Danish Soldiers in the West Indies

There are many romantic notions regarding the Danish West Indies, and surely such notions played a part in convincing thousands of Danish men to let themselves be recruited and become soldiers or gendarmes serving in the Caribbean region. In 1755, the Danish state took over the islands from the trading company Vestindisk-Guineisk Kompagni, the West Indian–Guinea Company, and the first soldiers were sent out the same year. After this, with the exception of two brief periods of British military occupation in times of war early in the nineteenth century, the Danish authorities maintained a military presence on the islands until they were sold to the United States in 1917 and changed their name to the Virgin Islands of the United States.

Service in the West Indies was characterized by high mortality, not least as result of various tropical diseases, and many of the soldiers ended up regretting signing their contracts. This book describes the organization of the military, the individuals who were hired and how they were recruited, their uniforms and equipment, their lodgings, and their experiences during their service. For the most part, serviee in the Danish West Indies did not offer great challenges, and boredom and homesickness were kept at bay with local rum, soldiers in the islands did confront serious situations several times.