The war in the West Indies is…
1782 CE
Admiral Rodney, the commander of the Leeward Islands station of the Royal Navy, attacks the Dutch colonies in this part of the Caribbean—St. Eustatius, Saba, and Saint Martin—as soon as he had received word of the declaration of war, in the process surprising a number of Dutch naval and merchant ships, who were still unaware of the start of hostilities.
St. Eustatius (captured on February 3, 1781), which had played such a large role in the supply of the American rebels with arms, is completely devastated by him.
He proves himself especially vengeful against the Jewish merchants on the island.
All goods on the island are confiscated and all merchants, Dutch, American, French, even British, deported.
Part of the loot is auctioned off on the spot, but an appreciable amount is put on a convoy destined for Britain.
However, much of the convoy is captured in the English Channel by a French squadron under admiral Picquet de la Motte.
The French do not return the goods to the Dutch, however.
Groups
Jews
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Dutch people
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French people (Latins)
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Netherlands, United Provinces of the (Dutch Republic)
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France, (Bourbon) Kingdom of
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Dutch West Indies
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Saba (Dutch Colony)
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Sint Maarten, Dutch Territory of
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Britain, Kingdom of Great
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British people
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United States of America (US, USA) (Philadelphia PA)
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Americans
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Sint Eustatius (British Colony)
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Topics
Subjects
Regions
West Indies
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