Historical Organization
colonial militia
colonial militia
Details
Organization Timeline
Enslaved messenger delivers warning of thirteen enemy ships
📅 26 June 1654A Caracas officer reported that on 4 June an enslaved man belonging to alcalde Pedro Hurtado Monasterios delivered a paper warning that thirteen enemy ships were expected on the coast. The cabildo...
A new governor arrives as the war is already under way
📅 21 December 1678Johannes Heijnsius arrives to take up the governorship. He sends patrols to search for the fighters, but they return without finding them. The occupying government tries to regain the initiative,...
Occupiers build a fort at Graskreek
📅 3 April 1679The colonial militia begins building a fort at Graskreek on an abandoned plantation. The defensive post is meant to protect plantations along the Commewijne. Its construction shows how the occupiers...
Fighters set fire to Browningh’s plantation again
📅 23 April 1679Indigenous fighters set fire again to John Browningh’s partly rebuilt plantation. According to the colonial report, they shout that the Europeans who came by ship should leave by ship. The call...
Arawak allies refuse the colonial attack on the Caribs
📅 15 July 1679The Arawaks return without carrying out the attack on the Caribs that the Dutch wanted. Colonial accounts call this unwillingness; the events also point to independent diplomacy and a relationship...
Colonial government recruits Indigenous allies
📅 22 September 1679Colonial documents report that hundreds of Indigenous people are on the occupier’s side or are being recruited. Hira describes cooperation, rivalry and constrained choices as part of a complex war....
Attack on Fort Oranje forces the occupiers to withdraw
📅 3 July 1680Several soldiers are killed and others wounded during an attack on Fort Oranje. The surviving occupiers abandon the post and return to Paramaribo with the wounded. The attack shows that fortified...
Colonial expedition destroys villages and executes captives
📅 4 November 1680A land and river expedition destroys villages and, according to the report, captures 82 Indigenous people and five Maroons. The source says most of the Indigenous captives were hanged. Women and...
Sapaijers join the colonial occupier
📅 26 April 1681The Sapaijers, who had earlier fought the Dutch, now side with the occupier and attack Carib fighters, according to the colonial report. This shift shows that Indigenous peoples did not form a...
New governor calls for destruction of food grounds
📅 27 November 1683After taking office, Governor Van Sommelsdijck declares that fighters must be hunted down and killed, settlements destroyed and food supplies removed. The aim is to bring Indigenous communities...
Major offensive fails to secure a decisive victory
📅 25 January 1684An expedition of about 284 men moves into the interior during the rainy season. After ten weeks, the colonial report records deaths, captives and burned villages, but no elimination of the resistance....
Colonial force sets out with Indigenous allies
📅 17 November 1684A military unit sets out on an expedition together with Indigenous allies. The surviving account gives little information about the outcome. The archive thus shows how colonial military plans are...
Governor reports mixed results and seeks peace
📅 18 February 1685Van Sommelsdijck writes that earlier expeditions had mixed results and that he wants to make Indigenous groups friends and conclude a lasting peace. The turn toward negotiation follows years in...