St. Eustatius 1781
On this day in 1776, Governor Johannes de Graaff of St. Eustatius returned the salute fired by the American brig Andrew Doria, which is considered to be the first international acknowledgment of the independence of the new republic of the United States. There is some disagreement over whether this was the “first salute.” An American schooner flying the Grand Union flag received a salute a month earlier in St. Croix. Nevertheless, St. Eustatius, or Statia, as it is commonly known, usually is given the credit by historians. Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Barbara Tuchman wrote, The First Salute: A View of the American Revolution in 1988.
Whether the salute was indeed intended as recognition of the young republic is open to question. The Andrew Doria fired an eleven gun salute on her arrival at Statia and received a nine gun salute in return. Technically, the Andrew Doria was a warship and should have received an eleven gun salute. A nine gun salute was appropriate for a merchant vessel. Governor de Graaff would later say that he was unaware of the newly adopted American colors and had ordered the Andrea Doria‘s salute returned out of normal courtesy.
If Statia received the credit for the first salute, it also suffered the consequences. Continue reading
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