In 1634, the Dutch admiral Johannes van Walbeeck, together with 200 soldiers, landed on the island and fought the 32 Spanish troops, who surrendered on 21 August 1634, after resisting for three weeks.

[3] In 1804, the British naval captain named John Bligh, of HMS Theseus, fired a cannonball at the church.

[1][4] On 8 June 1929 the Venezuelan rebel Rafael Simón Urbina, with 250 soldiers, captured the fort.

[6] They also managed to capture the Governor of the island, Leonard Albert Fruytier [nl], and hauled him off to Venezuela on the stolen American ship Maracaibo.

[6] The fort is currently part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Area of Willemstad, Inner City and Harbour, Curaçao.