Danish Soldiers in the West Indies

Karsten Skjold Petersen

Danish Soldiers in the West Indies

The Royal (Danish) West Indian Troops, 1755–1851; the (Danish) West Indian Military Force, 1851–1907; and the (Danish) West Indian Gendarmerie, 1907–1917

Danish Soldiers in the West Indies

The Royal (Danish) West Indian Troops, 1755–1851; the (Danish) West Indian Military Force, 1851–1907; and the (Danish) West Indian Gendarmerie, 1907–1917

By Karsten Skjold Petersen

©2024 The Author and Nord Academic 1st edition, 1st printrun

ISBN: 978-87-12-07551-6

Editor: Hans Erik Havsteen

Editor-in-Chief: Henrik Sebro

Translator: Peter Sean Woltemade

Cover design: Julie Falck / Stereo Associates

Cover image: Troops and officers of the West Indian Military Force. Drawing by Gustav Brock 1886. National Museum of Denmark.

Graphic design and layout: Demuth Grafisk

Maps: Per Jørgensen

Repro: Narayana Press

Printed by PNB Print, Latvia

Printed in Latvia

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This book has been produced with support from: Civilingeniør Knud Nørgaard og hustru Grethe Nørgaards Fond Dansk Vestindisk Selskab

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Abbreviations

FM Finansministeriet, Ministry of Finance

FOARK Forsvarets Arkiver, Archives of the (Danish) Armed Forces

GKK Generalkommissariatet/Generalitets- og Kommissariatskollegiet, General Commissariat / General and Commissariat College

GTK Generaltoldkammeret, the General Customs Chamber (reference here is specifically to the West Indian and Guinea General Finance and Customs Office established in 1760)

KC Koloniernes Centralbestyrelse, the Central Management of the Colonies

Kgl. Kongelig, Royal (Danish)

KM Krigsministeriet, Ministry of War

Kr./kr. Kroner/kroner (reference here is to the Danish currency unit)

Mus.nr. Museumsnummer, Museum number

NARA National Archives and Records Administration

RA Rigsarkivet i København, the (Danish) National Archives in Copenhagen

Rbd. Rigsbankdaler

Rd. Rigsdaler, Danish (a West Indian rigsdaler corresponded to 80 percent of a Danish one)

Skr. Skrivelse, Letter (written document)

Preface

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the following individuals, who have contributed in various ways with advice, references, and illustrations: the former archivists at the Danish National Archives Erik Gøbel and Poul Erik Olsen, the museum curators Jannik Hartrup, Thorbjørn Thaarup, and Benjamin Asmussen from the M/S Maritime Museum of Denmark, Senior Researcher Mette Mia Krabbe Meyer from the Royal Danish Library, Anne Walbom and Vibeke Maduro Tuxen from the Danish West Indian Society, Ulrik Lauridsen, and Lis Hansen as well as my colleagues at the National Museum of Denmark, the museum curators Jørgen Walseth, Mikkel Venborg Pedersen, and Wibeke Haldrup

as well as Jens Ammitzbøl Lauridsen and the other photographers. I am very grateful to Nationalmuseets Fond for videnskabelige Undersøgelser og Nyerhvervelser (the National Museum of Denmark’s foundation for scientific research and new acquisitions), which made it possible for me to visit the National Archives in Maryland. The actual publication of this book was made possible by the extremely generous support of Civilingeniør Knud Nørgaard og Hustru Grethe Nørgaards Fond (Civil Engineer Knud Nørgaard and his wife Grethe Nørgaard’s foundation) and the Danish West Indian Society, and I am very thankful for this support.

Introduction

In 1917, the Danish government sold the Danish West Indian Islands to the United States, after which the islands were renamed the Virgin Islands of the United States. Today, the islands are associated mostly with tourism, which is the islands’ most significant source of income. The beautiful, clear water; the coral reefs; and the tropical climate attract streams of tourists who enjoy a few days or a couple of weeks of vacation outside the hurricane season.

The Danish state took over the islands from the Danish West Indian–Guinea Company, a trading company, back in 1755, and for the next 162 years, thousands of men served as soldiers or gendarmes to ensure security and maintain law and order. In addition to defending the islands against any enemy from without, the soldiers were tasked with protecting private property. The islands’ most important economic asset was the cultivation of sugar cane on the plantations, which were operated by a small group of Euro-Caribbean landowners, the so-called planters. In this book, the designation Euro-Caribbeans is used in reference to the white part of the population, while the black population is referred to as Afro-Caribbeans

Until 1848, slaves were used in the cultivation of sugar cane on the islands, and the soldiers’ primary role on the islands was to prevent slave rebellions. The West Indian soldiers were the Danish state’s armed forces in the colony, and as such they were also part of a racist apparatus of oppression. Even after the abolition of slavery, the soldiers’ most important role was preventing social unrest among the large Afro-Caribbean population. Of course, the composition of the population did change over the course of the many years, but generally, the white Euro-Caribbeans made up only 10 percent, and of these 10 percent, only 10 percent were Danish, while the rest were Britons, Dutchmen, Frenchmen, and Germans. In daily life, the Danish soldiers were therefore a small and marginalized group even though on paper, they held the power.

The Danish soldiers on the islands did not belong to the Danish army but were an independent force administered by the General Customs Chamber and later by the Ministry of Finance. Their manner of organization copied that of the army, however. The first military force, which was dispatched in 1755, was called the Royal West Indian Troops (De Vestindiske Trop-

per), and its name was changed to the West Indian Military Force (Den Vestindiske Hærstyrke) in 1851. This was a regular military force, but given the development of the surrounding society, these soldiers gradually became superfluous. In 1907, they were therefore replaced by the West Indian Gendarmerie, a considerably smaller force that was to perform police tasks to a greater extent than the previous forces. Throughout this entire period, the Governor General was the commander in chief of the military forces.

The military presence was of decisive importance for the continuing existence of the colony, but despite this, the soldiers and their service have not previously been the subject of a cohesive account.1 In the general accounts, the soldiers appear only sporadically, and until now, our knowledge of them has been fragmentary. However, there is no denying their importance both as an expression of the physical power of the state and as actors in the daily life of the garrison town. This book is focused on the soldiers, particularly the privates, while the other inhabitants of the islands are dealt with only to a limited extent. This account is based on extensive original source materials, particularly from the central institutions that administered the islands and the military, and here, correspondence, reports, financial statements, court records, and orders all have contributed information. The disadvantage of these sources is that they have a one-sided character, as they represent the case processing of the powers that be. However, they do clearly expose the differences there were between the privates on the one hand and the officers and the system on the other—between the lower and

the upper class in the Euro-Caribbean society. In contrast, though, we are very sorely lacking testimonials from the islands’ Afro-Caribbean population regarding relations between them and the soldiers from the eighteenth century and the nineteenth century. It was only toward the end of this period that they had a public voice via the newspapers. To be sure, one might hope to find testimonials in private correspondence, but that is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Historical quotes are verbatim, and they can therefore contain expressions and designations that can be perceived as offensive today. However, they represent the language of the time and can therefore make the way of thinking that was then dominant visible to today’s readers.

This book consists of four chapters that are arranged by theme. Each of the thematic sections is structured to reflect a chronological sequence of events. Because of this, one does not need to read the book from beginning to end but can concentrate on the subjects one finds most interesting. The two rebellions in 1848 and 1878 respectively have been described in a number of accounts, but this is the first account that describes the role of the soldiers in detail, and thanks to the sources, we can follow them almost hour for hour.

The first chapter describes the types of soldiers there were on the islands and accounts for their numbers and where they served. The second chapter provides insights into who they were and why they signed contracts as well as how and under what conditions they were enlisted. The third chapter describes what they did both during their routine daily service and during the more serious episodes, how much

they earned, what their living arrangements were like, and what happened to them when their service ended. In addition, I investigate their relationship with the other inhabitants of the islands and

with the local liquor—rum. In the fourth and last chapter, I provide a hitherto unavailable detailed overview of their uniforms and weapons.