Siege of Fort Zeelandia

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Siege of Fort Zeelandia
Date March 30, 1661 - February 1, 1662 Location Tainan, Taiwan Result Decisive Koxinga victory Establishment of Kingdom of Tungning
Belligerents
Koxinga's private army Koxinga's private fleet	Dutch East India Company
Commanders
Koxinga	Frederick Coyett
Strength
25,000 Hundreds of war vessels.	Garrison: 1,200[1] unknown number of native allies and civilians Reinforcement: 10 ships, 700 sailors
Casualties and losses
unknown	1,600 killed or diseased 2 ships sunk 3 vessels captured

The Siege of Fort Zeelandia (Traditional Chinese: 鄭成功攻台之役; literally "Koxinga's Invasion of Taiwan"), which took place in 1661 and 1662, ended the Dutch East India Company's hold on Taiwan and began the Kingdom of Tungning's rule over the island. Taiwanese scholar Lu Chien-jung described this event as "a war that determined the fate of Taiwan in the four hundred years that follow"^[2].

Contents 1 Prelude 2 The Siege 3 Aftermath 4 Cultural influences 5 See also 6 References

[edit] Prelude

In the year of 1659, after an unsuccessful attempt to capture Nanjing, Koxinga, leader of the Ming loyalist remnants, felt that the Qing Empire had already consolidated their position in China, and that his troops needed more supplies and manpower. He began actively searching for a suitable location as his base of operation, and soon a Chinese man named He Bin (Traditional Chinese: 何斌), who was working for the Dutch East India Company in Taiwan, fled to Koxinga's base in Xiamen and provided him with a map of Taiwan. The Dutch had established a post at Tayoan (Traditional Chinese: 大員), which is now called Tainan, that consisted of two forts in 1632. The first was Fort Zeelandia, situated at the entrance to the bay at Tayoan, and was the main settlement of the Dutch. The second was Fort Provintia, located at the bay and was less important and thus smaller in size. Frederick Coyett, the governor of Taiwan for the company, was stationed in Fort Zeelandia with 1,800 men; his subordinate Valentyn was in charge of Fort Provintia and its garrison of 500 men.

[edit] The Siege

Koxinga and his fleet set sail from Kinmen on March 23, 1661. His fleet consisted of hundreds of junks and ships of various sizes, with roughly 25,000 soldiers and sailors aboard. They arrived in the Pescadores the next day, left a garrison there, and set sail again on March 30. The fleet arrived at Tayoan on April 2, and, after passing through a shallow waterway unknown to the Dutch, landed at Luermen (Traditional Chinese: 鹿耳門) in the bay. The assault forces immediately laid siege to Fort Provintia, catching Valentyn unprepared since the fort was supposedly protected by Fort Zeelandia; facing overwhelming enemy force, Valentyn surrendered the fort on April 4. Three days after the capture of Fort Provintia, Koxinga's troop surrounded Fort Zeelandia and demanded the garrison's surrender. Coyett, however, rejected the ultimatum and asked the company's regional headquarter in Jakarta for reinforcement. Koxinga's fleet then began massive bombardment, and troops on the ground attempted to storm the fort, but were repulsed with considerable losses. Koxinga then changed his tactics and laid siege to the fort.

On May 28, news of the siege reached Jakarta, and the company decided to send a fleet of 10 ships and 700 sailors to relieve the fort. The fleet arrived on July 5 and had some small scale confrontations with Koxinga's fleet upon its arrival. On July 23, the two sides gave battle as the Dutch fleet attempted to break the blockade while Koxinga's fleet tried to hold off the Dutch. After a brief engagement, the Dutch fleet was forced to retreat with two ships sunk and three smaller vessels captured. The Dutch attempted to break the siege again in October, but were beaten back by the besieging army. This victory, coupled with news of low morale among the garrison from deserted German mercenaries, convinced Koxinga to launched a final assault in December. On January 12, 1662, Koxinga's fleet began another bombardment, while the ground force prepare to assault the fort. With supplies dwindling and no sign of reinforcement, Coyett finally ordered the hoisting of the white flag and negotiated the surrender terms. The surrender was made complete on February 1, and the remaining Dutch East India Company personnel left Taiwan on February 17. All personnel were allowed to take with them their personal belongings, as well as provisions sufficient for them to reach the nearest Dutch settlement.

[edit] Aftermath

After arriving in Jakarta, Coyett was tried for surrendering the post and exiled to Banda Islands. He was eventually pardoned after strong lobbing by his friends and relatives. He published a book named Neglected Formosa (Dutch: 't Verwaerloosde Formosa) in 1675. In the book he defended his actions in Taiwan and criticized the company for neglecting his pleas for reinforcement.

After the loss of the post at Tayoan, the Dutch East India Company made several attempts to recapture it, and even formed an alliance with the Qing Empire to battle Koxinga's fleet. They captured Keelung in northern Taiwan, but were forced to abandon it due to logistical difficulties and because the Qing fleet suffered numerous crushing defeats at the hands of Koxinga's veteran sailors.

[edit] Cultural influences

The battle was depicted in the movie Zheng Chenggong 1661 (Traditional Chinese: 鄭成功1661), which ended in Koxinga's victory over the Dutch. The movie's English title is Sino-Dutch War 1661^[3].

[edit] See also

• Koxinga
• Dutch East India Company
• Kingdom of Tungning

[edit] References