Part of the Eighty Years' War, the Capture of Saint Martin was a Spanish naval expedition against the island of Saint Martin  occupied by the Dutch Republic and administered as part of the Dutch Antilles . 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. The capture eliminated the presence of Dutch privateers in the island, weakening Dutchprivateering and commerce in the Caribbean  . Action The Spanish reconnaissance revealed that Dutch settlers had   a 22-gun fortress covering Sint Maarten's approaches, so admiral Cadereyta sent an emissary ashore from the Spanish flagship Nuestra Señora de Aranzazu, to demand the garrison's surrender .Marley p.120 Approximately 150 Dutch defenders and 40 black auxiliaries under Jan Claeszoon van Campen rejected Cadereyta's overture. As a result, several Spanish galleons engaged the fortress in a heated fire exchange during which seven Spanish sailors perished while their boats were disembarking. Marley p.120 At  2:00 A.M on the next day , 1,000 troops and 300 sailors were set ashore under Vice Admiral de Hoces and Maestre de Campo Luis de Rojas y Borgia with who small field cannons. They made an arduous march through the jungle, suffering at least six deaths from heat exhaustion before finally emerging behind the Dutch fortress and storming its walls on 26 June. Musket fire halted them, with de Hoces receiving a crippling wound in his left elbow and side. The Spaniards inaugurated formal siege proceedings, bringing ashore four heavier guns to install in a battery, and then launched another 100-man assault  the night of 28 Juneduring which the veteran naval captain Tiburcio Redín was injured. Marley p.121 Aftermath On 1 July, a badly wounded van Campen and his 62 Dutch and 15 black survivors requested terms for their surrender , which were granted .  Cadereyta occupied the fortress the next day, deciding to keep it for Spain and strengthen 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. Marley p.121 The Spanish 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.Hartog p.27 Spain formally returned the island to the United Provinces at the Munster peace treaty.Dewald p.187 Bibliography Lane, E Kris. Pillaging the Empire: Piracy in the Americas 1500-1750. M.E. Sharpe Publishers, David F. Marley. Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the New World, 1492 to the Present ABC-CLIO(1998) Dewald, Jonathan. Europe 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World Publisher:Charles Scribners Sons(2003) Hartog, Johannes History of Sint Maarten and Saint Martin
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 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 . 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. Battle upright=1.0|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. 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. The Spanish ships now began bombarding the fort, allowing them to disembark troops, although seven sailors died in the process. 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. 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. Aftermath 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. 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.Hartog p.27 The island was returned to the Dutch Republic by the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Sources Lane, E Kris. Pillaging the Empire: Piracy in the Americas 1500-1750. M.E. Sharpe Publishers, Hartog, Johannes History of Sint Maarten and Saint Martin
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and administered as part of the Dutch Antilles
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The capture eliminated the presence of Dutch privateers in the island, weakening Dutchprivateering and commerce in the Caribbean
Its capture prevented Dutch privateers using it as a base for operations in the Caribbean.
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Background 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
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Action The Spanish reconnaissance revealed that Dutch settlers had
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Battle upright=1.0|Modern map of Saint Martin
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As the Spanish approached the island on 24 June, reconnaissance showed the Dutch had constructed
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before finally emerging behind the Dutch fortress and storming its walls on 26 June. Musket fire halted them, with de Hoces receiving a crippling wound in his left elbow and side. The Spaniards inaugurated formal siege proceedings, bringing ashore
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Aftermath On 1 July, a badly wounded van Campen and his 62 Dutch and 15 black survivors requested terms for their surrender , which were granted
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Spain formally returned the island to the United Provinces at the Munster peace treaty.Dewald p.187
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Bibliography
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David F. Marley. Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the New World, 1492 to the Present ABC-CLIO(1998) Dewald, Jonathan. Europe 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World Publisher:Charles Scribners
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Sons(2003)