Draft:Algerian-Dutch conflicts (1655-1662)

Algerian-Dutch conflicts (1655-1662)
De Ruyter in 1654, one year before the first Algiers expedition.
Location Algiers,Mediterranean Sea,Strait of Gibraltar Result Algerian victory Dutch fleet blocked during the first expedition
Belligerents
Regency of Algiers	Dutch Republic
Commanders and leaders
Ibrahim Pasha Ahmed pasha Khalil Agha X Chabane Agha X Ali Agha	Michiel de Ruyter Jan van campen Andries van der Burgh

The Dutch-Algerian conflicts, which took place from 1655 to late 1662, were a series of political and military events opposing the Republic of Algiers and the Dutch Republic.

Background

The Netherlands sent a squadron to the Strait of Gibraltar to impose the principle of "free ship, free goods" on the algerians. They also sought to live in peace with the corsairs who threatened their trade. The algerians rejected the idea of Dutch merchant ships freely accessing Spanish and Italian ports, Algiers' enemies. Confident in their superiority, they no longer feared a Dutch-Spanish or Dutch-English coalition, especially as London and The Hague were now rivals, fighting from 1652 to 1674. Despite the Dutch crushing an English fleet at Livorno in 1653, the algerians remained unimpressed. They shifted alliances between London and The Hague, sometimes targeting Dutch ships to please the English. After their 1648 peace with England, the dutch sought to punish the algerians for their defiance.

First Expedition of Michiel de Ruyter

The instructions Michiel de Ruyter received mentioned neither peace, nor liberation, nor the principle of "free ship, free goods." Instead, his orders were clear : "capture, burn, or sink" the corsair fleet.The States General were not concerned about an attack on Algiers, but De Ruyter recalled the attempts of Mooy Lambert and Robert Mansell between 1618 and 1621 and preferred to be cautious. When he arrived near Algiers on August 29, 1655, he decided to fly the English flag on his eight warships and two fire ships, as Algiers was at peace with England. He sent three ships for reconnaissance, and upon their return, they informed him of the presence of soldiers and eleven ships, five of which were in the basin protected by the mole. De Ruyter planned to attack that night, but bad weather forced him to abandon the attempt. The next day, thanks to information from the English consul George Brown, the algerians realized that this fleet was not a friendly English one. De Ruyter, keeping his fleet out of cannon range, wanted to try again and promised 250 florins to volunteers willing to risk themselves in the port with the fire ships. That night was calm, but the following day, upon seeing that all eleven Algerian ships were now in the basin, he understood that a surprise attack was impossible and ordered a retreat.After this failed expedition, De Ruyter sought solace by capturing several corsairs in the Strait of Gibraltar, including a Spanish renegade named Amando Dias, who was hanged at the request of Spanish authorities. He also neutralized eleven other algerian ships. His greatest success was the capture of the Harderin, which carried 296 men, including 30 renegades and 50 slaves, after a battle that cost 120 Algerians their lives. De Ruyter was pleased with the results, but this success did not impress the algerians, reinforcing their belief in the invulnerability of their city. Their losses were offset by new captures, and in 1656, De Ruyter captured not a single ship. Frustrated by the bad weather, he did not show himself near Algiers and between 1656 and 1661, the algerians captured 35 Dutch ships.

Political situation in Algiers between 1659 and 1661

The Agha Revolution was a event in which the janissaries deposed Ibrahim Pasha, the sultan's representative, and installed their leader, the agha, in power. While the pasha accepted his honorary title, the agha quickly found his authority constrained by the opinions of janissary lieutenants, who prioritized salary over foreign relations. These lieutenants expressed their views at the weekly Grand Divan, and dissenting aghas faced mortal danger. Khalil Agha, who ruled for a year, was assassinated in 1660 despite regularly paying the soldiers. His successor, Ramadan Agha, was deposed in September 1661 and replaced by Chabane Agha.

Second Expedition of Michiel de Ruyter

the States-General decided to send Admiral De Ruyter to the Mediterranean for a second time. This mission was not punitive but aimed at peace, targeting ports in Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli. To maximize the number of freed captives, they instructed him to avoid selling algerian prisoners captured during his outbound journey, instead keeping them onboard for exchange. They also ordered that any renegades taken should not be executed but sent to Spanish galleys. By late August 1661, De Ruyter and his fleet of eighteen ships arrived in Cadiz, where he met Montagu, who shared his troubles in Algiers. This made De Ruyter hesitant to approach the city, as he preferred to negotiate from a position of strength with many prisoners. He remained in the Strait, hunting for algerian corsairs. However, compared to his successful mission in 1655, this time yielded disappointing results: he captured only two ships with a total of 180 men, most of whom were sold in Majorca despite his orders. Frustrated, De Ruyter noted it was harder to "find a corsair at sea than a needle in a haystack". To make matters worse, calm seas prevented him from capturing an encountered algerian ship. He attempted to tow a small rowboat but ended up over a mile away from the corsair by nightfall, and by morning, the ship had vanished.De Ruyter arrived in Algiers on April 5, 1662, but it was Gilbert de Vyanen who initiated discussions. During his first meeting with Sha’ban Agha, De Ruyter realized that the Algerians were unwilling to concede to Dutch demands, indicating that tough negotiations lay ahead. The exchange of prisoners went smoothly : while the able-bodied crew members of the Trois Croissants were traded one-for-one, Chaban Agha only provided one Dutch captive for three injured Algerians.Fifteen slaves managed to pay their own ransom, resulting in a total of fifty-five Dutch captives regaining their freedom. Both parties agreed on the release of Dutch prisoners for a sum paid in the market. It was estimated that there were a thousand Dutch slaves in the city, each valued at five hundred florins, meaning their ransom could yield half a million florins. However, reaching an agreement on inspection proved more challenging, as the algerians vehemently rejected the principle of "free ship, free goods".Chabane Agha bluntly told his counterpart that accepting this principle would spell disaster for his fleet and hardship for his sailors and soldiers. To justify his refusal, he retrieved a treaty signed by Pijnacker in 1626, which allowed corsairs to confiscate Spanish goods found on Dutch ships. Ultimately,Chabane Agha emerged victorious from the negotiations. Upon his departure, De Ruyter accepted not only a seven-month truce but also a provisional agreement. This truce protected corsairs from Dutch warships, while the provisional agreement granted them the right to confiscate Spanish and Italian goods found aboard,Dutch merchant ships,to oversee the implementation of the agreement, De Ruyter appointed Andries van der Burgh, commander of the soldiers on one of his ships, as consul. He tasked him with assessing the number of slaves from dutch ships in Algiers and, like his predecessors, providing the corsairs with "consular acts" for their departures.Chabane Agha had reason to be pleased with this arrangement, as it ensured ransoms and maritime revenue, aligning well with maintaining good relations with his janissaries. provided they paid the freight owed.