Fort Vredenburgh

Fort Vredenburgh
Part of Dutch Gold Coast
British Fort Komenda (left) and Dutch Fort Vredenburgh (right).
Fort Vredenburgh
Coordinates	5°03′06″N 1°29′01″W / 5.051745°N 1.483541°W / 5.051745; -1.483541
Site history
Built	1682 (1682)
Garrison information
Occupants	Netherlands (1682-1872)

Fort Vredenburgh was a Dutch fort on the Gold Coast, established in 1682 on the left bank on the Komenda River. At the same site, a trading post was established by the Dutch around 1600, but abandoned soon afterwards. In 1687, the English Fort Komenda was built on the right bank of the river. The fort was occupied between 1781 and 1785 by the British. In 1872, the fort was ceded to the United Kingdom, together with the entire Dutch Gold Coast.

Since halfway the 17th century, the state of Komenda, also known as Eguafo, was a site of fierce competition between English, Dutch, Danish, Brandenburgish and French traders. This competition between European powers was compounded by competition between African states in the region, which concluded changing alliances with the various European powers.

The Dutch had intermittently operated a lodge at Komenda, which they extended into a fort in 1682. Still, they could not prevent the Jean-Baptiste du Casse from establishing a French trade post at Komenda in 1687. Du Casse established friendly relations with the powerful local trader John Cabess, but his trading post was destroyed by the Elmina and Eguafo allies of the Dutch about a month after its establishment. In 1689, the Dutch extended their Fort Vredenburgh, but found their influence severely diminished because they had offended Cabess by driving out the French.

At the turn of the 18th century, Komenda was the site of several Komenda Wars, which involved the Dutch and the English and their respective local allies. In 1694, the English built a fort within the range of Fort Vredenburgh on the right bank of the Komenda River with the help of John Cabess.

The rivalry evidenced by the forts built within each other's reach was as much a rivalry within the Eguafo state as it was one between the European powers. In fact, at the time of the Komenda Wars, Great Britain and the Dutch Republic were in a personal union, with both states being led by William III of Orange.