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Fort Casimir was a Dutch settlement in 17th century colonial province of New Netherland. It was located on the no-longer existing Sand Hook at the end of Chestnut Street in what is now New Castle, Delaware. The fort was possibly named for Ernst Casimir of Nassau-Dietz or his successor, Henry Casimir I of Nassau-Dietz, both counts of Nassau-Dietz and Stadtholders of Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe in the Netherlands.
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Background
Fort Casimir was established in 1651, the structure that had been Fort Nassau having been dismantled and relocated. It was briefly known as Fort Trefaldighet, and later became New Amstel, and eventually New Castle.
On Trinity Sunday in 1654, Johan Risingh, Commissary and Councilor to New Sweden Governor Lt. Col. Johan Printz, officially assumed his duties and began to extricate all Dutch from the Deleware River. Fort Casimir surrendered and was renamed Fort Trinity (in Swedish Fort Trefaldighet). The Swedes were now in complete possession of their colony. On June 21, 1654, the Indians met with the Swedes to reaffirm their ownership.
Peter Stuyvesant led a Dutch force which retook the fort on September 11, 1655, renaming it New Amstel (in Dutch Nieuw Amstel). Subsequently, Fort Christina also fell on September 15th and all New Sweden came under the control of the Dutch. John Paul Jacquet was immediately appointed Governor, making New Amstel the capital of the Dutch-controlled colony. [1][2]
In 1664, Stuyvesant peacefully surrendered control of Fort Amsterdam, and thereby, all of New Netherland to the British. They gave the settlement yet another name, New Castle.
See also
References
- ^ Site of Fort Casimir http://archives.delaware.gov/markers/ncc/SITE%20OF%20FORT%20CASIMER%20NC-23.shtml
- ^ Siege of Christina Fort, 1655 http://etc.usf.edu/Maps/pages/8100/8116/8116.htm
Other Sources
- Johnson, Amandus The Swedes in America 1638-1900: Vol. I, The Swedes on the Delaware 1638-1664. (1914)
- Johnson, Amandus Johan Classon Rising: The last governor of New Sweden (1915)
- Johnson, Amandus The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware 1638-1664, Volume II (1927)
- Weslager , C. A. The Swedes and Dutch at New Castle (1987)
External links
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