Elizabethan Fortress (Hawaii)

For the first time, Europeans ( 3rd expedition of James Cook ) reached the shores of the Hawaiian Islands in 1778. By the beginning of the 19th century, the 6 main islands of the archipelago were united under the rule of King Kameamea I (1752-1819). Only Kauai and Niihau were in the hands of King Caumualia , who in 1810 became a vassal of Kameamea.

In 1804, as part of the first Russian round-the-world expedition under the leadership of N. P. Rezanov , the Russians visited Hawaii for the first time: the ships " Nadezhda " and " Neva " came here, under the command of I. F. Kruzenshtern and Yu. F. Lisyansky . Relations were established with both Kameamea and Caumualia. Even then, the latter expressed a desire to transfer to Russian citizenship if the empire agrees to protect him from Kameamea’s encroachments. Soon, the Russian-American company started trading with the islands. Somewhat earlier, " Boston shipbuilders" penetrated Hawaii, trading with China, the Russian colonies, and California.

In January 1815, a Bering ship crashed on the shores of Kauai . Together with the cargo in the amount of 100 thousand rubles, the ship was captured by Caumualia. In the fall of the same year, A. A. Baranov sent aboard the American ship Isabella to Hawaii, Dr. Georg Anton Schaeffer (the Russians called him Yegor Nikolayevich), a German by birth, who was entrusted with gaining Kameamea’s location, to obtain trade privileges and then raise the question on compensation for damage associated with the seizure of the Bering ship.

In November 1815, Schaeffer sailed to Hawaii. After a successful course of treatment, Kameamea and his wife won "the friendship and trust of the great king", who gave Schaeffer several dozen heads of cattle, fishing grounds, land and buildings for the trading post. However, then the negotiations were upset, and in May 1816, on the approaching Russian ships Otkrytie and Ilmen, Schaeffer sailed to Kauai. Kaumuali was glad of the opportunity to get a strong ally and with his help regain independence. On May 21 ( June 2 ), in a solemn ceremony, he asked Alexander I to take his possessions under protection, swore allegiance to the Russian scepter, promised to return Bering and his cargo, gave the company a monopoly on the sale of sandalwood and the right to freely establish a trading post in its territories.

On June 1 (13), Kaumualia, under a secret agreement, allocated Schaeffer 500 people for the conquest of the islands of Oahu, Lanai, Maui, Molokai and others, and also promised all assistance in the construction of Russian fortresses on all islands. Schaeffer bought the Lydia schooner for Kaumualia and agreed to purchase the armed ship Avon from the Americans. Finalize and pay for the transaction was Baranov. Caumualia ships pledged to reimburse the company with sandalwood.

Schaeffer and his people were granted the king by the king of several Hawaiian villages and a number of territories where Schaeffer made a series of renaming: the valley of Hanalei was named Schaeffertal (the valley of Schaeffer), the river Hanapepe - Don. He gave Russian surnames (Platov, Vorontsov) and local leaders ^[2]

In the possessions of Kaumualia, Schaeffer, by the forces provided to him by the king of several hundred workers, set up gardens, built buildings for the future trading post and three fortresses:

• The earthen wall-fortress, named after Alexander I
• Stone wall-fortress, named after his wife Empress Elizabeth
• The earthen wall is a fortress named after the commander Barclay de Tolly .

Of these, only the remains of the stone walls of the Elizabethan fortress, located near the mouth of the Vaimaa River, have survived; the walls of two other fortresses located near the mouth of the Hanalei River were earthen and eroded.

On September 6 ( 18 ), 1816 , Avon sailed to Novo-Arkhangelsk with the originals of the agreements of Schaeffer and Kaumualia. Schaeffer sent copies of documents to St. Petersburg with a request to send two warships.

Baranov, however, refused to buy Avon, and Schaeffer was forbidden to “enter into any further speculation”, saying that he could not approve of his actions without obtaining permission from the main board. Meanwhile, in September 1816, under the pressure of Kameamea I, a trading post built in his possessions was abandoned. The Americans built their trading post on the lands of Kaumualia and, trying to supplant the Russians, bought all the goods promised by the king. They even attempted to lower the Russian flag in the village of Vaimaa (Kauai), but the warriors of Kaumualia defended the banner.

Finally, the Americans and Europeans announced to Caumualia and the islanders that they were at war with the Russians and, if the Russians were not expelled from the islands, would bring 5 warships. Almost all of the Americans and British who were in his service withdrew from Schaeffer's command. On June 17 ( 29 ), 1817, after an armed conflict in which three Russians and several Hawaiians were killed, Schaeffer and his people were forced to leave the island on the Ilmen and Mirt-Kodiak ships. Ilmen was sent for help to Novo-Arkhangelsk, and on a shabby Mirt-Kodiak, Schaeffer sailed to Honolulu , where captain Lewis took Panther to Canton (Guangzhou) on July 7 (19 ) .

Scheffer's message sent to the Main Board of the Russian-American company by Baranov reached the addressee only on August 14 ( 26 ), 1817 . Although wanting to turn the islands into a Russian colony, but not daring to act on their own, the company's directors V.V. Kramer and A.I. In February 1818, Nesselrode set out the final decision:

The Emperor deigns to believe that the acquisition of these islands and their voluntary entry into his patronage not only can not bring Russia any substantial benefit, but, on the contrary, in many respects is associated with very important inconveniences. And therefore, His Majesty is pleased that King Tomari ^[3] , expressing all possible affability and desire to preserve the familiar relations with him, should not accept the mentioned act from him, but only confine himself to the resolution of the aforementioned favorable relations with him and act to spread trade turnover with the Sandwich Islands An American company will be consistent with this order of things.

Such a decision was in accordance with the general direction of Russian policy at that time. Refusing acquisitions in the Pacific Ocean, Alexander I hoped to keep Britain from seizing the territory of the decaying Spanish colonial empire. In addition, the government did not want to worsen relations with the United States before starting negotiations on their inclusion in the Holy Alliance.

The Russian-American company, therefore, did not gain anything from Schaeffer's actions, while at the same time sustained damage in the amount of 200 thousand rubles. The board did not consider it possible to get this amount from Schaeffer's funds, and in 1819 he simply fired him. At the end of 1818, Schaeffer arrived in Russia and handed the emperor a note in which he called for the capture of all the Hawaiian Islands and described the expected benefits from such an enterprise. The note was analyzed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Manufactures and Internal Trade, the Russian-American company, after which a negative answer was again given.

Despite the success of the aggressive actions of the Americans and the verdict of the government, the Russian-American company did not give up hope to establish its influence on the archipelago. The main board sent instructions to the colony manager to persuade Kaumualia to “establish friendship” and allow the Russians to settle in Niihau, “it would be better if he sold this island to the company ... The acquisition of this island is so important for the company that it is the closest to the colonies and, being poorly populated, it is less dangerous from the arrogance of the inhabitants . " L. A. Gagemeister and M. I. Muravyov were skeptical of the instructions, questioning the profitability of trade with Hawaii, and in 1821 the Main Board actually recognized the archipelago as a sphere of American influence and switched to the California direction.

The last attempt to convince the government to annex Hawaii was made by the Russian consul in Manila, P. Dobell. He visited the islands in 1819-1820 and found the Kingdom of Hawaii torn apart by internal unrest. Kameamea II, the heir to Kameamea I who died in 1819, asked Alexander I to give him "help and protection ... to maintain power and the throne" ^[4] . In his letters to Alexander I and Nesselrode, Dobell argued that Hawaii’s annexation was necessary even to preserve the Russian possessions. However, he received no reply.

The fortress was used by the Kingdom of Hawaii until 1864 under the name Fort Hipo ( Gav. Pa`ula`ula o Hipo ), after which it was abandoned.

In 1966, its ruins were declared a US National Historic Site. Currently, 7 hectares around the fortress houses the Russian Fort Elizabeth State Historical Park ( Russian Fort Elizabeth State Historical Park Russian Fort Elizabeth - Fort Elizabeth State Historical Park ^[3] ).

Fortress Bicentennial and Annual Forum

In Russia and the United States in 2017, the 200th anniversary of Russian buildings on the island of Kauai was celebrated . In commemoration of these events, in November 2017, anniversary events were held on the island of Kauai, including a scientific forum, a round table, a ceremony, presentations of graphically restored settlements and books on Russian history of Kauai and an exhibition.

The forum participated in a comprehensive discussion of the preservation of the fortress of more than 100 representatives of various stakeholders. The main decision of the forum was - the transformation of the remains of the Elizabethan fortress into a historical and cultural center for the study, preservation and popularization of Russian-American heritage with the creation of the necessary infrastructure. It was decided to hold a forum on an ongoing basis to coordinate the activities of stakeholders in the preservation of the Russian-American heritage on the island of Kauai .

• Russian America
• Schaeffer, Georg Anton Alois

• History of Russian America (1732-1867): In 3 vols. / Ed. N. N. Bolkhovitinova. - M.: Intern. Relations, 1997-1999. Head Russians in Hawaii (1804-1825)
• Zorin A. V. Pioneer Timothy Tarakanov: 11. Russians in Hawaii; 12. The descent of the flag.

• Russian Fort Elizabeth State Historical Park at hawaiistateparks.org
• fortelizabeth.org - Site of the Historic Park Elizabethan Fortress on Kauai Island, Hawaiian Islands