Insane Time French Cavalry Captured Entire Dutch War Fleet

Whether by land, sky, or sea, warfare between armies has been conducted on a number of distinct frontiers. Historically, most decisive battles have been won by infantry and cavalry, while the maneuvering of naval vessels served a separate function in cutting off supply chains and blockading harbors. These two methods of war have existed side-by-side for centuries, never to be in direct competition with each other. That is… unless some unorthodox military group manages to train tiger sharks as steeds and ride them into battle against warships. Or, perhaps more realistically, a maritime incident similar to the one that occurred on January 23, 1795, near the town of Den Helder in the Netherlands.

This skirmish between revolutionary French forces and a fleet of Dutch warships is notable for being the only battle in history wherein soldiers on horseback were responsible for forcing a waterborne force to surrender. While there have been other examples of cavalry on ship combat, such as an attack led by José Antonio Páez during the Venezuelan War of Independence - none have been quite as successful as the legendary Capture of the Dutch Fleet. Before we explain the unique circumstances that led to a group of cavalry going into combat against 17th-century warships, it’s important to establish the context of why this battle was taking place. This all occurred in the backdrop of the War of the First Coalition, a crucible of conflict born from the results of the French Revolution.

Several monarchies in Europe, including Austria and the Dutch Republic, found the deposition of King Louis “the Last” by the French revolutionaries to threaten their way of governance. His subsequent execution made it clear to other rulers precisely what those who had taken power intended to do with anyone who opposed the revolution. Their fears were confirmed when the post-monarchical government of France went to war with the entire Habsburg line. The French people’s burning desire to rid themselves of monarchs had ignited the fires of international conflict. It seemed as though the revolutionary groups in control of the former kingdom would not rest until their revolution was repeated across Europe. The world had been turned upside down. Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia would go on to join the fight as a shared defense of monarchy was poised to crush France’s aggression. While enemies surrounded France from all sides, the burgeoning republic began to prove its resolve and military efficiency in these revolutionary wars.

The tactical acumen of a certain commander by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte - yes, that Napoleon Bonaparte - saw France through a number of invasions and turned the tables on the European powers with victory after victory. The strategies and unit composition that he and contemporary commanders would adopt over the course of the many wars to come would alter warfare forever. Even as weapons technology would advance over the course of a century, the quintessential Napoleonic principles of mobility and combined arms assaults would become standard policy for the national armies of Europe. All of that is to say that this was an incredibly fluid time for warfare, and across many battlefields, orders were being given that would have been completely unheard of for conventional warfare up until that point.

Victories were being earned not through adherence to tradition but through novel applications of logic and daring strides forward. To quote Napoleon himself: “Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools.” This was the state of the military world when the battle at Den Helder took place. It was the perfect stage for something so unusual as mounted cavalry facing off against a fleet of warships. The winter of 1794-1795 was an especially cold one in the Netherlands. Invading French troops under General Jean-Charles Pichegru had come to rest in Amsterdam, content to seek shelter from elements for the rest of the season. Pichegru had been leading the Army of the North since February of the previous year and had gone into battle against many of the Habsburg and British forces in the North Seas.

The bitter winter offered some unique opportunities for the French General, as the cold had turned the Meuse River from a barrier that would require a difficult crossing into a solid ice bridge. His army seized on the chance and traversed the ice to storm into the vulnerable districts of the Netherlands that lay on the other side. Ice crossing on horseback carried risks of its own, but it was well-trod territory as a method of invasion. During the Dano-Swedish War of 1657, an entire campaign of cavalry battles was waged on the ice between Danish islands. This March Across The Belts was a pivotal moment in the reign of King Charles X Gustav, who achieved a decisive victory for Sweden.

It’s also worth noting that the timeline of both the Dano-Swedish War and the French Revolutionary Wars were encompassed by a period of regional cooling across the North Atlantic that scientists have since dubbed the “Little Ice Age.” Of course, none of the nations involved in these conflicts knew of this historical low point in temperature. Thanks in part to the Pichegru’ efforts, France’s revolutionary spirit had reached kindred spirits among the Dutch people. On January 19th, four days before the cavalry-battleship confrontation, the Batavian Republic declared independence and became an ally of France. Though popular support for this change in nationality was legitimate, the armed support of Revolutionary France was instrumental in overthrowing the prior republic.

At this point in the military campaign, the only oppositional forces that lingered in the former Dutch Republic were under the command of regional stadtholders. Pichegru and his men were under no pressing threat of attack while within Amsterdam, but nonetheless didn’t wish to provoke unneeded hostility during what was planned to be a time of waiting out the winter. Historians have documented the fact that the French army - having already won the battles that secured their victory in the region prior to arriving in Amsterdam - did not ransack the city or steal any of the copious wealth that could be found there.

Throughout the 17th century, Amsterdam had experienced an unprecedented Golden Age and had maintained much of that wealth into the decade of the Revolutionary Wars. It was bar none the richest city in the entire western world, and could have made any number of soldiers who plundered it in a prolonged siege exorbitantly wealthy. For whatever reason, no looting or pillaging of Amsterdam took place under General Pichegru’s command. The occupation would have been seen as largely uneventful if it hadn’t been for what happened next. William V, the Prince of Orange, had been exiled from the Dutch Republic during the Batavian Revolution. He was currently residing in London, and it was suspected that members of the Dutch military might attempt to rejoin him and serve under England’s command against the French-Batavian alliance.

The interim government of the Batavian Republic issued an order to stay on guard for a possible invasion from Great Britain while also making sure that the military knew not to engage their new French allies in battle. Dutch ships were to stay in their respective harbors in accordance with these commands, and those that did not would be seen as traitors to the revolution outright. Since the Batavian Republic wasn’t organized enough to mount any proactive military campaigns yet, it would fall to the visiting French army to intercept outgoing vessels loyal to the Prince of Orange.

Den Helder was one of the ports where it was believed these loyalists would sail from, so Pichegru sent his forces there to confront these potential enemies at the tip of the North Holland peninsula. He placed Brigadier General Jan William de Winter, a famously courageous Dutch officer turned ally, in charge of the operation - granting him a squadron of Hussar light cavalry. While Hussars had been an indispensable part of European armies for centuries, it was still an unexpected choice for Pichegru to give a relatively new ally command over non-naval units for what would most likely be a battle in open waters. De Winter would have to move and respond swiftly to prevent the regrouping of Orange-aligned naval forces.

Egress into the open ocean would have been possible for departing ships through the bay of Zuiderzee, a shallow stretch of sea that was south of the island of Texel. Were it not for the freezing conditions of that winter, this escape from French forces would have been all but assured. When the hussars arrived at the Zuiderzee on January 22, they found its waters completely frozen over. The limited depth of the bay meant that there was unlikely to be enough water to sail on should the enemy attempt it. But the elements alone couldn’t win the day, as all 14 of the Dutch ships stuck in the bay were fully armed with deadly naval weaponry.

The fleet commander - Captain Hermanus Reijntjes - only need to give the order for the warships to open fire to decimate any approaching forces. With the amount of ships and spacing between them, each could provide covering fire for the next. French forces would need to bring howitzers and other heavy guns to even stand a chance of competing with the warships’ firepower, and hauling such artillery onto the ice without being exposed would prove next to impossible. Additionally, the French cavalry would have to cross the ice once more to reach the ships caught in the harbor.

Even if they could make it to the vessels stuck in the bay, the Hussars themselves couldn’t overpower the numerically superior Dutch personnel aboard the ships should it come to a melee. For this reason, before crossing the ice it, was decided that each of the Hussars would carry one additional soldier - infantrymen from the 15th line infantry regiment. In spite of the recklessness of marching towards warships, the cavalry would use their crossing as an intimidation tactic to smooth the chances of a peaceful resolution. Given that the Batavian Republic was now an allied nation to the French, surrender would most likely result in safety. However, given that members of both sides believed these revolutionary wars to be a battle for the soul of Europe, it was hard to know what either side would fight to the death for. With the possibility of risk in mind, De Winter began to make the preparations for the horses to cross, covering their hooves with fabric to prevent frostbite and worse damage.

A prolonged cavalry battle would not have been a sustainable strategy, so the approach was carefully planned to account for all posibilies. Thankfully, the worst case scenario of being fired upon did not occur, so the French forces were able to approach the fleet with no shots being fired. Captain Reijntes had actually made up his mind the moment he saw French campfires on the horizon. With the enemy making their way towards the immobilized fleet, the senior captain wanted to ensure that Pichegru’s forces were unable to utilize the ships for themselves. The practice of scuttling a ship, usually by poking holes in its hull, is often employed to great effect in situations such as this. By priming the warships to sink and disabling all the guns, the Dutch forces would deprive France of any possible advantage in taking the ships.

There were also further difficulties on the French side: even though the hussars could cross the ice, there was no feasible way for them to board the warships. The required ladders and ropes were not carried with the force sent to Den Helder. At this point, the quote on quote “battle” became something of a stand-off, where neither side could risk making the first move. The totally incongruous nature of the units involved probably played a role in the general confusion and hesitancy to make the first move. When the official news of the Batavian Republic’s alliance with France reached the port at around the stroke of midnight, the Dutch fleet came to understand that surrender was the best option.

Abandoning the security of the warships would lead to a horseback pursuit that they could not evade, and under those circumstances, scuttling the ships would likewise prove to be a fruitless endeavor. Being left with no other options, on the frosty morning of January 23 Reijntes put down wooden supports so that the French forces could ascend on board the ship for negotiation purposes. There are no official sources on the agreements made between Reintjes and de Winter, but the result was clear: the French made sure that the fleet would remain in the harbor and remain in Batavian possession. While the warships did not change their flags from the Dutch standard, the terms had been set, and no action other than keeping themselves anchored was taken. This declaration of conquest at Den Helder also resulted in the repossession of several merchant ships.

Surprising as it was for the regiment of hussars to face off against a fleet of warships, the inevitable denouement of the interaction was rather tame. It was hardly the spectacle that revolutionary French propagandists would have portrayed - a valiant charge by saber-wielding Frenchman against fully battle-ready warships. The sensational underdog image that such a story and several artistic interpretations of the event conjured kept being promoted by the French army, but like all national myths, it was more of a willing exaggeration. In truth, no shots were fired during the course of the battle, and there were no casualties throughout the entire capture. In essence, the Capture of the Dutch Fleet of Den Helder was one more eccentric detail of the French revolutionary army’s triumph in the Netherlands. It wasn’t the most strategically bold move to occur throughout the war of the First Coalition, and it wasn’t a decisive blow to the enemies of the republic.

Still, it symbolized how absolute France’s military domination was in the regions it had taken over. The French Revolution was started on the principles that human beings were meant for more, regardless of their station, and that kings and hierarchies were the obstacles that stood in the way of a greater good. The wars that followed were an ideological extension of these ideas, and this was evident in the ground-breaking new methods of warfare that the French brought to the table while they defended their ideals, as crazy as those could be. France had already won its battle against the Prince of Orange thanks to Jean-Charles Pechigru, but news of what occurred at Den Helder was the icing on the cake.

The fact that his forces were able to capture fourteen Dutch warships with nothing but a legion of light cavalry demonstrated to the other powers of Europe that not only was the French army powerful - it was also adaptable and ready beat any odds it faced. Many powers were aware of this and wanted to know how to adopt these novel strategies into a consummate method of war, much like the master of the style - Napoleon Bonaparte himself. France had already changed how wars would be fought, and after Den Helder, the imagination of the people was running wild. And as Napoleon once famously said, “Imagination governs the world.”