1664 ‐ Surrender to the British ‐ New‐Amsterdam becomes New York - TimeWalkOrg/Manhattan GitHub Wiki

"Don't Shoot, Director General"

Text excerpt

A letter to the Directors of the Dutch West India Company explaining their September 1664 surrender to the British.

The Court resolves to write the following to the Lords Directors: Right Honorable: Prudent Lords, the Lords Directors of the Honorable West India Company, Department of Amsterdam.

Right Honorable Lords,

We, your Honorable loyal, sorrowful and desolate subjects, cannot neglect nor keep from relating the event, which thro' God's pleasure thus unexpectedly happened to us in consequence of your Honors' neglect and forgetfulness of your promise—to wit, the arrival here, of late, of four King's frigates from England, sent hither by his Majesty and his brother, the Duke of York, with commission to reduce not only this place, but also the whole N. Netherland under his Majesty's authority, whereunto they brought with them a large body of soldiers, provided with considerable ammunition. On board one of the frigates were about four hundred and fifty as well soldiers as seamen, and the others in proportion.

The frigates being come together in front of Najac (note: Nyack, up the Hudson River) in the Bay, Richard Nicolls, the admiral, who is ruling here at present as Governour, sent a letter to our Director General, communicating therein the cause of his coming and his wish. On this unexpected letter the General sent for us to determine, what was to be done herein. Whereupon it was resolved and decided to send some Commissioners thither, to argue the matter with the General and his three Commissioners, who were so sent for this purpose twice, but received no answer, than that they were not come here to dispute about it, but to execute their order and commission without fail either peaceably or by force, and if they had any thing to dispute about it, it must be done with his Majesty of England, as we could do nothing here in the premises. Three days' delay was demanded for consultation; that was duly allowed. But meanwhile they were not idle; they approached with their four frigates, two of which passed in front of the Fort, the other anchored about Nooten Island (note: "Nut Island", later Governor's Island) and with five companies of soldiers encamped themselves at the Ferry, opposite this place, together with a newly raised Company of horse and a party of new soldiers, both from the North and from Long Island, mostly all our deadly enemies, who expected nothing else than pillage, plunder and bloodshed, as men could perceive by their cursing and talking, when mention was made of a capitulation.

Finally, being then surrounded, we saw little means of deliverance; we resolved what ought to be here done, and after we had well enquired into our strength and had found it to be full fifteen hundred souls strong in this place, but of whom not two hundred and fifty men are capable of bearing arms exclusive of the soldiers, who were about one hundred and fifty strong, wholly unprovided with powder both in the City and in the fort; yea, not more than six hundred pounds were found in the fort besides seven hundred pounds unserviceable. Also because the farmers, the third man of whom was called out, refused, we with the greater portion of the inhabitants considered it necessary to remonstrate with our Director General and Council, that their Honors might consent to a capitulation, whereunto we laboured according to our duty and had much trouble; laid down and considered all the difficulties, which should arise from our not being able to resist such an enemy, as they besides could receive a much greater force than they had under their command. The Director General and Council at length consented thereunto, whereto Commissioners were sent to the Admiral, who notified him that it was resolved to come to terms in order to prevent the shedding of blood, if a good agreement could be concluded. Six persons were commissioned on each side for this purpose to treat on this matter, as they have done and concluded in manner as appears by the articles annexed. How that will result, time shall tell.

Meanwhile since we have no longer to depend on your Honours' promises of protection, we, with all the poor, sorrowing and abandoned Commonalty here must fly for refuge to the Almighty God, not doubting but He will stand by us in this sorely allicting conjuncture and no more depart from us: And we remain-Under stood-Your sorrowful and abandoned subjects.

Was signed,

• Pieter Tonneman,
• Paulus Leenderzen van der Grift, Cornelis Steenwyck,
• Jacob Backer, Tymotheus Gabry,
• Isaack Grevenraat, Nicolaas de Meyer.
• At the side was: Done in Jorck heretofore named Amsterdam in New Netherland Anno 1664 the 16th September.

Source: Description of the surrender of New Amsterdam to the British from NYC Records (Court Minutes of New Amsterdam, translated):

ChatGPT From the account provided, here are the key events and their timeline regarding the British frigates surrounding New Amsterdam and demanding surrender in September 1664:

Arrival of four King's frigates from England, with the intention to take over New Netherland. The frigates initially gathered in front of Najac (Nyack) in the Bay. Richard Nicolls, the admiral of the fleet, sent a letter to the Dutch Director General, stating their purpose and demanding surrender. The Director General called a meeting to decide on a response, and Commissioners were sent to negotiate with Nicolls. The British Commissioners refused to negotiate and insisted on executing their orders. The Dutch asked for three days to consult, which was granted. During these three days, the British frigates and troops maneuvered into strategic positions: two frigates in front of the fort, one near Nooten Island, and troops at the Ferry, effectively surrounding New Amsterdam. The Dutch, realizing they were outmatched and undersupplied with only about 150 soldiers and insufficient gunpowder, debated and decided on the necessity of a capitulation. The Dutch Director General and Council eventually agreed to surrender to avoid bloodshed. Commissioners from both sides were appointed to negotiate terms. The capitulation was concluded as per the terms laid out in the annexed articles. The exact day when the frigates surrounded New Amsterdam is not given in this account, but it can be inferred that the sequence of events leading up to the surrender happened quickly over a matter of days after the initial arrival of the British fleet. The final surrender was signed on September 16, 1664.

Excerpts from Stokes' "The Iconography of Manhattan Island". For any date ranges listed, the 2nd date is the "actual" Gregorian date that maps to our own calendars: