View source for Dutch Gold Coast expedition of 1869–70

{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict=Dutch Gold Coast expedition of 1869–1870
| image= Schets der krijgsverrigtingen der marine landingstroepen en Afrikaansche bezetting, inzake de bestraffing van het landschap Commenda, in de jaren 1869 en 1870.jpg
| image_size = 220
|caption= Map of the Komenda campaign
|date=1869–1870
|place=[[Dutch Gold Coast]]
|result=Dutch victory; Dutch Gold Coast sold to Britain in 1872
|combatant1={{flag|Netherlands}}
|combatant2=Local rulers
|commander1=Unknown
|commander2=Unknown
|strength1=34 Dutch soldiers, 112 local soldiers
|strength2=Unknown
}}
{{Dutch colonial campaigns}}
[[File:Anoniem - Het schroefstoomschip 'Metalen Kruis' ter hoogte van het fort Elmina - P3696 - Maritime Museum Rotterdam (cropped).jpg|thumb|SS ''Het Metalen Kruis'' in Elmina in 1868.]]
[[File:Quispel.jpg|thumb|Remembrance buckle for the expedition]]
The '''Dutch Gold Coast expedition of 1869–1870''' followed the resistance to Dutch rule of the local [[Fante people]] surrounding the forts assigned to the [[Netherlands]] in the [[Anglo-Dutch Gold Coast Treaty (1867)|1868 forts trade along the Gold Coast with Britain]]. Although the Dutch managed to eventually control the situation, the events marked the end of Dutch involvement in the Gold Coast. Without a profit for almost a century, the escalation finally made the political balance shift in favour of the liberal faction, which wanted to sell the colony to [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]], and away from the nationalist faction, which wanted to retain the colony for reasons of national prestige.
== Background ==
On 5 March 1867, the [[Anglo-Dutch Gold Coast Treaty (1867)|Convention between Great Britain and the Netherlands for an Interchange of Territory on the Gold Coast of Africa]] was signed, which stipulated that all forts on the Gold Coast to the east of Elmina were to be handed over to Britain, while all forts to west of the town were to be handed over to the Netherlands. This meant that the formerly British forts at Beyin (British name: ''[[Fort Apollonia]]'', new Dutch name: ''Fort Willem III''), [[Dixcove]] (British name: ''Fort Dixcove'', new Dutch name: ''[[Fort Metal Cross|Fort Metalen Kruis]]''), Komenda (British name: ''[[Fort Komenda]]'', same in Dutch), and Sekondi (British name: ''[[Fort Sekondi]]'', same in Dutch) were to become Dutch. To this effect, the Dutch [[steam ship]] ''Het Metalen Kruis'' departed from the Dutch harbour at [[Texel]] on 6 November 1867, arriving in the Gold Coast on 26 November of the same year.{{sfn|Van der Ham|2013|pp=164-166}}
To give effect to the treaty, the ship first departed to [[Accra]], to hand over [[Ussher Fort|Fort Crèvecoeur]] to the British. Afterwards, the ship sailed to Elmina; the other Dutch forts were handed over by officers. Then, the ship sailed to [[Dixcove]] to assist in the transfer of Fort Metal Cross to the Dutch. Both this transfer and the transfer of Fort Apollonia were without problems.{{sfn|Van der Ham|2013|pp=164-166}}
Things changed when the ship set sail for Komenda. The Dutch flag was not raised there, as the local rulers resisted the handing over of the fort, which was not much more than a ruin, to the Dutch. At Sekondi, all went more or less according to plan, leaving the Dutch with only one fort to resist their rule. Joint Anglo-Dutch negotiations with the locals did not bear fruit, and when the local king finally approved the hand-over, he was deposed later the same day. Dutch forces then entered the fort by force, and on 2 February 1868, ''Het Metalen Kruis'' left for Elmina, leaving 20 soldiers behind to keep the peace. Skirmishes ensued throughout February, but at the end of the month peace seemed to have returned.{{sfn|Van der Ham|2013|pp=164-166}}
== Komenda hostage crisis and the Dutch punitive expedition ==
Matters took a turn for the worse on 26 May 1869, twelve days after the arrival of the new governor [[Cornelis Nagtglas]], when several Dutch [[able seaman|able seamen]] from the war ship ''Amstel'', which had taken over the duties of ''Het Metalen Kruis'', were taken hostage by the people of Komenda. One of the hostages was killed, while the rest were kept prisoner in the village of Kwassie in the interior. British negotiators managed to buy the hostages out for 15.000 [[Dutch guilder]]s of [[ransom]], but the public outcry in the Netherlands over the affair was so great that the minister felt obliged to send a military expedition to "chastise" the people of Komenda and Kwassie.{{sfn|Van der Ham|2013|p=166}}
Yet another war ship, the ''vice-admiraal Koopman'', was sent to the Gold Coast with to punish Komenda. An expeditionary force of 9 officers, 18 European soldiers, and 17 Africans was then assembled in Elmina, and the king of Equaffo joined in with a force of 32 Africans and 80 [[coolie]]s. In December 1869 and January 1870, this force laid the villages of Komenda, Anoema and Kwassie in ashes. The inhabitants of those villages mostly fled to [[Cape Coast]].{{sfn|Van der Ham|2013|p=166}}
The Dutch government instituted the ''Medal for Courage and Loyalty Guinea 1869/1870'' for seven native soldiers that were deemed to have fought courageously during the expedition.
== See also ==
*[[Dutch–Ahanta War]] (1837-1839)
*[[Anglo-Dutch Treaties of 1870–1871]]
== Notes ==
{{reflist|2}}
== References ==
* {{cite book | last=Coombs | first=Douglas | title=The Gold Coast, Britain, and the Netherlands, 1850–1874 | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1963 | location=Oxford }}
* {{cite book | last=Van der Ham | first=Gijs | title=Dof Goud. Nederland en Ghana, 1593–1872 | year=2013 | publisher=Rijksmuseum Amsterdam & Uitgeverij Vanthilt | location= Amsterdam & Nijmegen | isbn = 978-94-6004-157-0 }}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dutch Gold Coast expedition of 1869-70}}
[[Category:Wars involving the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Dutch Gold Coast]]
[[Category:1869 in Africa]]
[[Category:1870 in Africa]]
[[Category:1869 in military history]]
[[Category:1870 in military history]]
[[Category:African resistance to colonialism]]