Siege of Fort Zeelandia: Difference between revisions
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The '''Siege of Fort Zeelandia''' is the name for [[Koxinga]]'s Invasion of [[Taiwan]]. The siege which started in 1661 and ended in 1662 ended the [[Dutch East India Company]]'s rule over [[Taiwan]]. After the siege the [[Kingdom of Tungning]] ruled over the island. This event was said to be "a war that determined the fate of Taiwan in the four hundred years".<ref>盧建榮, 1999, 入侵台灣:烽火家國四百年 台北: 麥田出版</ref> |
The '''Siege of Fort Zeelandia''' is the name for [[Koxinga]]'s Invasion of [[Taiwan]]. The siege which started in 1661 and ended in 1662 ended the [[Dutch East India Company]]'s rule over [[Taiwan]]. After the siege the [[Kingdom of Tungning]] ruled over the island. This event was said to be "a war that determined the fate of Taiwan in the four hundred years after that".<ref>盧建榮, 1999, 入侵台灣:烽火家國四百年 台北: 麥田出版</ref> |
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==Beginning== |
==Beginning== |
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[[Image:Zeelandia from Dutch.jpg|thumb|240px|left|Painting of [[Fort Zeelandia]] in 1635<ref>The Hague National Bureau of Archives, Netherlands</ref>]] |
[[Image:Zeelandia from Dutch.jpg|thumb|240px|left|Painting of [[Fort Zeelandia]] in 1635<ref>The Hague National Bureau of Archives, Netherlands</ref>]] |
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Revision as of 19:45, 9 September 2009
| Siege of Fort Zeelandia (1661-1662) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Fort Zeelandia, 17th century. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
|
Koxinga's private army Koxinga's private fleet |
 Dutch East India Company | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Koxinga |
Frederick Coyett | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
25,000 soldiers and sailors Hundreds of war vessels. |
Garrison: 1,200[1] unknown number of native allies and civilians Reinforcement: 10 ships, 700 sailors | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| unknown |
1,600 killed or diseased 2 ships sunk 3 vessels captured | ||||||
The Siege of Fort Zeelandia is the name for Koxinga's Invasion of Taiwan. The siege which started in 1661 and ended in 1662 ended the Dutch East India Company's rule over Taiwan. After the siege the Kingdom of Tungning ruled over the island. This event was said to be "a war that determined the fate of Taiwan in the four hundred years after that".[2]
Beginning
In 1659, after an unsuccessful attempt to capture Nanjing, Koxinga, leader of Ming loyalists began searching for a home for his men.
He Bin, who was working for the Dutch East India Company, fled to Koxinga's base in Xiamen and provided Koxinga with a map of Taiwan. The Dutch had established a post at Tayoan, that had two forts. The first was Fort Zeelandia at the entrance to the bay at Tayoan which was the main Dutch settlement. The second was Fort Provintia also located at the bay. Frederick Coyett, the governor of Taiwan was at Fort Zeelandia with 1,800 men. Fort Provintia had 500 men.
The Siege
Koxinga's fleet set sail from Kinmen on March 23, 1661. His fleet consisted of hundreds of ships of various sizes, with 25,000 men aboard. The fleet arrived at Tayoan on April 2, and, after passing through a shallow waterway unknown to the Dutch, landed at Luermen.
The men laid siege to Fort Provintia and it surrendered on April 4. Three days after the capture of Fort Provintia, Koxinga's troop surrounded Fort Zeelandia and demanded the garrison's surrender by sending Dutch priest Anthonius Hambroek, who had been captured by Koxinga's forces, as emissary to persuade the garrison to surrender. Hambroek, however, urged the garrison to resist instead of surrender, and was executed after returning to Koxinga's camp.
Koxinga's fleet then began a bombardment, and troops attempted to storm the fort, but they had considerable losses. Koxinga then laid siege to the fort. On May 28, news of the siege reached Jakarta, and the company sent a fleet of 10 ships and 700 sailors to help. The fleet arrived on July 5 and had some small scale confrontations with Koxinga's fleet upon its arrival.
On July 23, the two sides gave battle as the Dutch fleet attempted to break the blockade. After a while, the Dutch fleet had to retreat with two ships lost, three small vessels captured, and about a hundred casualties. The Dutch attempted to break the siege again in October, but were beaten back by the besieging army. This victory, coupled with news of low morale among the garrison from deserted German mercenaries, convinced Koxinga to launched an assault in December.
On January 12, 1662, Koxinga's fleet began another bombardment, while the ground force prepare to assault the fort. With supplies dwindling and no sign of reinforcement, Coyett raised a white flag. The surrender was complete on February 1, and the Dutch East India Company left Taiwan on February 17.
Afterwards
Coyett was tried for surrendering and exiled to the Banda Islands. He was pardoned after help from his friends. He published a book named Neglected Formosa (Dutch: 't Verwaerloosde Formosa) in 1675. In the book he criticized the company for neglecting his pleas for reinforcement.
After the loss of Tayoan, the Dutch East India Company tried to recapture it. They joined with the Qing Empire to battle Koxinga's fleet, but failed.
Cultural influences
The battle was shown in the movie Zheng Chenggong 1661, which ends with Koxinga's victory over the Dutch. The movie's English title is Sino-Dutch War 1661.[4]
Other pages
References
- ↑ Jonathan Manthorpe, Forbidden Nation: A History of Taiwan (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2005) p. 65
- ↑ 盧建榮, 1999, 入侵台灣:烽火家國四百年 台北: 麥田出版
- ↑ The Hague National Bureau of Archives, Netherlands
- ↑ Kung Fu Cinema