The Only Time in History When Cavalry Captured a Fleet of Warships

A frozen harbor, a stranded fleet, and a cavalry force approaching from land created a bizarre military encounter.

Warships trapped in ice would seem like an easy target for an enemy fleet. But what if the soldiers approaching them were on horseback? 

In the bitter winter of 1795, French horsemen found themselves in the extraordinary position of riding across ice toward a Dutch fleet frozen in place near the northern tip of the Netherlands.

The encounter at Den Helder has since become one of military history’s most irresistible stories. In the popular version, French hussars thunder across the frozen sea, surround heavily armed warships and accomplish the almost absurd feat of capturing a navy on horseback.

The horsemen were real. So was the frozen fleet.

The dramatic cavalry charge later told probably was not.

This encounter, remembered as the Battle of Texel, is often described as one of the rarest instances in military history when cavalry captured a naval fleet. 

How cavalry reached the trapped fleet

The incident unfolded during the brutally cold winter of 1794–1795, when waterways in the Netherlands froze for extended periods. France was advancing into the Dutch Republic, where political divisions had weakened resistance. 

As revolutionary France invaded, the Dutch Republic was collapsing from within.

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The country had long been divided among supporters of Stadtholder William V, established political elites and the Patriot movement, which broadly favored political reform and had allies among the French revolutionaries.

As French forces under General Jean-Charles Pichegru advanced, William V fled from Scheveningen to Britain on January 18, 1795. The Batavian Republic was proclaimed the following day, replacing the old Dutch Republic with a government aligned with revolutionary France.

Farther north, a Dutch naval squadron lay at Nieuwediep near Den Helder, across from the island of Texel. Severe winter conditions had trapped its ships in ice.

Pichegru heard that the fleet was immobilized and sent the seemingly predestinedly named Johan Willem de Winter, a former Dutch naval officer serving France, to prevent the ships from escaping or falling into British hands. De Winter led French forces toward Den Helder, including a regiment of hussars, cavalry soldiers known for their mobility, and other troops.

The French arrived during the night of January 23, 1795. According to some accounts, soldiers covered their horses’ hooves with cloth to reduce noise as they crossed the ice. This detail helped shape the story’s later image of cavalry silently approaching a helpless fleet.

Historical accounts differ slightly on the fleet’s size. The commonly cited figure is 14 vessels, while Dutch historian J.C. de Jonge records 15 ships, including 11 that were manned and seaworthy. The vessels probably carried around 850 guns in total, making any direct attack incredibly dangerous.

Either way, this was not a collection of helpless wooden shells. If their crews had chosen to fight, French soldiers approaching across exposed ice would have faced an extremely dangerous position.

But the sailors had been told not to fight.

Different versions of the same story

On the morning after the French arrival, several hussars reportedly rode across the ice toward the Dutch ship Admiraal Piet Heyn. Captain Hermanus Reintjes, the fleet’s senior officer, was in temporary command.

A surgeon aboard the Snelheid, identified as Ahlé, later described the unusual sight in a letter to de Jonge:

“On Saturday morning, my servant informed me that a French hussar stood near our ship. I looked out my porthole, and indeed, there stood a hussar.”

The political situation helps explain why the confrontation did not turn into a battle. On January 21, Dutch authorities had already instructed their military forces not to attack or resist the advancing French troops. 

Power was shifting toward the French-backed Batavian Republic, weakening the basis for continued resistance.

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What happened next remains partly uncertain. De Jonge’s account suggests that the hussars reached an understanding with the Dutch officers, who agreed to maintain the status quo while awaiting further orders. 

Lahure’s later recollection, however, presents a more active military encounter, claiming that the French forces approached after the ships prepared their defences and that the fleet was taken. His account leaves open the possibility of a brief confrontation, although it does not establish the extent of any fighting.

An author and military historian, David Blackmore, in his book Blunders and Disasters at Sea, describes how the Dutch crews had been prepared to defend their ships. Captain Reintjes allegedly considered spiking the cannons and scuttling the fleet. However, news of the political transition and instructions to stop fighting changed the situation.

The French troops had another problem. Capturing the vessels by force would have been extremely difficult. The ships were heavily armed, and their crews could potentially defend one vessel from another. French soldiers would have needed ladders and suitable artillery to board the ships effectively.

In February 1846, French Lieutenant-General Baron Lahure shared his own version of the episode in a newspaper letter, more than five decades after the event.

“I departed immediately with a company of tirailleurs in wagons and a squadron of light cavalry; before dawn I had taken position in the dunes. When the ships saw us, they prepared their defences. I sent some tirailleurs ahead, and followed with the rest of my forces. The fleet was taken. The sailors received us ‘de bonne grace’ on board… This is the true story of the capture of the Dutch fleet, devised and executed by a 23-year-old Chef de Bataillon,” Lahure noted.

De Jonge also considered Lahure’s version broadly compatible with his own account, while allowing for some exaggeration of Lahure’s role.

Five days later, the fleet’s officers and men swore an oath to follow French orders, maintain naval discipline, and refrain from sailing without authorization. The ships remained under the Dutch flag rather than immediately becoming French naval vessels.

Between fact and myth

The capture of the Dutch fleet at Den Helder illustrates how military outcomes can depend as much on political circumstances as on weapons or battlefield tactics. The frozen waters created an unusual opportunity, but the Dutch government’s orders and the collapse of resistance appear to have prevented a potentially bloody confrontation.

However, later French accounts helped popularize the image of cavalry conquering a naval fleet. Many of them embellished several dramatic details, and some made the event sound overly dramatic.

For example, in his book Napoleon and his Marshals, Scottish journalist and author A.G.M. Macdonell wrote, “Ragged men… thundering on their horses across the ice to capture with naked sword the battlefleet of Holland.”

The episode is therefore particularly memorable not because cavalry demonstrated a new way to defeat warships, but because it shows how a dramatic military legend can grow from a much quieter historical event.