Eastern West Indies (1768–1779 CE): Earthquakes, Warfare, and Revolutionary Tensions

Devastating Earthquakes and Their Aftermath

Between 1768 and 1779, severe natural disasters profoundly impacted the Eastern West Indies. A catastrophic earthquake struck Port-au-Prince on June 3, 1770, devastating the city and surrounding regions, including Lake Miragoâne and Petit-Goâve. The quake caused extensive soil liquefaction in the Plain of the Cul-de-Sac, leveling buildings and sinking the village of Croix des Bouquets below sea level. Approximately 200 people died in Port-au-Prince alone, with severe casualties elsewhere. The earthquake triggered a tsunami affecting the Gulf of Gonâve.

The quake's aftermath saw thousands of enslaved individuals fleeing in chaos, severely disrupting the local economy. Approximately 15,000 enslaved people died from subsequent famine, while another 15,000 succumbed to gastrointestinal anthrax contracted from tainted meat sold by Spanish traders.

Economic and Strategic Rivalries

In 1777, French botanist Nicolas-Joseph Thiéry de Menonville attempted to smuggle valuable cochineal insects from New Spain to Saint-Domingue. Although initially successful, this attempt ultimately failed, leaving Spain's monopoly on this lucrative dyestuff intact.

Grenada: Conflict and Reconstruction

The principal town of Grenada, St. George, faced destructive fires in 1771 and again in 1775, prompting reconstruction efforts in stone and brick. During the American War of Independence, French forces under Comte d'Estaing recaptured Grenada between July 2-4, 1779, with British naval forces defeated in the Battle of Grenada on July 6, 1779.

Sint Eustatius and the American Revolution

The small Dutch island of Sint Eustatius became pivotal during the American Revolutionary War. In 1776, it was the first foreign power to officially acknowledge American independence by saluting the brig Andrew Doria. Due to British blockades, Sint Eustatius became a crucial supply hub for the American forces, facilitated by Dutch, British colonial, and Jewish merchant networks.

French and British Conflicts

French and British forces clashed repeatedly throughout the Caribbean. The French captured Dominica in September 1778, led by Governor-General François Claude Amour, Marquis de Bouillé, capitalizing on weak British defenses. News of Dominica’s fall shocked Britain, leading to severe criticism of Admiral Samuel Barrington for inadequate naval defenses.

In response, Admiral William Hotham and Admiral Barrington launched an assault on French-held St. Lucia in December 1778, securing it as a strategic position. Reinforcements arrived for both sides in early 1779, shifting power dynamics. Admiral John Byron reinforced the British but departed in June 1779 to protect merchant convoys, leaving Admiral d'Estaing free to act.

D'Estaing and Bouillé captured Saint Vincent on June 18, 1779, and subsequently targeted Grenada, capturing it after fierce fighting on July 4, 1779.

Severe Weather Events

A devastating hurricane hit Guadeloupe on September 6, 1776, resulting in over 6,000 fatalities, highlighting the ongoing vulnerability of Caribbean islands to extreme weather events.

Conclusion

The period 1768–1779 witnessed significant upheaval in the Eastern West Indies, shaped by destructive earthquakes, the tumult of the American Revolutionary War, and severe weather disasters. The era demonstrated both the volatility and strategic significance of these colonial territories, setting the stage for continued geopolitical complexities.

Sint Eustatius—hence the Dutch nation—is the first to recognize the American Revolutionary government when the US brig Andrew Doria fires thirteen guns announcing their arrival in 1776.

An eleven gun response from Fort Orange salutes the Andrew Doria.

The Andrew Doria has arrived to purchase military supplies on St. Eustatius and to present to the Dutch governor a copy of the United States Declaration of Independence.

An earlier copy of the Declaration had been captured by a British naval ship.

The British are confused by the papers wrapped around the declaration, which they think is a secret cypher.

The papers are written in Yiddish for a merchant in Holland.

Sint Eustatius now assumes increased importance, because a British blockade makes it difficult to transport supplies directly across the Atlantic Ocean to United States ports.

The Dutch-controlled island in the West Indies is an entrepôt that operates as a major trading center despite its relatively small size.

During the American War of Independence Sint Eustatius becomes a crucial source of supplies, and its harbor is filled with American trading ships.

Its merchant networks—Dutch, but also British via Saint Kitts and especially Bermuda and also Jewish, many of whom are St. Eustatius residents—are key to the military supplies and goods being shipped to the revolutionary forces.

United States-European communications are directed through Sint Eustatius.

One clear result of the renewal of the Anglo-French contest in the East Indies between 1778–1783 will be a greater appreciation by the British of the strategic needs of their newly acquired possessions in Asia.

The superimposition of a global struggle between European powers upon several localized Indian wars does unnerve the Company and seriously embarrass its presidencies.

Furthermore, the war exposes the rival geo-political ambitions of the French and these in turn provoke the more stolid, unreflecting British to formulate their own logic of empire.

When word reaches India in 1778 that France has entered the war, the British East India Company moves quickly to capture French colonial outposts there, notably capturing Pondicherry after two months of siege.

The Dutch refuse to be bullied into taking Britain's side in the war against France in 1778.

The British invoke a number of old treaties (1678, 1689, 1716) to have the Republic support them militarily, but as in the Seven Years' War the Dutch government refuses.

The British, despite the defeat at Saratoga, turn their attention in 1778 to reconquering the South.

Prominent Loyalists with great influence in London have convinced the British that Loyalist support is high in the South, and that a campaign there will inspire a popular Loyalist uprising.

The British center their strategy upon this thinking.

A southern campaign also has the advantage of keeping the Royal Navy closer to the Caribbean, where it will be needed to defend lucrative colonies against the Franco-Spanish fleets.

Clinton's attempts in July to coax Washington into a decisive engagement with a major raid into Connecticut fail.

This month, a large American naval operation to retake Maine results in the worst American naval defeat until Pearl Harbor in 1941.

The war grinds down to a stalemate, with the majority of actions fought as large skirmishes, such as those at Chestnut Neck and Little Egg Harbor.

In the summer of 1779, the Americans capture British posts at Stony Point and Paulus Hook.

Henry Clinton moves against Charleston in 1780 capturing it on May 12.

With few losses of their own, the British take five thousand two hundred and sixty-six prisoners, effectively destroying the Continental Army in the south.

Organized American resistance in the region collapses when Banastre Tarleton defeats the withdrawing Americans at Waxhaws on May 29.

An expeditionary corps from New York captures Savannah on December 29, 1778.

British troops now move inland to recruit Loyalist support.