Summary

Camera location	17° 28′ 56.76″ N, 62° 59′ 10.98″ W	View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMap	17.482433; -62.986383

"The French built the first Fort in this location in 1629 to defend themselves from suspected Spanish attack. In 1636, the Dutch landed on St. Eustatius and built For Oranje to guard the approach to the island. There were 16 canon in Fort Oranje in 1640. The British Admiral Robert Holmes ransacked Statia in 1663. In 1665 Edward Morgan (Governor of Jamaica and uncle of pirate Henry Morgan) attacked the island, which stayed in English hands until the Treaty of Breda in 1667. The English rebuilt the fort in 1673 after it had been burned by the Dutch earlier that year. In 1689-90 the French installed a dry moat at Fort Oranje. According to Commander Isaac Lamont the Fort had four bastions in 1701 made of packed earth. The Fort consisted of an entrance gate, four bastions, a powder house, guard's quarters, a house used for Church services but temporarily for a barracks, three cisterns, and a dilapidated Commanders house. In 1737, Commander Isaac Faesch reported to the West Indies Company that the forts were in such a poor state of repair that cattle and civilians could wander in and out. Isaac Faesch had another dry moat excavtaed at the fort in 1738 and a new drawbridge was installed in 1741. Between 1757 and 1762 a new bridge and house for the Commander were built and the cistern and the prison were repaired. There were two prisons, one for criminals and one for civil offenders. In 1776, Governor Johannes de Graaff ordered the salute to the USS Andrew Doria, which was carrying a copy of the Declaration of Independence and flying the new Grand Union flag. On 3 February, 1781, the British Admiral Rodney captured Statia in retaliation for the Island's support of the American rebels. In November 1781 the Marquis de Bouille surprised the British and took St. Eustatius. Fort Oranje was abandoned by the regular military in 1846. --- The earliest fortification at this location was built by the French in 1629. However, the French did not stay long and in 1636 St Eustatius was settled by a group of Dutch colonists. They arrived under the leadership of Pieter van Corselles, who had received a patent to establish a colony for the Dutch West India Company. --- Forts and Batteries are Poorly Maintained Most of the islands Commanders made requests to the Dutch West India Company for supplies to repair the forts and batteries and for new cannons and ammunition. In 1750, Commander Heyliger informed the Zeeland chapter that: 'Heeren have not sent any cannon balls with the 12 and 18-pounder cannons that I have received. So I request the Heeren to send them as soon as possible. Also two gun carriages. Without that I cannot make use of them.' --- The First Salute In addition to trade in sugar and enslaved Africans, Statia was an important supplier of munitions, particular for the British colonies in North America leading up to and during the War of Independence (1776-1783). In January, 1775, King George III wrote that: 'every intelligence confirms that principally St. Eustatius, but also all the other islands, are to furnish the Americans with gunpowder this winter' (see Tuchman, 1988). The profit margin for selling gunpowder to the rebellious colonies was great, therefore merchants on Statia continued to illegally supply powder in barrels marked as tea, rice or molasses. In 1776, the Andrew Doria (one of the first ships of the USS Navy) sailed to St. Eustatius carrying a copy of the Declaration of Independence and flying the new Grand Union flag. Upon her arrival, she fired a 13-gun salute. The Governor of Statia, Johannes de Graaff ordered a return of fire from the cannons in Fort Oranje, thus the independent UnitedStates of America was first recognised by a foreign power on 16 November, 1776, at St. Eustatius! Every year, St. Eustatius celebrates this day as Statia-America Day. --- Memorials 1. The monument to Michiel Adriaansz de Ruyter was built in 1933 and recognises the visit (11-17 May 1665) by this famous Dutch Admiral, who established the Netherlands as a maritime power and played a significant role in the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century. 2. The copper plaque, which commemorated the visit of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was unveiled on 12 December 1939, and recognises the salute of the USS Navy ship Andrew Doria on 16 November, 1776. 3. On 16 November, 2001, the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, presented a plaque to St. Eustatius to mark the 225th anniversary of the 'First Salute' and in recognition of Statia's role in supplying the weapons, ammunition and supplies needed by the Americans in the Revolutionary War."

Licensing

I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license:

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

You are free:

• to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work
• to remix – to adapt the work

Under the following conditions:

• attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
• share alike – If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same or compatible license as the original.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0CC BY-SA 4.0 Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 truetrue