Date 2 Pluviôse year III (21 January 1795)
Place Between Den Helder and the island of Texel, province of Friesland, Netherlands
Issue French capture of the Dutch fleet
Belligerents
French Dutch
Commanders
Brigadier General, Johan Willem de Winter, Lahure Battalion Commander for the H. Reyntjes Infantry
Opposing forces
A squadron of the 8th Hussar Regiment, an infantry battalion 14 vessels of line (total of 850 guns)
Losses
none
Although this event was far from being decisive in the French Revolutionary Wars, the capture of the Dutch fleet at Helder is quite exceptional:the French cavalry stormed a Dutch fleet.
The campaign
General Pichegru successfully commanded the autumn campaign of 1794, during which he conquered Holland. He entered Amsterdam on January 19, 1795 to take up his winter quarters.
Procedure
But, well informed, he learns that a Dutch fleet is stationed in Helder, about 80 km north of Amsterdam. Winter being extremely harsh, rivers and coasts are frozen in ice. Brigadier General Johan Willem de Winter was dispatched by Pichegru at the head of a detachment of the 8th regiment of hussars. This Dutchman who received naval training, had served France since 1787, and later commanded the Dutch fleet at the Battle of Camperduin. Its mission was to prevent the British from occupying Den Helder, and also to prevent the Dutch fleet, comprising 15 ships, 11 of which were rigged and armed, from reaching Great Britain. He arrived on the night of 2 Pluviôse (21 January), accompanied by infantry troops. The Dutch fleet is there, caught in the ice. Each hussar carries an infantryman from the 15th light infantry regiment behind.
After taking the necessary precautions to prevent the horses' hooves from waking the sailors, Lieutenant-Colonel Louis Joseph Lahure launches the assault. The ice did not give way, and the Dutch ships were boarded by horses scaling the planks. above the French cavalry and could not be used to defend the ships.
Review
On the human side, the balance sheet is ideal, since the affair was done without firing a shot. The French army captured 14 ships of the line, armed with 850 guns, and several merchant ships. It is a unique case in military annals that a fleet is captured by a cavalry charge.