Johan Evertsen de Captein
of de Oude (? - June 28, 1617):
Johan Evertsen was the son of
Evert Heindricxssen. He was the father of Johan (Jan)
Evertsen and Cornelis Evertsen the Elder. Johan Evertsen was
killed in battle on June 28, 1617.
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Johan (Jan) Evertsen (February 1, 1600 - August 5,
1666):
Early life:
Like his five brothers, Evertsen
started his military career as a lieutenant after the death
of his father, "Captain Jan". He quickly moved through the
ranks, fighting battles with corsairs and protecting Dutch
ships from other privateers. Evertsen was eventually
promoted to the rank of admiral during the Anglo-Dutch Wars.
Despite Evertsen's successes and influence in the Dutch
Navy, his abilities were questioned due to rumours that he
was a coward.
Career:
Evertsen was born in Vlissingen.
He was the eldest (surviving) son of Johan Evertsen, also
known as Captain Jan who died in 1617 fighting near La
Rochelle against a French corsair. In gratitude for the
services he rendered, all five sons of Captain Jan were
named lieutenants by the Admiralty of Zeeland.
At age 18, he was made captain of
a ship. He fought near La Rochelle in 1625 under Willem de
Zoete, and in 1626 and 1627 in a campaign against the
Barbary Coast under Laurens Reael.
Between 1628 and 1636, he
distinguished himself while fighting the Dunkirk corsairs.
His greatest successes were in 1628, when he prevented the
Dunkirkers from intercepting the captured treasure fleet of
Piet Heyn and in 1636, when he captured corsair Jacob
Collaert. He also played an important part in the Dutch
victory in the Battle of the Slaak against the Spanish.
In the wake of this battle, he
came into conflict with Witte Corneliszoon de With, and
receive no other important commands. During this time, he
developed a friendship with stadtholders Frederick Henry and
William II.
First Anglo-Dutch War:
At the outbreak of the First
Anglo-Dutch War, Evertsen was left aside by de With, who
considered him an orangist. But after de With's defeat in
the Battle of the Kentish Knock, de With was replaced by
Maarten Tromp, who reinstated Evertsen as a squadron
commander. Evertsen helped to achieve victory in the Battle
of Dungeness, extricating Tromp's flagship from an English
attack.
In 1653, he fought the last
Battle of Portland and Battle of the Gabbard.
The final Battle of Scheveningen
was also lost and Tromp was killed in battle. Evertsen's
ship was so badly damaged that he had to withdraw and leave
the command to de With. Because he withdrew, Evertsen was
accused of cowardice by de With, and he received no commands
for the next 5 years.
In May 1659, Evertsen sailed
under Michiel de Ruyter in the fleet that assisted Jacob van
Wassenaer Obdam in reconquering the Danish islands after
they had been lost in the Battle of the Sound, in which de
With was killed.
Second Anglo-Dutch War:
Despite his age, Johan Evertsen
was third in command of the fleet that faced the English in
the Battle of Lowestoft. The battle went horribly wrong for
the Dutch, and the first and second in command, Jacob van
Wassenaer Obdam and Egbert Bartholomeusz Kortenaer, were
killed. Evertsen became commander, but the confusion in the
Dutch fleet was so great, that Cornelius Tromp did the same.
By evening, the Dutch fleet was in full flight.
Evertsen was summoned to The
Hague. When he travelled there, he was dragged from his
carriage by an angry mob, mistreated, bound hand and foot,
and thrown into the water. He saved himself by clinging to
the stern of a ship. He had to be escorted for his
protection by an armed detachment to Den Helder, where he
was tried for cowardice.
The commanders of the fleet spoke
out in his favour, and when it became clear that Evertsen
had prevented the worst possible scenario by covering the
retreat of the fleet, receiving 150 bullet impacts in his
ship, he was released.
When Johan's brother Cornelis
Evertsen the Elder was killed in the Four Days' Battle,
Johan joined the fleet and took command of the vanguard of
De Ruyter. He was killed on the first day of the St James's
Day Battle.
After much conflict between the
Admiralty and the family over the costs, both brothers were
buried in 1681 in the Abbey of Middelburg, where their
shared grave memorial remains.
Personal life
Johan married Maayken Gorcum
(1600-1671). They had five children, Johan Evertsen, the
younger (1624-1649), Cornelis Evertsen the Younger
(1628-1679), vice-admiral and three daughters.
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Cornelis Evertsen the Elder (August 4, 1610 - June
11, 1666):
Cornelis Evertsen the Elder was
the son of Johan Evertsen and Maayken Jans; grandson of
Evert Heindricxssen, a Watergeus, both commanders of
men-of-war of the navy of Zealand.
When his father was killed in
battle in 1617, the Admiralty of Zealand appointed all five
of his sons as Lieutenant, including Cornelis (or Kees) and
his oldest brother Johan, despite their young age. This
exceptional favour was granted in recognition of the great
merits of the father and of course prevented his family from
becoming destitute.
In 1626 Cornelis is first
mentioned as actually serving on sea, during a privateering
raid. On 25 August 1636 he was appointed captain. In the
Battle of the Downs in 1639 he captured a galleon.
During the First Anglo-Dutch War
Cornelis functioned as a Vice-Commodore in the Zealandic
navy; he was appointed on a confederate level to the
equivalent rank of temporary Rear-Admiral on 1 May 1652. In
the Battle of Scheveningen his ship sank and he, wounded,
was prisoner of the English for three months.
On 14 March 1654 he was appointed
Rear-Admiral. During the Northern Wars he was in 1659
subcommander of the fleet of Michiel de Ruyter and liberated
Nyborg from the Swedish. In 1661 he was third in command of
the Dutch Mediterranean fleet under De Ruyter, executing
punitive actions against the corsairs of Algiers. He and De
Ruyter were close personal friends.
When the Second Anglo-Dutch War
threatened, he was made Vice-Admiral of Zealand, while his
brother Johan Evertsen was promoted to the first
Lieutenant-Admiral that province ever had. Cornelis Evertsen
took part in the Battle of Lowestoft (13 June 1665); his
elder brother was after the fight much criticised for his
behaviour and had to resign as commander, though keeping his
rank. Cornelis was now promoted to Lieutenant-Admiral also,
so that for a time the Dutch navy had seven officers of this
rank.
When the next major naval battle
was fought with England in June 1666, the Four Days Battle,
Cornelis the Elder was killed on the first day on the
Walcheren, cut in two by the parting shot of the escaping
Henry.
His brother Johan decided first
to stay ashore, but when Cornelis was killed , he joined as
yet the fleet and took command of the vanguard of De Ruyter.
He was killed on the first day of the St. James's Day
Battle, in August 1666. Both brothers were, after much
conflict between the Admiralty and the family over the
costs, in 1681 buried in the Abbey of Middelburg, where
their shared grave memorial is still to be seen.
Cornelis Evertsen the Elder got
blessed with fourteen children from his first marriage in
1640 with Johanna van Gorcum, five of which died as infants.
Two of them would become flag officers as well: his second
child, named after him, Lieutenant-Admiral Cornelis Evertsen
the Youngest (1642-1706) and the tenth son
Lieutenant-Admiral Geleyn Evertsen (1655-1711). Both would
be supreme commanders of the confederate Dutch fleet. All
three men shared the same cantankerous character. After the
death of his first wife in 1657 Cornelis remarried in 1659;
from this marriage another two children were born. On his
death he left a heritage worth 45,000 guilders.
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Cornelis Evertsen the Younger (April 16, 1628 -
September 20, 1679):
Cornelis Evertsen the Younger
(born: Vlissingen / Flushing - April 16, 1628 - died:
Vlissingen / Flushing - September 20, 1679) was a Dutch
Admiral in the 17th century.
Cornelis was the son of
Lieutenant-Admiral Johan Evertsen and the nephew of
Lieutenant-Admiral Cornelis Evertsen the Elder. He is not to
be confused with his cousin Lieutenant-Admiral Cornelis
Evertsen the Youngest.
Cornelis became master on his
father's flagship the Hollandia in 1648; in 1651 he was for
a time in the rank of lieutenant acting captain on the same
vessel. He became captain of the Vlissingen in 1652, during
the First Anglo–Dutch War. In 1653 he was wounded while
being his father's flag captain in the Battle of
Scheveningen. In 1661 he sailed in the Mediterranean as
captain of the Delft.
In July 1665, after the Battle of
Lowestoft during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, he was
appointed Rear-Admiral with the Admirality of Zealand. He
fought on the Zierikzee in the Four Days Battle. He became
Vice-Admiral of Zealand on 5 September 1666, the year in
which his father and uncle were killed. He did not
participate in the Raid on the Medway in 1667, because the
Zealand fleet wasn't ready in time.
He fought in all battles of the
Third Anglo-Dutch War on his flagship, the Zierikzee.
In the Franco-Dutch war he
participated in the failed attack against Martinique in 1674
under De Ruyter. In 1676 he fought for Denmark under
Admiral-General Cornelis Tromp, then the Danish supreme
commander, against Sweden. And in 1678 he operated against
the French fleet in the Mediterranean and before the French
West coast.
Cornelis was an educated man who
twice married wives from wealthy families; he died of an
illness in Flushing.
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Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest (November 16, 1642 -
November 16, 1706):
Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest
(born: Vlissingen / Flushing - November 16, 1642 - died:
November 16, 1706) was a Dutch Admiral in the 17th century.
Cornelis was the second son of
Lieutenant-Admiral Cornelis Evertsen the Elder, nephew of
Lieutenant-Admiral Johan Evertsen and cousin of the latter's
son Vice-Admiral Cornelis Evertsen the Younger, with whom he
is very often confused. Cornelis was nicknamed Keesje den
Duvel ("Little Cornelis the Devil") for his cantankerous and
hot-tempered character, which he shared with his father.
Cornelis was born in Flushing
(Vlissingen in Dutch) in 1642 and already sailed on his
father's ship at the age of ten. He became privateer in 1665
during the Second Anglo-Dutch War and was captured by the
English in early March of that year when his force of two
ships was defeated by three English vessels. His crew had to
bodily restrain him to prevent him from blowing up his ship,
the Eendragt of 32 cannon. Because of his famous father and
uncle he was considered worthy of royal interest. During
interrogation the brother of the king, Lord High Admiral
James, the Duke of York, inquired about a bullet hole in the
top of Cornelis's hat, asking the captain to excuse the
English for having damaged his clothing. Cornelis grumpily
answered that he was proud of the hole; only he would have
preferred it to have been a bit lower, to now being a
prisoner.
John Evelyn recounts how Cornelis
was on 24 March 1665 released for his wit by Charles II of
England in person: Cornelis having been admitted into the
royal bedchamber, His Majesty gave him his hand to kiss, and
restored him his liberty; asked many questions concerning
the fight (it being the first blood drawn), his Majesty
remembering the many civilties he had formerly received from
his relations abroad - this was a reference to the support
the Evertsen family had given Charles during his exile.
Evelyn was then commanded to go with him to the Holland
Ambassador, where he was to stay for his passport, and I was
to give him 50 pieces in broad gold. Charles this way not
only repaid old favours shown, but also tried to sow
dissension between the staunchly orangist province of
Zealand and the republican province of Holland; he pretended
to champion the cause of the young William III of Orange.
After his return in 1665 Cornelis
fought in the Battle of Lowestoft; in July he became captain
with the Admiralty of Zealand. In 1666 Cornelis was captain
of his father's flagship Walcheren during the Four Days
Battle. During the first night he witnessed his father's
death, the Lieutenant-Admiral being cut in two by the
parting shot of the escaping Henry. He also fought in the
St. James's Day Battle where his uncle was killed.
In March 1672, just before the
Third Anglo-Dutch War, he repelled a treacherous English
attack on the Smyrna fleet. In the Battle of Solebay he
commanded the Zwanenburg (44 cannon).
In 1673 he reconquered New
Netherland, including New Amsterdam, as Vice-Admiral of a
fleet in service of the Dutch West India Company, the
Swaenenburgh still his flagship. When he returned in July
1674, he was accused of disobedience, because the States of
Zealand were not too happy with his conquest; his real
orders had been to conquer Saint Helena and Cayenne.
In January 1675 he became
Rear-Admiral of Zealand. In 1677 he commanded a blockade
against the Dunkirk Raiders. On 20 September 1679 he
replaced his deceased cousin Cornelis the Younger as
Vice-Admiral of Zealand; he became on 1 April 1684
Lieutenant-Admiral of Zealand and supreme commander of the
confederate Dutch fleet, replacing Cornelis Tromp. In 1688
he commanded the vanguard of the invasion fleet of
stadtholder William III during the Glorious Revolution.
In 1690 Cornelis was commander of
the vanguard of the allied fleet in the Battle of Beachy
Head. Poorly supported by the English, he had great
difficulties against a much stronger French opponent; he
saved his squadron by tricking the French, by suddenly
anchoring while under full sail, causing the enemy fleet to
be carried away with the tidal stream.
In that same year he was replaced
as supreme commander by Tromp, who soon died and was
replaced by Philips van Almonde.
Cornelis, after 1690 never again
commanding a fleet, died in 1706 and is buried in
Middelburg. He was succeeded as Lieutenant-Admiral of
Zealand by his younger brother Geleyn Evertsen.
Cornelis never married, nor is it
known that he ever had a relationship with a woman. However,
he was a very close friend of William III. It has been
suggested he was one of the lovers of the stadtholder.
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Gelein Evertsen (January 22, 1655 - July 25, 1721):
He was born in Vlissingen
(Flushing) as the 10th son of Cornelis Evertsen the Elder
and the brother of Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest.
In 1672-1673 he served as a
lieutenant with the Zeeland Admiralty and fought in the
Battle of Solebay, the Battle of Schooneveld and the Battle
of Kijkduin. A year later he was injured during a trip to
Martinique.
In 1679 he became captain, and in
1685 he became a counter admiral. In 1692 he distinguished
himself in the Battle of La Hogue. In 1695 he became vice
admiral. In 1700 he was the commander of a squadron that
bombed Copenhagen with English ships. In 1707 he became
lieutenant admiral. He died on July 25, 1721 in Middleburg,
where he is buried.
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