk
* Kollum
* 1st Breda
* Noordhorn
* Niezijl
* Lochem
* 1st Lier
* 2nd Antwerp
* Eindhoven
* Steenbergen
* Ghent
* Aalst
* 3rd Antwerp
* Arnhem
* Empel
* Boksum
* 1st Grave
* 1st Venlo
* Axel
* Neuss
* 1st Rheinberg
* 1st Zutphen
* 1st Sluis

European waters

* Ponta Delgada

* * *

Ten Years, 1588–1598

Western Europe

* 1st Bergen op Zoom
* 2nd Geertruidenberg
* 2nd Breda
* 2nd Zutphen
* 2nd Deventer
* Delfzijl
* Knodsenburg
* 1st Hulst
* Nijmegen
* Rouen
* Caudebec
* 2nd Steenwijk
* 1st Coevorden
* 1st Luxemburg
* 3rd Geertruidenberg
* 2nd Coevorden
* Groningen
* 2nd Luxemburg
* Huy
* 1st Groenlo
* Lippe
* 2nd Lier
* Calais
* 2nd Hulst
* Turnhout
* 2nd Rheinberg
* 1st Meurs
* 2nd Groenlo
* Bredevoort
* Enschede
* Ootmarsum
* 1st Oldenzaal
* 1st Lingen

European waters

* 1st English Channel · Flanders
* Bayona Islands
* Gulf of Almería
* 1st Cádiz
* Azores

* * *

1599–1609

Western Europe

* 1st Schenckenschans
* Zaltbommel
* Rees
* San Andreas
* Lekkerbeetje
* Nieuwpoort
* 3rd Rheinberg
* Ostend
* 1st 's-Hertogenbosch
* 2nd Grave
* Hoogstraaten
* 3rd Sluis
* Spinola's campaign
* (Oldenzaal, 2nd Lingen, Bergen op Zoom, Mülheim, Wachtendonk, Krakau Castle, Berkumerbridge, Lochem, 4th Rheinberg, 3rd Groenlo)

European waters

* Dover Strait
* 2nd Sluis
* 2nd English Channel
* 1st Cape St. Vincent
* 1st Gibraltar

* * *

Twelve Years' Truce, 1609–1621

Western Europe

* Aachen

East Indies

* Ternate
* Playa Honda

* * *

1621–1648

Western Europe

* Jülich
* 2nd Bergen op Zoom
* Fleurus
* 1st Veluwe
* 3rd Breda
* 2nd Oldenzaal
* 4th Groenlo
* 2nd 's-Hertogenbosch
* 2nd Veluwe
* Meuse (2nd Maastricht, 2nd Venlo, 1st Roermond)
* 5th Rheinberg
* Leuven
* 2nd Schenkenschans
* 4th Breda
* 3rd Venlo
* 2nd Roermond
* Kallo
* 3rd Hulst
* 4th Hulst
* Mardyck
* Dunkirk

European waters

* 2nd Gibraltar
* 2nd Cádiz
* Slaak
* Lizard Point
* Dunkirk
* 3rd English Channel
* The Downs
* 2nd Cape St. Vincent

Americas

* 1st Salvador
* Puerto Rico
* Bay of Matanzas
* Abrolhos
* Trujillo · Campeche
* 1st Saint Martin
* 1st Unare
* 2nd Salvador
* Cabañas
* Itamaracá
* Southern Chile
* 2nd Saint Martin

East Indies

* Mormugão
* Galle
* Malacca
* 1st San Salvador
* 2nd San Salvador
* Manila
* Cavite

* * *

Peace – Aftermath – Historiography

Part of the Eighty Years' War, the Capture of Saint Martin was a Spanish naval expedition against the island of Saint Martin, then occupied by the Dutch Republic. The island, claimed by Spain since Christopher Columbus' second voyage to the West Indies in 1493, lies a few hundred miles east of Puerto Rico. Its capture prevented Dutch privateers using it as a base for operations in the Caribbean.

## Background

[edit]

The Dutch Republic had been fighting Spain for its independence since the outbreak of the Eighty Years War in 1568, a conflict which extended into the Spanish Americas. By the 1620s, the Spanish were increasingly concerned by Dutch, French and English incursions into the Caribbean, culminating in the Battle in the Bay of Matanzas in 1628, when the Dutch captured the annual Spanish treasure fleet.[2]

The Spanish now decided to take action and targeted the Dutch garrison on Saint Martin, which threatened their colony in Puerto Rico. In April 1633, a fleet was sent from Cádiz to expel them, commanded by the Marquess of Cadreita, with the experienced Lope de Hoces as his deputy.[3]

## Battle

[edit]

Modern map of Saint Martin

As the Spanish approached the island on 24 June, reconnaissance showed the Dutch had constructed a 22-gun fortress covering Sint Maarten's approaches, held by a garrison of around 140, which included 40 slaves.[1] Cadreita sent an emissary ashore from the Spanish flagship Nuestra Señora de Aranzazu, to demand the garrison's surrender but although courteously received, their commander van Campen rejected the offer.[3]

The Spanish ships now began bombarding the fort, allowing them to disembark troops, although seven sailors died in the process.[4] By 2:00 A.M on 25th, 1,000 troops were ashore but the thick undergrowth meant they did not reach the fort until the next day, while suffering a number of deaths from heat exhaustion. Although de Hoces was badly wounded in one of the first exchanges of fire, the Spanish landed four heavier guns which began firing on the fort from close range.[5]

Since Cadreita was instructed not to spend more than ten days taking the island, the Spanish launched an assault on the night of 30 June. The attack cost them three dead and eighteen wounded, including veteran naval captain Tiburcio Redín. However, van Campen was also injured in the assault and asked for terms of surrender the next day; Cadreita ignored orders to put the garrison to the sword and agreed to take them to the nearest Dutch possession.[6]

## Aftermath

[edit]

Cadreita occupied the fortress the next day, strengthening its defenses by adding four 24-pounders, four 18-pound demi-culverins, and five 12-to ten-pounders to its armament, plus a permanent garrison of 250 Spanish soldiers and 50 auxiliaries under Captain Cebrián de Lizarazu.[7] The fleet then sailed to San Juan de Puerto Rico, arriving with its prisoners and three Dutch prize ships on 13 July. The Spaniards allowed all inhabitants to leave, hoisted the Spanish flag and read a Holy mass of Gratitude in the fort.[8]

The island was returned to the Dutch Republic by the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.[9]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Mathews 1969, p. 10.
2. ^ Mathews 1969, pp. 6–7.
3. ^ a b Mathews 1969, p. 8.
4. ^ Marley 1998, p. 120.
5. ^ Mathews 1969, p. 9.
6. ^ Mathews 1969, pp. 9–10.
7. ^ Marley 1998, p. 121.
8. ^ Hartog p.27
9. ^ Dewald 2003, p. 187.

## Sources

[edit]

* Lane, E Kris. Pillaging the Empire: Piracy in the Americas 1500-1750. M.E. Sharpe Publishers, ISBN 0-7656-0257-1
* Mathews, Thomas (1969). "The Spanish Domination of Saint Martin (1633-1648)". Caribbean Studies. 9 (1): 3–23\. JSTOR 25612105.3-23&rft.date=1969&rft_id=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25612105#id-name=JSTOR&rft.aulast=Mathews&rft.aufirst=Thomas&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Capture+of+Saint+Martin+(1633)" class="Z3988">
* Marley, David F (1998). Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the New World, 1492 to the Present. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 0-87436-837-5.
* Dewald, Jonathan (2003). Europe 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World. Charles Scribner's Sons. ISBN 0-684-31200-X.
* Hartog, Johannes History of Sint Maarten and Saint Martin

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