Herman Willem Daendels is a Dutch soldier, born onat Hattem , Gelderland , in the Republic of the United Provinces , and died onin St. George of Elmina, on the Ghanaian coast 1 .

He was an officer in the Northern Army under the Revolution , then was given high responsibilities when his native country passed under French influence. Under the First Empire , he was lieutenant-general and then governor-general of the Dutch Indies from 1808 to 1811.

Before the Revolution

After studying law at the University of Harderwijk , Herman Willem Daendels graduated on April 10, 1783 [ref. necessary] . In 1787, he participated in the “movement of the Patriots “, an insurrection against Stadtholder William V of Orange-Nassau . After the failure of the Revolution, Herman Willem Daendels fled to France . He moved to Dunkerque and worked in a brickyard.

During the Revolution

Lieutenant-Colonel CRT Krayenhoff taking leave of General Daendels before leaving Maarssen for Amsterdam to overthrow the Amsterdam City Council on 18 January 1795 , Lelie’s oil on board Adriaan and Egbert van Drielst at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam .

In 1792 he was appointed lieutenant colonel in the 4 th battalion of the Foreign Legion frank [ ref.  desired] and fight at the Army of the North . Promoted brigadier general by the representative on mission René-Pierre Choudieu , he became late 1794, general of division . He received the command of a Dutch division on the Rhine in 1796. Daendels intervenes in the domestic policy of his country which ends up being under the influence of France with the creation of the Batavian Republic. The Jacobins having taken the advantage, it is entrusted to him to admit more moderate elements. From 1798 to 1801 he commanded the first division of the army defending Holland . He serves under the orders of General Guillaume Marie-Anne Brune . During the months of September and October 1799, he fought the Anglo-Russians in Bergen , Alkmaar and Castricum .

Under the Consulate and the First Empire

Herman Willem Daendels resigns in April 1802 2 . In 1806 Louis Bonaparte , King of Holland, appointed him lieutenant-general. Under this rank he fights Prussia . Appointed Governor General of the Dutch Indies, 1 st January 1808, he arrived in Java and remained there until 1811. He oversees construction of the ” Great Post Road ” ( Groote Postweg ) Java will of Anyer , to the western end of the island, at Banyuwangi at its eastern end. It imposes forced labor on the natives and sells large tracts of land to private owners3 . Back in France, he participated in the Russian campaign in 1812 to head the 26 th Division of the 9 th Corps Maréchal Victor of the Grand Army .

After the fall of Napoleon, he was commissioned by the Dutch government to resume his trading posts occupied by the English under the Empire . He died in the Dutch Gold Coast (present-day Ghana ) on May 2, 1818.

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Six 1934 , p.  278.
  2. ↑ Six 1934 , p.  279.
  3. ↑ Denys LOMBARD, “INDONESIA – History” , in Encyclopaedia Universalis [online] ( read online  [ archive ] ) , p.  5. The formation of the “Dutch East Indies” (19th-early 20th century).