Dutch Gold Coast expedition of 1869–1870

Remembrance buckle for the expedition

Date	1869-1870
Location	Dutch Gold Coast
Result	Dutch victory; Dutch Gold Coast sold to Britain in 1872

Belligerents

Netherlands

Local rulers

Commanders and leaders

Unknown

Strength

34 Dutch soldiers, 112 local soldiers

Unknown

The Dutch Gold Coast expedition of 1869–1870 followed the resistance of the local Fante people surrounding the forts assigned to the Netherlands in the 1868 forts trade along the Gold Coast with Britain to Dutch rule. Although the Dutch managed to eventually control the situation, the events marked the end of Dutch involvement in the Gold Coast. Without a profit for almost a century, the escalation finally made the political balance shift in favour of the liberal faction, which wanted to sell the colony to Britain, and away from the nationalist faction, which wanted to retain the colony for reasons of national prestige.

On 5 March 1867, the Convention between Great Britain and the Netherlands for an Interchange of Territory on the Gold Coast of Africa was signed, which stipulated that all forts on the Gold Coast to the east of Elmina were to be handed over to Britain, while all forts to west of the town were to be handed over to the Netherlands. This meant that the formerly British forts at Beyin (British name: Fort Apollonia, new Dutch name: Fort Willem III), Dixcove (British name: Fort Metal Cross, new Dutch name: Fort Metalen Kruis), Komenda (British name: Fort Komenda, same in Dutch), and Sekondi (British name: Fort Sekondi, same in Dutch) were to become Dutch. To this effect, the Dutch steam ship Het Metalen Kruis departed from the Dutch harbour at Texel on 6 November 1867, arriving in the Gold Coast on 26 November of the same year.

To give effect to the treaty, the ship first departed to Accra, to hand over Fort Crèvecoeur to the British. Afterwards, the ship sailed to Elmina; the other Dutch forts were handed over by officers. Then, the ship sailed to Dixcove to assist in the transfer of Fort Metal Cross to the Dutch. Both this transfer and the transfer of Fort Apollonia were without problems.

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Wikipedia