Fort Nassau
Fort Nassau, near Moree, Ghana, was the first fort that the Dutch established on what would become the Dutch Gold Coast.
Dutch merchants began trading on Africa’s Gold Coast in 1598. Despite the fact that the Gold Coast had already been inhabited by Portuguese, no effort was made to evict the Dutch because military resources were diverted to the European conflict.
This changed in 1609 when Portugal-Spain and the Dutch Republic signed the Twelve Years’ Truce. The Portuguese now had adequate means to defend their trade monopoly, and they began targeting the (illegitimate) Dutch industries along the coast. In 1610, the factory at Mouri was destroyed by fire. The States-General of the Dutch Republic was then petitioned to erect a fort on the coast.
The States-General were responsive to their requests, and in 1611, Jacob Clantius, the first General on the Coast, was dispatched to the Gold Coast. The Treaty of Asebu was made in 1612 between the Dutch and the Asebu chief, allowing for the construction of Fort Nassau at Mouri.
Clantius erected a reinforced fort at Mouri in 1612, which was known for its terrible circumstances due to the Dutch unfamiliarity with construction in the tropics. The Dutch significantly expanded the fort in 1624. From its founding until 1637, when the Dutch seized Fort Elmina from the Portuguese, Fort Nassau served as the capital of the Dutch Gold Coast.
Captain Thomas Shirley, commanding the frigate HMS Leander and the sloop-of-war Alligator, set out for the Dutch Gold Coast with a convoy of merchant ships and transports at the end of 1781. Shirley launched an unsuccessful attack on the Dutch outpost at Elmina on February 17th but was defeated four days later. Britain was at war with the Dutch Republic.
Clantius established a reinforced fort at Mouri in 1612, which was known for its terrible circumstances due to the Dutch unfamiliarity with construction in the tropics. The Dutch significantly expanded the fort in 1624. From its founding until 1637, when the Dutch seized Fort Elmina from the Portuguese, Fort Nassau served as the capital of the Dutch Gold Coast.
Captain Thomas Shirley, commanding the frigate HMS Leander and the sloop-of-war Alligator, set out for the Dutch Gold Coast with a convoy of merchant ships and transports at the end of 1781. Shirley launched an unsuccessful attack on the Dutch outpost at Elmina on February 17th but was defeated four days later. Britain was at war with the Dutch Republic.