Battle for Elmina 1637
The Battle of Elmina 1637 lasted from August 24th to 29th 1637 and ended with the conquest of the city of Elmina on the Gold Coast (today's Ghana) including its Portuguese fortress São Jorge da Mina by the Dutch . The battle was part of the Dutch-Portuguese War and its result meant the disempowerment of the Portuguese on this part of the coast of West Africa and the beginning of centuries of dominance by the Dutch there.
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In 1637 the Dutch West India Company withdrew nine ships from their armed forces that were attacking the Portuguese in Brazil and sent them to battle for the most important and oldest Portuguese base in West Africa, Fort São Jorge da Mina in the city of Elmina. Hans Coine was appointed commander of the fleet, which included 1,300 men. On July 24th they landed near Cape Coast and began to canoe down the Sweet River towards the Portuguese base. This army consisted of 800 soldiers who carried provisions for three days. The Dutch were supported by 1,000 to 1,400 armed Africans from Eguafo and Asebu .
Coine identified a hill called St. Jago, which towered over the São Jorge da Mina fortress, as central to the conquest of the fortress. Around 1000 native allies of the Portuguese were around this hill and prevented the Dutch from conquering it. Coine sent four companies against them, but they were completely wiped out. However, a second Dutch unit attacked the hill from another side and drove the local fighters to flight. The Portuguese and their allies made two unsuccessful attempts to drive the enemy from the hill. After the second unsuccessful attempt, the Portuguese withdrew to a redoubt on the top of the hill. The redoubt was protected on one side by a wooden wall and on the other by a river. Coine decided to wade across the river and deploy a mortar and two cannons and fire down at the fortress from the hill. After two days of shelling, he asked the crew of the fortress to surrender. The Portuguese governor requested a three-day armistice, which Coine refused because he only had provisions for one more day. He deployed more forces on Jago Hill and continued bombarding the fortress. However, the bombardment was not very effective and Coine realized that he would either have to storm the fortress that same day or give up trying to capture it. He positioned grenadiers on the hill, but before they could attack, a shame rang out from the fortress as a sign that they were ready to surrender and two Portuguese were sent as negotiators to clarify the terms of the surrender.
The governor, the garrison and all Portuguese citizens of the city were allowed to leave Elmina on a boat, leaving their swords and other weapons behind, towards the Portuguese-owned island of São Tomé . The Dutch were allowed to take over all property left behind, including gold , silver and slaves .
The Dutch built Coenraadsburg (or Fort Sao Jago da Mina), another fortress on Jago Hill, in 1652 to prevent future conquests of the main fortress from this point.
See also
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- Alfred Burdon Ellis: History of the Gold Coast of West Africa 1893.
- Universal History (Sale et al), 17, London 1760