Invasion of Java (1811)
Invasion of Java | |||||||||
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Part of the Napoleonic Wars | |||||||||
British Army landing at Cilincing, Java. | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
First French Empire | |||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Jan Willem Janssens | |||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
| Unknown | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
1,000 | 2,000 |
The Invasion of Java in 1811 was a successful British amphibious operation against the Dutch East Indian island of Java that took place between August and September 1811 during the Napoleonic Wars. Originally established as a colony of the Dutch Republic, Java remained in Dutch hands throughout the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, during which time the French invaded the Republic and established the Batavian Republic in 1795, and the Kingdom of Holland in 1806. The Kingdom of Holland was annexed to the First French Empire in 1810, and Java became a titular French colony, though it continued to be administered and defended primarily by Dutch personnel.
After the fall of French colonies in the West Indies in 1809 and 1810, and a successful campaign against French possessions in Mauritius in 1810 and 1811, attention turned to the Dutch East Indies. An expedition was dispatched from India in April 1811, while a small squadron of frigates was ordered to patrol off the island, raiding shipping and launching amphibious assaults against targets of opportunity. Troops were landed on 4 August, and by 8 August the undefended city of Batavia capitulated. The defenders withdrew to a previously prepared fortified position, Fort Cornelis, which the British besieged, capturing it early in the morning of 26 August. The remaining defenders, a mixture of Dutch and French regulars and native militiamen, withdrew, pursued by the British. A series of amphibious and land assaults captured most of the remaining strongholds, and the city of Salatiga surrendered on 16 September, followed by the official capitulation of the island to the British on 18 September.
The island remained in British hands for the remainder of the Napoleonic Wars, but was returned to the control of the Netherlands in 1816, as per the terms of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814.[2]
Background
The Netherlands had been controlled by France for several years and was already at war with Britain. The strongly pro-French Herman Willem Daendels was appointed Governor General of the Dutch East Indies in 1807. He arrived in Java aboard the French privateer Virginie in 1808, and began fortifying the island against the threat of a British siege.[3] In particular, Daendels established an entrenched camp named Fort Cornelis a few miles south of Batavia. He also improved the island's defences by building new hospitals, barracks, arms factories and a new military college.
In 1810, the Netherlands were formally annexed by France. As part of the resulting changes,
The British
The Navy was active off the Javanese coastline before and during the expedition. On 23 May 1811 a party from HMS Sir Francis Drake attacked a flotilla of fourteen Dutch gun vessels off Surabaya, capturing nine of them.[4] Merak, in north-western Java, was attacked and the fort defending the town largely demolished by a party from HMS Minden and HMS Leda on 30 July. On the same day HMS Procris attacked a squadron of six Dutch gunboats flying French colours, capturing five and destroying the sixth.[5][6]
Invasion
The British force, initially under the command of Vice-Admiral
There the fleet waited for a time for intelligence concerning the Dutch strength. Colonel Mackenzie, an officer who had been dispatched to reconnoitre the coast, suggested a landing site at Cilincing, an undefended fishing village 12 miles (19 km) east of Batavia.[9] The fleet anchored off the Marandi River on 4 August, and began landing troops at 14:00.[6] The defenders were taken by surprise, and nearly six hours passed before Franco-Dutch troops arrived to oppose the landing, by which time 8,000 British troops had been landed.[6][10] A brief skirmish took place between the advance guards, and the Franco-Dutch forces were repulsed.[10]
Fall of Batavia
On learning of the successful British landing, Janssens withdrew from Batavia with his army, which amounted to between 8,000 and 10,090 men, and garrisoned themselves in Fort Cornelis.
British advances
General Janssens had always intended to rely on the tropical climate and disease to weaken the British army rather than oppose a landing.[12] The British now advanced on Janssens's stronghold, reducing enemy positions as they went. The Dutch military and naval station at Weltevreeden fell to the British after an attack on 10 August. British losses did not exceed 100 while the defenders lost over 300.[14] In one skirmish, one of Janssens's French subordinates, General Alberti, was killed when he mistook some British riflemen[citation needed] in their green uniforms for Dutch troops. Weltevreeden was six miles from Fort Cornelis and on 20 August the British began preparing fortifications of their own, some 600 yards from the Franco-Dutch positions.[13]
Siege of Fort Cornelis
Fort Cornelis measured 1 mile (1,600 m) in length by between 600 yards (550 m) and 800 yards (730 m) in breadth. Two hundred and eighty cannon were mounted on its walls and bastions. Its defenders were a mixed bag of Dutch, French and East Indies troops. Most of the locally raised East Indian troops were of doubtful loyalty and effectiveness, although there were some determined artillerymen from Celebes. The captured station at Weltevreeden proved an ideal base from which the British could lay siege to Fort Cornelis. On 14 August the British completed a trail through the forests and pepper plantations to allow them to bring up heavy guns and munitions, and opened siege works on the north side of the Fort. For several days, there were exchanges of fire between the fort and the British batteries, manned mainly by Royal Marines and sailors from HMS Nisus.[15]
A sortie from the fort early on the morning of 22 August briefly seized three of the British batteries, until they were driven back by some of the Bengal Sepoys and the 69th Foot.[14] The two sides then exchanged heavy fire, faltering on 23 August, but resuming on 24 August.[11][16] The Franco-Dutch position worsened when a deserter helped General Rollo Gillespie to capture two of the redoubts by surprise. Gillespie, who was suffering from fever, collapsed, but recovered to storm a third redoubt. The French General Jauffret was taken prisoner. Two Dutch officers, Major Holsman and Major Muller, sacrificed themselves to blow up the redoubt's magazine.[17]
The three redoubts were nevertheless the key to the defence, and their loss demoralised most of Janssens's East Indian troops. Many Dutch troops also defected, repudiating their allegiance to the French. The British stormed the fort at midnight on 25 August, capturing it after a bitter fight.
Total British losses in the campaign after the fall of Fort Cornelis amounted to 141 killed, 733 wounded and 13 missing from the Army, and 15 killed, 45 wounded and three missing from the Navy; a total of 156 killed, 788 wounded and 16 missing by 27 August.[16]
Later actions
Royal Navy ships continued to patrol off the coast, occasionally making raids on targets of opportunity. On 4 September two French 40-gun frigates, the
On 31 August a force from the frigates
While the navy took control of coastal towns, the army pushed on into the interior of the island. Janssens had been reinforced on 3 September by 1,200 mounted irregulars under Prince Prang Wedono and other Javanese militia. On 16 September
Aftermath
The Dutch-held islands of
Britain returned Java and other East Indian possessions to the newly independent United Kingdom of the Netherlands under the terms of the Convention of London in 1814. One enduring legacy of the British occupation was the road rules, as the British had decreed that traffic should drive on the left, and this has endured in Indonesia to this day.
Sepoy revolt
The
the Hindus appear to have been gratified at discovering relics of their ancient religion and faith [in Java] and to have received without dislike a country in which they found themselves so much at home...the sepoys always pointed out that Java was the land of Brama. This they would say was the country in which their gods took delight; this must be the country described in their sacredbooks and not Hindustan, which, if ever the abode of the gods must have since been strangely altered, and that it was a sin and a shame that the land of Brama should remain in the hands of infidels
— Sir Stamford Raffles
He further stated that this revolt would ultimately have led to the reestablishment of Hinduism in Java and the expulsion of European power
The intimacy between this prince [Pakubuwana IV] and the Sepoys first commenced from his attending ceremonies of their religious worship, which was Hindu, and assisting them with several idols of that worship which had been preserved in his family. The conspirators availing themselves of the predilection of the prince for the religion of his ancestors, flattered him by addressing him as a descendant of the great Ráma [Rama], and a deliberate plan was formed, the object of which was to place the European provinces once more under a Hindu power. Had this plan been attended with success, it would probably have been followed by the almost immediate and general reconversion of the Javanese themselves to the Hindu faith
— Sir Stamford Raffles
The Sunan of Surakarta took an avid interest in the Hindu sepoys, and would attend Pooja with the Bengalis, who prayed to Javanese idols which likely had not seen worship in centuries. He would also allow them to take part in his court, and use his facilities for worship and training.
In Surakarta, however, the Sunan immediately responded to the sepoys’ overtures by lending them Hindu images from the court collections and by providing money for the decoration of the statues and to light up the ghāt (platforms) on which they were placed. He also attended various ceremonies inside the fort, usually alone and dressed as a common Javanese, but sometimes also accompanied by members of his family when he would arrive by carriage (Carey 1977:302). In return, the Sunan welcomed leading sepoy conspirators into his court, sitting with them in the evenings at the Randingan, the place set aside for archery practice in the kraton, where he would interrogate them on the manner and customs of India and watch their gymnastic displays (Carey 1977:303, 317 note 61). The sepoys also told him about the history of Bengal, the strength of the British army in India and their victories there, stressing that the power of the farang (British) was entirely dependant on their British-Indian troops[28][29]
British order of battle
Stopford's fleet on his arrival on 9 August to assume command of the expedition, consisted of the following ships, dispersed around the Javanese coast:[13]
Rear-Admiral Stopford's fleet | |||||
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Ship | Rate | Guns | Navy | Commander | Notes |
HMS Scipion | Third rate
|
74 | Rear-Admiral Hon. Robert Stopford Captain James Johnson |
||
HMS Illustrious | Third rate
|
74 | Commodore William Robert Broughton Captain Robert Festing |
||
HMS Minden | Third rate
|
74 | Captain Edward Wallis Hoare | ||
HMS Lion | Third rate
|
64 | Captain Henry Heathcote | ||
HMS Akbar | Fifth rate
|
44 | Captain Henry Drury | ||
HMS Nisus | Fifth rate
|
38 | Captain Philip Beaver | ||
HMS President | Fifth rate
|
38 | Captain Samuel Warren | ||
HMS Hussar | Fifth rate
|
38 | Captain James Coutts Crawford | ||
HMS Phaeton | Fifth rate
|
38 | Captain Fleetwood Pellew | ||
HMS Leda | Fifth rate
|
36 | Captain George Sayer | ||
HMS Caroline | Fifth rate
|
36 | Captain Christopher Cole | ||
HMS Modeste | Fifth rate
|
36 | Captain George Elliot | ||
HMS Phoebe | Fifth rate
|
36 | Captain James Hillyar | ||
HMS Bucephalus | Fifth rate
|
36 | Captain Charles Pelly | ||
HMS Doris | Fifth rate
|
36 | Captain William Jones Lye | ||
HMS Cornelia | Fifth rate
|
32 | Captain Henry Folkes Edgell | ||
HMS Psyche | Fifth rate
|
32 | Captain John Edgcumbe | ||
HMS Sir Francis Drake | Fifth rate
|
32 | Captain George Harris | ||
HMS Procris | Brig-sloop
|
18 | Commander Robert Maunsell | ||
HMS Barracouta | Brig-sloop
|
18 | Commander William Fitzwilliam Owen | ||
HMS Hesper | Ship-sloop
|
18 | Commander Barrington Reynolds | ||
HMS Harpy | Sloop | 18 | Commander Henderson Bain | ||
HMS Hecate | Brig-sloop
|
18 | Commander Henry John Peachey | ||
HMS Dasher | Sloop | 18 | Commander Benedictus Marwood Kelly | ||
HMS Samarang | Sloop | 18 | Commander Joseph Drury | ||
In addition to the vessels of the Royal Navy, the East India Company provided the services of several of their ships, led by Malabar under Commodore John Hayes. The EIC vessels included Ariel, Aurora, Mornington, Nautilus, Psyche, Thetis, and Vestal. | |||||
[13] | When one adds in the transport vessels, and several gunboats captured as the campaign progressed, Stopford commanded nearly a hundred ships.|||||
The Rollo Gillespie.[12]
|
Citations
- ^ "Masa Penjajahan Inggris di Indonesia". Kompas.com. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
- JSTOR 2590770– via JSTOR.
- ^ a b c Fregosi. Dreams of Empire. p. 320.
- ^ a b James. The Naval History of Great Britain. Vol. 6. p. 27.
- ^ James. The Naval History of Great Britain. Vol. 6. p. 30.
- ^ a b c Woodman. The Victory of Seapower. p. 107.
- ^ a b c James. The Naval History of Great Britain. Vol. 6. p. 26.
- ^ "Captain Robert Maunsell capturing French gunboats off Java, July 1811". Royal Greenwich Museums. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- ^ James. The Naval History of Great Britain. Vol. 6. p. 31.
- ^ a b c d James. The Naval History of Great Britain. Vol. 6. p. 32.
- ^ a b c d Woodman. The Victory of Seapower. p. 108.
- ^ a b c d Fregosi. Dreams of Empire. p. 321.
- ^ a b c d James. The Naval History of Great Britain. Vol. 6. p. 33.
- ^ a b nationalarchives site
- ^ Fregosi. Dreams of Empire. p. 322.
- ^ a b c d e f James. The Naval History of Great Britain. Vol. 6. p. 34.
- ^ a b Fregosi. Dreams of Empire. p. 323.
- ^ James. The Naval History of Great Britain. Vol. 6. p. 35.
- ^ Woodman. The Victory of Seapower. p. 109.
- ^ James. The Naval History of Great Britain. Vol. 6. p. 36.
- ^ a b c d e Woodman. The Victory of Seapower. p. 110.
- ^ a b James. The Naval History of Great Britain. Vol. 6. p. 38.
- ^ a b c James. The Naval History of Great Britain. Vol. 6. p. 39.
- ^ Fregosi. Dreams of Empire. p. 324.
- ^ a b Woodman. The Victory of Seapower. pp. 104–6.
- ISBN 978-1-57607-770-2; p. 937
- ISBN 978-1-4067-5148-2; pp. 81, 82, 83, 84
- ^ Carey, Peter B. (Summer 2016). "The Kolkata (Calcutta) Stone and the Bicentennial of the British Interregnum in Java, 1811 – 1816". The Newsletter (74) – via academia.edu.
- ^ "Into a new era the British interregnum, 1812-1816" (PDF).
References
- ISBN 0-09-173926-8.
- James, William (1847). The Naval History of Great Britain: From the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV. Vol. 6. London: R. Bentley.
- Woodman, Richard (2005). The Victory of Seapower: Winning the Napoleonic War 1806–1814. London: Mercury Books. ISBN 1-84560-012-6.
Further reading
- Carey, Peter (1992). The British in Java, 1811-1816. A Javanese Account. Oxford University Press.
- Boulger, Demetrius Charles (1897). "Chapter IV: The Java Expedition". The Life of Sir Stamford Raffles. H. Marshall. pp. 83–88.