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The Dutch in Medway
The daring raid on the Medway in June 1667, when the Dutch navigated the treacherous shoals and sandbanks of the Thames estuary and the Medway and attacked King Charles' ships laid up below Chatham, was one of the worst defeats in the Royal Navy's history and a serious blow to the English crown. Perhaps the greatest humiliation was the removal by the Dutch of the flagship Royal Charles, towed down river after the raid and taken back to Holland. To this day, her stern piece resides in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The attack, intended to bring to an end to English procrastination at the peace negotiations in Breda, caused simmering resentment and eventually led to the Third Anglo-Dutch War. As Samuel Pepys wrote in his diary on 29 July 1667, "Thus in all things, in wisdom, courage, force, knowledge of our own streams, and success, the Dutch have the best of us, and do end the war with victory on their side." P. G. Rogers' vivid account of the raid and its significance within the Second Anglo-Dutch War between Britain and the United Provinces of the Netherlands sheds a fascinating light on the English navy of Pepys's day. Rogers' particular knowledge of the Medway and the topography of Gillingham and Chatham enable him to describe the maneuvers at a detailed level.
216 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1970
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 27, 2022
You have to be pretty well-read to even know what this book is about -- so, here we go.
During the Second Anglo Dutch War of 1665-1667, in the final year, the Dutch fleet descended on the River Medway, which is a tributary of the Thames and where, upstream, the English had their primary naval base at Chatham. What then happened was the Dutch burned, sunk, or captured several English warships and escaped with little loss. The English were scandalized and for a time, panicked.
Here's an image of the battle: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Rogers drew on a large set of Dutch and English sources to write the best account of this action available to readers today. There are echoes of Gordon Prange's At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor in that Rogers covers the run up to the war, an outline of the first two years, some detail into the maladministration of the dockyards and general British unpreparedness, the actual attack, and the recriminations that followed.
The book is readable and filled with quotes from both sides. Two maps and some plates showing the personages and battle, taken from paintings.
Why were the English so scandalized? It was not just the loss of several ships, but the abysmal performance of many of the defenders who simply fled the scene. And why did they flee? Because they hadn't been paid for over a year! The trail of money allocated by Parliament to the Navy led through many corrupt diversions. Various committees looked for scapegoats but, surprise, the powerful were left untouched. Some things never change.
Today, you'd be hard pressed to even know why there was a war, in fact three of them over 20 years. Basically, in the days before Adam Smith, the wealth of nations was a zero-sum game. Nation A wanted to hold onto its sources of wealth and take from Nation B their sources of wealth. As both the States General and British were naval nations, with far flung trading interests, conflict was inevitable. Then again, only a few short years later, the English allied themselves with the Dutch against a bigger, more threatening enemy - France. Perhaps making the whole Anglo-Dutch War sequence seem rather petty in hindsight.
Quibbles - There is no detailed map of the actual ships in the river, forcing the chain and attacking the British warships with fireships. A missed opportunity.
Read this book after reading The Four Days' Battle of 1666: The Greatest Sea Fight of the Age of Sail, or, for a general history of the three calamities of 1666 (the prior year to the Medway) - 1666: Plague, War, and Hellfire
During the Second Anglo Dutch War of 1665-1667, in the final year, the Dutch fleet descended on the River Medway, which is a tributary of the Thames and where, upstream, the English had their primary naval base at Chatham. What then happened was the Dutch burned, sunk, or captured several English warships and escaped with little loss. The English were scandalized and for a time, panicked.
Here's an image of the battle: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Rogers drew on a large set of Dutch and English sources to write the best account of this action available to readers today. There are echoes of Gordon Prange's At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor in that Rogers covers the run up to the war, an outline of the first two years, some detail into the maladministration of the dockyards and general British unpreparedness, the actual attack, and the recriminations that followed.
The book is readable and filled with quotes from both sides. Two maps and some plates showing the personages and battle, taken from paintings.
Why were the English so scandalized? It was not just the loss of several ships, but the abysmal performance of many of the defenders who simply fled the scene. And why did they flee? Because they hadn't been paid for over a year! The trail of money allocated by Parliament to the Navy led through many corrupt diversions. Various committees looked for scapegoats but, surprise, the powerful were left untouched. Some things never change.
Today, you'd be hard pressed to even know why there was a war, in fact three of them over 20 years. Basically, in the days before Adam Smith, the wealth of nations was a zero-sum game. Nation A wanted to hold onto its sources of wealth and take from Nation B their sources of wealth. As both the States General and British were naval nations, with far flung trading interests, conflict was inevitable. Then again, only a few short years later, the English allied themselves with the Dutch against a bigger, more threatening enemy - France. Perhaps making the whole Anglo-Dutch War sequence seem rather petty in hindsight.
Quibbles - There is no detailed map of the actual ships in the river, forcing the chain and attacking the British warships with fireships. A missed opportunity.
Read this book after reading The Four Days' Battle of 1666: The Greatest Sea Fight of the Age of Sail, or, for a general history of the three calamities of 1666 (the prior year to the Medway) - 1666: Plague, War, and Hellfire
April 7, 2020
This is a seminal work on an event in history during the second Anglo-Dutch war that is often mentioned but rarely delved into. In 1667 the Dutch made a daring attack on Charles II’s ships in Kent. Stores were raided and burnt, ships were destroyed and the king’s main flag ship the Royal Charles that had returned the king to English shores was towed away in triumph. It was a disaster that left the realm reeling.
This book uses British and Dutch source material to examine in detail what happened when the Dutch sailed up the Medway making it the best precise account that covers the lead up to the attack, the chaos of the assault and the ongoing relationship with the Dutch. Its investigative approach brings to life the history of the times and one of the most pivotal events of the age.
This book uses British and Dutch source material to examine in detail what happened when the Dutch sailed up the Medway making it the best precise account that covers the lead up to the attack, the chaos of the assault and the ongoing relationship with the Dutch. Its investigative approach brings to life the history of the times and one of the most pivotal events of the age.
June 20, 2017
First published three years after the tercentenary, Rogers’ account of the Dutch attack in the River Medway received worldwide praise. He wrote it because previously English works failed to provide a historical perspective of the raid. His contacts in England and the Netherlands, which provided access to both countries’ archives and published works, also permitted him to provide a more informed account from a fair and impartial point of view. On the 350th anniversary, Seaforth has republished this detailed history so new readers can gain a better understanding of the events leading up to, during, and following the June 1667 attack.
To the Dutch the raid is the tocht naar Chatham (trip to Chatham). To the British it remains one of the worst military and naval defeats in the United Kingdom. But to best understand how this event came to be, one must first go back in time to an earlier period in each nation’s past. The opening chapters recap these countries’ historical development, explain how they became interconnected, and examine their maritime and commercial rivalry that ultimately led to the Anglo-Dutch Wars. Rogers also discusses the English and Dutch navies, problems plaguing the Chatham Dockyard, and the battle-readiness of England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands prior to the raid. He introduces the key participants, such as Raad-Pensionairis Johan de Witt, King Charles II, and Michiel de Ruyter, who was commander-in-chief of the Dutch fleet.
The second half of the book focuses on the raid itself. This is where Rogers’ familiarity with the geography shines through in such detail that readers can easily visualize these events as they happened. The end result of the raid was the capture of Sheerness Fort, the Royal Charles, and the Unity; the destruction of other Royal Navy vessels; and the panic that spread through Britain. Its effect on British morale, the assessment of blame after the raid, what happened to the key participants, and the lessons learned round out this volume. A postscript summarizes what occurred at the tercentenary to which the Dutch were invited.
The Dutch in the Medway is a well-rounded, easy-to-read, and comprehensive presentation of the attack. The use of sources from both countries a non-biased account, and the insertion of quoted passages from primary documents adds to the recounting’s immediacy. Maps, footnotes, a list of sources, the index, and color plates depicting the attack and the people involved further enhance the reading experience. This book is also an invaluable addition to any collection on English, Dutch, and naval history.
To the Dutch the raid is the tocht naar Chatham (trip to Chatham). To the British it remains one of the worst military and naval defeats in the United Kingdom. But to best understand how this event came to be, one must first go back in time to an earlier period in each nation’s past. The opening chapters recap these countries’ historical development, explain how they became interconnected, and examine their maritime and commercial rivalry that ultimately led to the Anglo-Dutch Wars. Rogers also discusses the English and Dutch navies, problems plaguing the Chatham Dockyard, and the battle-readiness of England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands prior to the raid. He introduces the key participants, such as Raad-Pensionairis Johan de Witt, King Charles II, and Michiel de Ruyter, who was commander-in-chief of the Dutch fleet.
The second half of the book focuses on the raid itself. This is where Rogers’ familiarity with the geography shines through in such detail that readers can easily visualize these events as they happened. The end result of the raid was the capture of Sheerness Fort, the Royal Charles, and the Unity; the destruction of other Royal Navy vessels; and the panic that spread through Britain. Its effect on British morale, the assessment of blame after the raid, what happened to the key participants, and the lessons learned round out this volume. A postscript summarizes what occurred at the tercentenary to which the Dutch were invited.
The Dutch in the Medway is a well-rounded, easy-to-read, and comprehensive presentation of the attack. The use of sources from both countries a non-biased account, and the insertion of quoted passages from primary documents adds to the recounting’s immediacy. Maps, footnotes, a list of sources, the index, and color plates depicting the attack and the people involved further enhance the reading experience. This book is also an invaluable addition to any collection on English, Dutch, and naval history.
February 9, 2018
As I was reading this book, I had the growing realization that I must have read it before, back in the 1970s when it first came out. (It doesn't appear to be on my shelves anywhere, so I may have loaned and lost it; or read a library copy.) It's a useful read, but my evaluation is tepid, based on it not being all that memorable...
It tells the story of the Dutch Navy's attack on the Thames estuary, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, in 1667. England didn't like to pay its bills, in the years of Charles II, and hadn't been able to pay its sailors or dockyard workers, sometimes for years. So the morale among those men was rather poor, if they bothered to show up for work at all. The Navy was in poor repair, the docks undersupplied and hopelessly corrupt. The King convinced himself that there would be a peace treaty in 1667, so decided not to fund the Navy that year, except for a couple of raiding squadrons. Keep the ships home, cut spending, maybe arm a few shore fortifications, put a chain across the Medway to protect the Chatham Dockyard; yep, that was the ticket.
The Dutch, instead, beefed up their Navy, loaded the ships with troops for land attacks, and headed for the Thames. Finding almost no resistance, they probed the Medway, landed troops to attack the unfinished fort at Sheerness and steal all its guns, and then rolled up the river and broke the chain. Ships were burned, ships were captured, Britain has never lived it down.
And then, for both winners and losers, the finger-pointing, the jealous destruction of careers, the lack of justice, the mishandling of most things. It's all a tale worth telling, and this is the only book I know on the subject.
However, there's a distinct lack of military detail in this military history. Such as discussing battles (like the Four Days, in the previous Anglo-Dutch War) but not giving loss numbers, or casualties. Or, most annoyingly, even asking the question of why the Dutch didn't land the troops they'd brought to turn the forts on the Medway, and burn the Chatham Dockyard. (They controlled the river only a mile from the docks, the English didn't seem to have many troops on either shore, and the previous landing had been an entire success.) Rogers seems to think the threat of potential English reinforcements justified Cornelis de Witt in withdrawing without even testing the defenses, much less fully exploiting the victory. De Witt's own brother, the Dutch chief, thought this was a failure; but Rogers dismisses the idea without any analysis.
Hmmmph.
It tells the story of the Dutch Navy's attack on the Thames estuary, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, in 1667. England didn't like to pay its bills, in the years of Charles II, and hadn't been able to pay its sailors or dockyard workers, sometimes for years. So the morale among those men was rather poor, if they bothered to show up for work at all. The Navy was in poor repair, the docks undersupplied and hopelessly corrupt. The King convinced himself that there would be a peace treaty in 1667, so decided not to fund the Navy that year, except for a couple of raiding squadrons. Keep the ships home, cut spending, maybe arm a few shore fortifications, put a chain across the Medway to protect the Chatham Dockyard; yep, that was the ticket.
The Dutch, instead, beefed up their Navy, loaded the ships with troops for land attacks, and headed for the Thames. Finding almost no resistance, they probed the Medway, landed troops to attack the unfinished fort at Sheerness and steal all its guns, and then rolled up the river and broke the chain. Ships were burned, ships were captured, Britain has never lived it down.
And then, for both winners and losers, the finger-pointing, the jealous destruction of careers, the lack of justice, the mishandling of most things. It's all a tale worth telling, and this is the only book I know on the subject.
However, there's a distinct lack of military detail in this military history. Such as discussing battles (like the Four Days, in the previous Anglo-Dutch War) but not giving loss numbers, or casualties. Or, most annoyingly, even asking the question of why the Dutch didn't land the troops they'd brought to turn the forts on the Medway, and burn the Chatham Dockyard. (They controlled the river only a mile from the docks, the English didn't seem to have many troops on either shore, and the previous landing had been an entire success.) Rogers seems to think the threat of potential English reinforcements justified Cornelis de Witt in withdrawing without even testing the defenses, much less fully exploiting the victory. De Witt's own brother, the Dutch chief, thought this was a failure; but Rogers dismisses the idea without any analysis.
Hmmmph.
April 25, 2020
To quote Samuels Pepys, "Thus in all things, in wisdom, courage, force, knowledge of our own streams, and success, the Dutch have the best of us, and do end the war with victory on their side."
This about sums up the destructive raid which the Dutch undertook in June of 1667 to wreck havoc on the ships and facilities of King Charles II's navy.
While the audacious Dutchmen could possibly have done more than just raid up the Thames and Medway, the psychological effect on English morale was staggering. The Dutch made off with the flagship, Royal Charles, and her sternpiece still resides in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
How could the English allow this to happen? To sum up, don't pay your dockworkers and sailors. Don't provide proper funding for arms, naval stores and fortifications. Corruption among your naval officials. The disregard of all indications, i.e. intelligence, that the Dutch were up to something. Recrimination and finger-pointing abounded after this fiasco!
I found this interesting. "The revenues voted by Parliament were quite insufficient for the purpose, and there is little evidence to substantiate the traditional allegation that Charles II spent on his mistresses vast sums which had been voted for the upkeep of the Navy." How much evidence do you need?
Found this to be a good introduction to Samuel Pepys, the noted diarist and a member of the Navy Board at the time of the raid. He himself was called in to testify as to his knowledge of what or what hadn't transpired to prevent this debacle.
I recommend it to anyone interested in 17th Century naval history and or the Anglo-Dutch Wars.
This about sums up the destructive raid which the Dutch undertook in June of 1667 to wreck havoc on the ships and facilities of King Charles II's navy.
While the audacious Dutchmen could possibly have done more than just raid up the Thames and Medway, the psychological effect on English morale was staggering. The Dutch made off with the flagship, Royal Charles, and her sternpiece still resides in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
How could the English allow this to happen? To sum up, don't pay your dockworkers and sailors. Don't provide proper funding for arms, naval stores and fortifications. Corruption among your naval officials. The disregard of all indications, i.e. intelligence, that the Dutch were up to something. Recrimination and finger-pointing abounded after this fiasco!
I found this interesting. "The revenues voted by Parliament were quite insufficient for the purpose, and there is little evidence to substantiate the traditional allegation that Charles II spent on his mistresses vast sums which had been voted for the upkeep of the Navy." How much evidence do you need?
Found this to be a good introduction to Samuel Pepys, the noted diarist and a member of the Navy Board at the time of the raid. He himself was called in to testify as to his knowledge of what or what hadn't transpired to prevent this debacle.
I recommend it to anyone interested in 17th Century naval history and or the Anglo-Dutch Wars.
April 17, 2025
In 24 hours I have read this 200 pages book about the “Battle” of the Medway. This was one of the most strategically and tactically glorious raids in Naval history by the Dutch Republic.
This book is extremely well researched and contains a lot of nice details and information. Still I give this book only 3 stars because I didn’t really like the writting style. Maybe this is because the book has been written in the 1970s. Also there were a lot big contemporary quotes/texts or whole letters shared in this book which mostly blocked the parts where you were invested in the book.
This book is extremely well researched and contains a lot of nice details and information. Still I give this book only 3 stars because I didn’t really like the writting style. Maybe this is because the book has been written in the 1970s. Also there were a lot big contemporary quotes/texts or whole letters shared in this book which mostly blocked the parts where you were invested in the book.
July 25, 2011
This is a fascinating treatment of the daring Dutch naval action up the Medway River and raid on the shipyards at Chatham during the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1667. The Dutch burned the English fleet as well as captured the Royal Charles and Unity men-of-war. This bold action, conceived by John de Witt and carried out by Admiral de Ruyter and Cornelius de Witt, provided the Dutch the major victory over England that forced Charles II to agree to the humiliating Peace of Breda (1667). The study is based on Dutch and English archival sources.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews