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The Invasion of Martinique in 1674 was an unsuccessful attempt by the Dutch Republic to conquer the Caribbean island of Martinique from France. In spite of overwhelming Dutch superiority in men and ships, the French won a decisive and unexpected victory. ==Background== In 1672, the kingdoms of France and England had declared war on the Dutch Republic. However, Dutch naval victories in the North Sea forced the English to abandon their part in the war in early 1674. The Dutch could now direct all of their considerable naval strength against the French, and they decided to attack Martinique, the headquarters of the French colonial venture in the Caribbean.〔Marley (2008), vol. 1, p. 277.〕 The Dutch believed that the capture of Martinique would enable them to quickly conquer France's other island outposts and rebuild their own war-ravaged network of Caribbean plantations, giving them dominance of the entire Lesser Antilles island chain.〔Pritchard (2004), pp. 280-281.〕 To achieve these aims, the Dutch assembled a powerful invasion force under Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, widely regarded as the greatest naval commander of the age, whose crushing victories had driven the English out of the war.〔De la Ronciere (1919), p. 35, Van der Moer (1997), pp. 93, 108.〕 Under his commanded sailed a fleet of eighteen major warships including his 80-gun flagship ''De Zeven Provinciën'', plus thirty-six smaller support ships and troop transports, and an invasion army of 3,400 soldiers.〔Marley (2008), vol. 1, p. 278.〕 The young Count of Styrum was appointed to lead the ground forces and designated to act as military governor,〔De la Ronciere (1919), p. 41, Van Schilfgaarde (1961), vol. 3, p. 88.〕 but the assault was entrusted to the Count of Hoorn, the Dutch Republic's top siege-warfare commander.〔De la Ronciere (1919), p. 36.〕 Martinique was defended by a semi-professional militia consisting of two companies of cavalry and a dozen infantry companies, with a theoretical strength of roughly 2,000 men.〔Elisabeth, (2003), p. 58. Pritchard (2004), p. 54, shows that the number of adult male colonists declined from nearly 2,400 in 1671 to barely 1,800 in 1682.〕 However, the defending French commander, the Marquis de Baas, miscalculated by concentrating his forces to defend the seat of government at Saint-Pierre in the north of the island: de Ruyter chose instead to attack the main anchorage at Fort-Royal (now Fort-de-France) on the west coast. The anchorage was defended by a fortified citadel (known today as Fort St.-Louis), manned by the local militia company, and by the warship ''Les Jeux'' under Captain Claude Renart, while they could expect some additional assistance from the captains and crews of the merchant ships in the harbour.〔 However, most of these were uncertain military assets. The Fort-Royal militia company could only muster around 100 men, of whom a quarter quickly deserted, including their captain.〔De la Ronciere (1919), p. 38.〕 Only one of the merchant ships, the ''Saint-Eustache'', carried any notable armament.〔 The citadel was little more than a set of wooden palisades around a steep-sided promontory, with two unfortified artillery positions at the water's edge, a modest battery of four guns pointed outwards from the promontory's southern tip to sweep the outer roadstead of Fort-Royal Bay, and larger emplacement of around a dozen cannon commanding the sheltered anchorage to its east.〔De la Ronciere (1919), pp. 38, 42.〕 The most significant military presence was thus the warship ''Les Jeux'', but this was a small frigate, barely 100 feet from bow to stern, armed with just twenty-eight cannons, and carrying a crew of only 150 men.〔Demerliac (1992), p. 41.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Invasion of Martinique (1674)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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