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Talk:Invasion of Curaçao (1800)

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Title

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Can a source be cited that calls this the "Siege of Curaçao"? I only get results for the 1804 action (no article yet) when I search for that term. Srnec (talk) 02:56, 2 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Most sources i have read simply refer to an "invasion of curacao". There were two actions in the campaign, a short battle at Roodeweg and then the siege of willamstad which was the primary and decisive engagement of the invasion.XavierGreen (talk) 22:15, 2 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]


Infobox

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If you read the source listed, Stoddert's War, it clearly states that none of the vessels of the French invasion force were from the French Navy, but were rather instead privateers. In fact the only French Naval vessel in the area was the frigate, La Vengeance, which was stranded at Curacao after been severly mauled in an action with USS Constellation several months before. La Vengeance's commander, Francois Pitot, was approached by the commender of the French invading forces who gave Pitot the support he needed to repair his vessel and requested that Pitot's ship join him in attacking Dutch forces on the island. Pitot had no such orders to attack, refused to assist in the invasion, and withdrew his ship from the area. There was absolutely no involvement by French Navy assets or their associated marine detachments. In fact, most French navy assets in the area had already been long since destroyed by British or American action. The force that landed and attacked the dutch was made up of mostly colonial militia from Guadaloupe.XavierGreen (talk) 15:14, 1 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I still find the fact that there is clear mention of the brig-sloops and schooners that took part in the invasion completely contrary to a privateer-only fleet. Nevertheless, a revision war is unnecessary when the information differs only slightly from the original. If you could somehow find a link to the colonial militia involved, that would add extra detail to the article. As French troops were mentioned, I'm going to restore the mention of British and American troops (Royal Marines-U.S. Marines) in the infobox. Amerijuanican (talk) 22:19, 5 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]
How is that contrary to the vessels sailing under privateer commissions? The terms brig-sloop and schooner merely refer to how the sails on a vessel are rigged. The french issued privateer commissions to vessels of all shapes and sizes, including up to frigate sized vessels (and even for some purpose built frigates). As i stated above, the chapter of Palmer's "Stoddert's" war covering the invasion clearly states that the vessels involved were privateers. At this point in the war, the French had very few regular naval vessels left operating in the Carribean. Most of the remaining French naval vessels operating in the region at this point were merely transitory in the area, such as transporting important officials from France or on dispatch duty.XavierGreen (talk) 13:14, 6 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]