THE SECOND ANGLO-
Acknowledgements
Medway: detail, by the Dutch artist Jan van Leyden (active 1661-
Including:
The Treaty
of Breda
xxxxxAs we have seen, the First Anglo-
xxxxxAs we have seen, the First Anglo-
xxxxxIt was commercial and colonial rivalry which again led to conflict between the two maritime nations, though the king's dislike of the Dutch republicans certainly played a part. The Second Anglo-
xxxxxAtxhome, too, the English were beset with two major disasters, the Great Plague of 1665 followed by the Great Fire of London the next year. In June 1667, in the wake of these catastrophes, the Dutch fleet under Admiral de Ruyter (illustrated) set fire to Sheerness and, sailing up the Thames and Medway, destroyed the shipyard at Chatham (arrowed on map), and a large part of the English fleet moored there. And as if this were not sufficient humiliation for the English, they returned home, so we are told, with the Royal Charles, the royal barge! Samuel Pepys gave an account of this Dutch "invasion" in his famous diary and later, as secretary to the Navy, was the man largely responsible for restoring England's naval supremacy. And some two centuries later the English writer and poet Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem deploring the state of the English navy at that time.
xxxxxDespite their success at sea, the Dutch, concerned at the French invasion of the Spanish Netherlands, were anxious to bring the war to an end. By the Treaty of Breda of July 1667 they did obtain concessions concerning the English Navigation Acts, gaining permission for their ships to carry goods to England that had come down the River Rhine. On the other hand, in the settlement of colonial territorial disputes, England obtained the New Netherlands (made up of New York and New Jersey), and recovered Antigua, Monserrat and St. Kitts in the West Indies. Holland retained Guiana and Surinam, but abandoned its claim to New Amsterdam, and the French recovered Acadia from the English.
xxxxxIncidentally, the king's brother James, the Duke of York and the future James II, was made lord high admiral at the Restoration and showed a great deal of interest in colonial affairs. It was on his initiative that New Amsterdam was captured from the Dutch in 1664, so it is hardly surprising that it was renamed New York in his honour! Later he commanded the fleet in the opening battles of the war, and he also played a part in the in third Anglo-
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