The First Foreign Salute to America Came from a Tiny Dutch Island

In 1776, a Caribbean governor answered an American warship’s cannon salute, making history and angering the British.

The first foreign salute to the American flag did not come from France, Spain, or another major European power. It came from a tiny Dutch Caribbean island, where a governor made a decision that would become part of American history.

On November 16, 1776, just four months after the Declaration of Independence, the American warship Andrew Doria sailed into the harbor of St. Eustatius, a Dutch trading island in the Caribbean.

Captain Isaiah Robinson commanded the ship, which flew the Grand Union flag, an early American banner featuring 13 red and white stripes and the British Union flag in its upper corner.

As the vessel entered the harbor, Robinson ordered a 13-gun salute, one cannon shot for each of the 13 American colonies.

Governor Johannes de Graaff responded by ordering the cannons at Fort Oranje to fire an 11-gun salute in return.

The brief exchange of cannon fire carried meaning far beyond the island.

The salute is widely recognized as the first formal acknowledgment of the American flag by a foreign authority. Although it did not amount to official diplomatic recognition of American independence by the Dutch Republic, it was an important symbolic moment for a nation still fighting to establish itself.

St. Eustatius was an unlikely place to make history. The small island had become a busy Caribbean trading center, earning the nickname “The Golden Rock.” Merchants from different nations came there to buy and sell goods, including supplies the American colonies struggled to obtain during the Revolutionary War.

These supplies included weapons, ammunition, and gunpowder.

The Dutch island’s merchants had been helping supply the American cause, much to Britain’s frustration. The exchange of cannon fire made the island’s friendly relationship with the Americans even harder to ignore.

British officials saw the salute as an insult and another sign that Dutch traders supported the rebellion.

Tensions between Britain and the Dutch Republic continued to grow, eventually contributing to the outbreak of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War in 1780.

In February 1781, British Admiral George Rodney captured St. Eustatius and seized enormous quantities of merchandise and property. The island’s once-thriving trade suffered a devastating blow.

The famous salute had not been the sole cause of the conflict, but it became one of the most memorable symbols of the island’s support for the American Revolution.

Today, St. Eustatius is remembered for a moment when a small Caribbean island offered an early gesture of international acknowledgment to a struggling new nation.

America’s independence would not be secured until years later. But on that November afternoon in 1776, 13 cannon shots from an American ship were answered by 11 from a Dutch fort.

For the Americans aboard the Andrew Doria, that answer must have sounded welcome.