War is Declared: Understandably Britain was deeply upset by the Netherlands’ participation in American aid traffic and searched for a proper opportunity to end it. Finally in 1780, Henry Laurens, the former President of the Continental Congress who had just been appointed representative to The Hague was on his way to the Netherlands in the ship, Mercury, when it was captured by the British cruiser, HMS Vestal, off Newfoundland. At that time he properly emptied his diplomatic papers into a bag, which was weighted by shot, and threw it overboard. Regrettably the air remaining inside allowed the bag to float and be recovered by his captors. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London, and Britain used his documents as evidence to declare war against the Dutch in 1780.

The English Admiral Sir George Rodney quickly attacked St. Eustatius. The 130 vessels he captured in the port included 50 armed American ships and 2,000 of our seamen. Moreover, records he confiscated implicated many leading European merchants (including 57 English firms) who were transshipping contraband to the rebels through Statia and the West Indies. By that late stage of the war, however, the bulk of the aid had been delivered.

Lists of the total number of Dutch arms and supplies sent to the New World colonists are incomplete, but their ships carried a substantial share of the European tonnage and the obscure island of St. Eustatius was a vital rendezvous in its traffic pattern. Of equal importance to America’s destiny was the granting of four major loans by the Netherlands from 1782-1788, which probably saved our young nation from bankruptcy and possible economic collapse at the end of the war. The contribution of “Dutch/Liege” arms to America’s early history is evident from the large number of surviving examples in our collections as well as their reused components on many of the guns locally assembled by the colonists.

Firearm Characteristics: The wide variety of firearm patterns traced to the Netherlands reflects their emphasis on fulfilling contracts to satisfy varied customers worldwide as well as their own internal needs. Most of the Dutch fowlers and muskets have round barrels of .75 to .80 caliber, which were usually pinned prior to the 1750s by which time three or four bands became typical. Their furniture was usually brass while the walnut stocks included a heavy buttstock with a raised comb plus teardrop and arrowhead carving surrounding the lock, sideplate and barrel tang. Broad rounded locks predominated early and late in the 1700s, as opposed to the less expensive flat/faceted edge form which was favored c.1720-1770. The majority of ramrod pipes accompanying the pinned barrels were faceted, and one or two visible screws usually held the extended butt tangs. Such features were popular with the American colonists and were incorporated into their Hudson Valley fowler patterns being developed here as early as 1730.

Today these firearms continue to represent the survival of our early settlers struggling through incredible hardships to establish their dreams of freedom thanks in large part to the aggressive Dutch traders who early realized the potential of the New World and contributed mightily to our success. Sincere appreciation is given to Joseph C. Devine for his generosity in photographing the collection for this article at his J. C. Devine facilities and to the photographer, Jerry Desmarais.

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Dutch Arms Photo Gallery