Did You Know… St. Maarten was Spanish twice?
(Picture: The Taking of St. Maarten by the Spanish in 1633, Naval Museum Madrid under Creative Commons)
Rivaling Superpowers and “San Martin”
Most people know St. Maarten / St. Martin is divided in a southern “Dutch” side and a northern “French” side, but few know the island was also Spanish – twice.
At the point Columbus sighted the island on his second voyage in 1493, he did not set foot. Naming the island after St. Martin of Tours, he did claim it for the Spanish crown as “San Martin”.
Leaving it unoccupied and Spanish in name only, fourteen French families started to develop plantations in Quartier d’Orleans or French Quarter in 1629. In 1631, Dutch settled around the Fort Amsterdam area, with an eye on the salt trade, and as a station in between of New Amsterdam (New York) and Dutch Brazilian colonies.
By this time, the Dutch and Spanish were rivaling superpowers. The Dutch were in the middle of their “80 year war” for independence from the Spanish yoke. After a mutually agreed upon armistice between the two parties from 1609 until 1621, hostilities between the two countries had well recommenced by the 1630s.
The taking of Fort Amsterdam
Only two years after the Dutch settled near Fort Amsterdam, a Spanish spy provided a detailed report to Spanish stronghold Puerto Rico about the increasing Dutch presence. 53 Ships would leave Puerto Rico under the command of Marquis Lope de Caldereita to reclaim the island, as in the end they still considered it “Spanish San Martin”.
After a month of sailing, the fleet laid siege at what they thought to be St. Maarten , and prepared for an invasion. Right on time, they realized they were to invade the wrong island as they were about to land on St. Barths!
Strategic mistakes were not just made on the Spanish side however. After adjusting course and reaching Great Bay on June 24th, the Spanish appeared to be able to enter the strategically important salt trade waters of the bay unhindered. It appeared the cannons from Fort Amsterdam had a way more limited reach than anticipated.
Now approaching from land, the Spanish launched various attacks at the small Dutch garrison. In the attacks, both Lope de Caldereita and Dutch commander Jan Claeszen got severely injured. Not long after Claeszen was put out of action, the Dutch surrendered.
Under Spanish Rule
128 People were deported from the island in the wake of the conquest. Lope de Cadereita left one of his soldiers, Cibrian de Lizarazu as governor, with instructions to destroy the Great Salt Pond to avoid the Dutch coming back for this strategic resource.
The Spanish were unable to complete this task and instead started harvesting salt themselves. In addition they reinforced Fort Amsterdam and built another fort on the opposite side of the bay – in order to avoid the same trick they pulled on the Dutch by avoiding cannon fire into the bay.
The loss of St. Maarten made the Dutch shift their focus to Curacao – close to the Spanish main, but less visited by the Spanish navy.
Spanish Lose Interest
Soon after becoming governor, Lizarazu started questioning the Spanish presence on St. Maarten. Frequent supplies from the main Spanish bases in Puerto Rico and Hispaniola lacked, and hunger set in. In addition, too little expertise was available to master the salt harvesting. Spanish colonial government advised the crown in 1636 to let go of the colony. In the same year, mutiny broke out within the garrison. Lizarazu and two consecutive governors in charge complained about the poor situation on the island.
Peter Stuyvesant Fails to Reconquer St. Maarten
The Dutch received news about the difficulties of the Spanish to keep their defense force nourished and decided to do an attempt to reconquer the island.
The Dutch West Indian Company sent its regional director Peter Stuyvesant with 1000 soldiers to lay siege, showing the perceived importance of the island.
On March 20th 1644 the Dutch fleet arrived near Fort Amsterdam. Contrary to Lope de Caldereita in 1633, Stuyvesant came well prepared. Special invasion vessels had been made on St. Kitts to disembark the soldiers. Stuyvesant passed by Little Bay and Great Bay to Cay Bay, and started a siege like the Spanish did previously.
After April 4th the Dutch started to starve the defendants of the fort. Though the situation seemed to promise a clear victory for the Dutch, the situation changed dramatically over time. The far smaller Spanish army fended the fort miraculously against the Dutch forces. Stuyvesant lost his leg after delivering an ultimatum to the Spanish, deriving the Dutch of its leadership for the time being. Additional forces from Puerto Rico arrived on April 15th, leading the Dutch to retreat.
1648
Spanish commander Guajardo now had two challenges. First of all, malnourishment of his garrison remained in place, even though the Dutch had left. “The biggest reward for my men we expect from Your Majesty” Guajardo wrote with the victory in mind, “is to be removed from here”. Secondly, the commander had no idea whether the Dutch, now at the height of their global power, would strike back with an even larger force at any given moment. For now however, the Dutch would leave things as they were.
Guajardo got his request granted in February 1648, when European powers were anticipating peace after decades of divisive wars on multiple continents. As with many European countries and colonies, 1648 was to become an important year for St. Maarten. The peace of Westphalia sealed peace and demarcated borders, and allowed both the Dutch and French to replace the Spanish. The year also provided for a continued division of St. Maarten / St. Martin by the Treaty of Concordia.
Back to VISIT St Maarten / St Martin Main Page