In 1781,

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

declared war on the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

, opening the

Fourth Anglo-Dutch War The Fourth Anglo-Dutch War ( nl, Vierde Engels-Nederlandse Oorlog; 1780–1784) was a conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. The war, contemporary with the War of American Independence (1775-1783), broke out ove ...

. As part of its offensive strategy, the British organized an expedition against Dutch colonial outposts on the Gold Coast of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

(present-day

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

). Captain

Thomas Shirley Sir Thomas Shirley (1564 – c. 1634) was an English soldier, adventurer and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1584 and 1622. His financial difficulties drove him into privateering which culminated in his captur ...

led the expedition, commanding and several transports carrying two small regiments of independently raised troops under the command of Captain Kenneth Mackenzie of the 78th Foot.

Proceedings

Battle of Elmina

The expedition sailed late in 1781, and arrived off the coast of Africa in January 1782. Pursuant to orders, Shirley first stopped at the primary British outpost of

Cape Coast Castle Cape Coast Castle ( sv, Carolusborg) is one of about forty "slave castles", or large commercial forts, built on the Gold Coast of West Africa (now Ghana) by European traders. It was originally a Portuguese "feitoria" or trading post, establish ...

on 5 February, where plans were developed to take the principal Dutch castle at Elmina by land while ''Leander'' made a diversionary attack on the nearby St. Jago castle. The expedition arrived at

Elmina Elmina, also known as Edina by the local Fante, is a town and the capital of the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem District on the south coast of Ghana in the Central Region, situated on a bay on the Atlantic Ocean, west of Cape Coast. Elmina w ...

on 15 February, but high surf prevented the 500 troops from landing until 18 February, and contrary winds prevented ''Leander'' from coming close enough to shore to bring its guns to bear on the forts until 20 February. On that day, Shirley raised the agreed signal flag indicating the beginning of his attack, and opened fire on St. Jago shortly after noon. The ship and the fort exchanged fire until dark, and resumed again the next morning, when the land attack on the Elmina Castle began. Fire from both Elmina and St. Jago was directed at Mackenzie's attacking force, which Shirley reported to "retreat ''very fast''". After it became clear the attack had failed, Shirley ceased fire around 11:30 am.

Other forts on the Gold Coast

Over the next several weeks the expedition seized, with minimal resistance, four small Dutch forts: Moree ( Fort Nassau - 20 guns),

Kormantin Fort Amsterdam, is a former slave fort in Abandze, Central region, Ghana. It was built by the English between 1638 and 1645 as Fort Cormantin or Fort Courmantyne, and was captured by admiral Michiel de Ruyter of the Dutch West India Company in ...

(Courmantyne or

Fort Amsterdam Fort Amsterdam was a fort on the southern tip of Manhattan at the confluence of the Hudson and East rivers. It was the administrative headquarters for the Dutch and then English/British rule of the colony of New Netherland and subsequently th ...

- 32 guns),

Apam Apam is a coastal town and capital of Gomoa West District in the Central Region of Ghana, located approximately 45 kilometers east of the Central Region capital, Cape Coast. Apam is the site of Fort Lijdzaamheid or Fort Patience, a Dutch-built ...

( Fort Lijdzaamheid or Fort Patience - 22 guns), Senya Beraku (

Fort Goede Hoop A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

- 18 guns), and Accra ( Fort Crêvecoeur - 32 guns). Leaving those facilities garrisoned with personnel from Cape Coast, Shirley then sailed for the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

. Near the African coast off present-day

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

, he captured and destroyed the French store-ship ''Officeuse'', supposed to be worth £30,000. before crossing the Atlantic to join the British West Indies fleet.Crooks (1973), p. 62. Shirley sent two sets of dispatches back to Britain. One set went in the transport sloop ''Ulysses'', which was under the command of Captain Frodsham. The French frigate ''Fée'' captured ''Ulysses'' and took her into

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

, but not before her captain had weighted the dispatches and thrown them overboard. Shirley's

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

, Mr. Van court, took the second set in the transport

cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Mos ...

''Mackerel'', which also carried the Dutch governors of the forts to Europe.

References

Citations

Sources

* Crooks, John Joseph (1973) ''Records Relating to the Gold Coast Settlements from 1750 To 1874''. (London: Taylor & Francis), pp. 51 and 62.

{{coord missing, Ghana History of Ghana Conflicts in 1782

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

1782 in the British Empire 1782 in Africa Fourth Anglo-Dutch War