Invasion of the Cape Colony

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Invasion of the Cape Colony
Part of the French Revolutionary Wars

A painting of Lord Elphinstone during the battle
Date10 June–15 September 1795
Location
Cape Peninsula, Dutch Cape Colony
Result British victory
Territorial
changes		 British annexation of the Dutch Cape Colony
Belligerents
 Great Britain  Dutch East India Company
Commanders and leaders
George Elphinstone
Kingdom of Great Britain James Craig		 Abraham Sluysken
Strength
1,800 soldiers
5 ships of the line
2 sloops
14 troopships		 3,600 soldiers
1 frigate
1 brig
Casualties and losses
4 killed
54 wounded		 1 frigate captured
1 brig captured

The Invasion of the Cape Colony, also known as the Battle of Muizenberg (

French troops entered the Dutch Republic, which was reformed into the Batavian Republic
.

In response,

Sir George Keith Elphinstone and sailed in April 1795, arriving off Simon's Town at the Cape in June. Attempts were made to negotiate a settlement with the colony, but talks achieved nothing and an amphibious landing was made on 7 August. A short battle was fought at Muizenberg, and skirmishing between British and Dutch forces continued until September when a larger military force landed. With Cape Town under threat, Dutch governor, Abraham Josias Sluysken
, surrendered the colony.

Elphinstone subsequently strengthened the garrison against counterattack and stationed a

Peace of Amiens in 1802 when it was returned to the Dutch. In 1806, during the Napoleonic Wars, a second British invasion reoccupied the colony after the Battle of Blaauwberg and it remained a British colony until the establishment of the Union of South Africa
in 1910.

Background

Extent of Dutch Cape Colony in 1795. Cape Town is at bottom left

The

British India.[3]

The Cape Colony was administered from two towns, the larger

Khoikhoi auxiliaries under the command of General Abraham Josias Sluysken and Colonel Robert Jacob Gordon, numbering a total of 3,600 troops. This garrison was centered on the Castle of Good Hope and operated from a series of coastal fortifications which protected Table Bay. False Bay was more weakly defended, covered by only two lightly armed batteries.[5]

In the winter of 1794, French soldiers invaded the Netherlands and captured

Sir James Henry Craig. A larger force under General Alured Clarke was instructed to follow these squadrons on 15 May with troops and supplies for a longer campaign, with orders to hold at San-Salvador until requested.[5]

Invasion

Map
Location of events during the invasion.

Blankett and Elphinstone united off the Cape on 10 June 1795 and anchored in Simon's Bay. There messages were sent to Sluysken offering an alliance against the French.[9] The Dutch governor was inclined to resist however, evacuating the civilian population from Simon's Town in early July and making preparations to raze the town. To prevent this, Craig landed 800 soldiers and Royal Marines on 14 July,[10] who occupied Simon's Town while the Dutch withdrew to the pass at Muizenberg, through which passed the road to Cape Town.[11] For the next month the two armies observed an uneasy truce, broken by occasional patrols and sniping. During this period, Elphinstone and Sluysken continued negotiations for the surrender of the colony. These negotiations were stalled by disputes in the colonial government regarding the legitimacy of the deposed William of Orange and suspicion concerning British intentions. While the debates continued, British envoys were permitted free movement in Cape Town, making detailed observations of the defences.[9]

The location in Muizenberg where the battle took place.

Elphinstone became concerned that the Dutch positions were too strong for his forces to overwhelm, and on 19 June he sent HMS Sphinx to request assistance from Clarke's fleet. On 7 August, with negotiations stalled, Elphinstone ordered an attack on the pass at Muizenberg.[12] Craig's forces were supplemented with 1,000 sailors from Elphinstone's squadron redeployed on land under captains Temple Hardy and John William Spranger.[13] Among this force were a number of American citizens who immediately deserted to the Dutch and were promised repatriation.[14] At noon on 7 August, HMS America, HMS Stately, HMS Echo and HMS Rattlesnake opened fire on Dutch forward positions. Return fire from Dutch field guns killed two men on America and wounded three more,[15] while Craig's troops were able to advance against the Dutch positions and seize them, with the Dutch defenders falling back in confusion.[16] A second attack by soldiers of the 78th captured a rocky height nearby and a Dutch counterattack the following morning was driven off by Hardy's sailors and marines.[15]

The Dutch fell back to

East Indiamen merchant ships at anchor at Simon's Town on 18 August. Skirmishing continued throughout the month, with stronger Dutch attacks on 1 and 2 September followed by a larger planned assault on Simon's Town on 3 September in which Sluysken committed all his reserves including 18 cannons.[15] That morning, 14 East India Company ships were seen arriving in Simon's Bay and the attack was cancelled. These ships were the reinforcement fleet under Clarke, who landed 4,000 troops from the 95th and 98th Regiments of Foot, the 2nd Battalions of the 78th and 84th Regiments of Foot, and a contingent of EIC troops from Saint Helena,[10] at Simon's Town for an overland campaign against Cape Town.[16] Clarke's army then advanced against Dutch piquets, losing one killed and 17 wounded in skirmishes.[10] To support this operation, Elphinstone sent America, Rattlesnake, Echo and the Indiaman Bombay Castle to blockade Cape Town and provide artillery support.[17] Outnumbered and surrounded, Sluysken requested a 48-hour truce from Clarke, but was given a 24-hour ultimatum to surrender. Seeing no alternative, the Dutch governor passed control of his colony to the British on 15 September 1795,[17] although he allowed approximately 40 British deserters in Cape Town, mostly impressed Americans, to escape into the countryside before the deadline passed.[14]

Elphinstone's order of battle

Elphinstone's squadron
Ship Rate Guns Navy Commander
HMS Monarch
Third rate
 74 Royal Navy Vice-Admiral
Sir George Keith Elphinstone
Captain John Elphinstone
HMS Victorious Third rate 74 Royal Navy Captain William Clark
HMS Arrogant Third rate 74 Royal Navy Captain Richard Lucas
HMS America Third rate 64 Royal Navy Captain John Blankett
HMS Stately Third rate 64 Royal Navy Captain Billy Douglas
HMS Echo Ship-Sloop 16 Royal Navy Captain Temple Hardy
HMS Rattlesnake Ship-Sloop 16 Royal Navy Captain John William Spranger
Source: James 2002, p. 300
See also: Transport vessels for the British invasion of the Dutch Cape Colony (1795)

Aftermath

Reproduction of the uniform of a private in the Korps Pandoeren, a locally raised light infantry that served the VOC during the invasion. The corps was disbanded following the invasion.

Total British losses were four killed and 54 wounded.

Engelbertus Lucas, spent almost six months on the passage and gathered no intelligence on British defences. Thus when he arrived off the Cape he was soon discovered by Elphinstone in Saldanha Bay and intimidated into surrendering without a fight.[21]

No further attacks on the Cape Colony were made during the course of the war. Elphinstone returned to Britain in October 1796 and was subsequently awarded the title of

Peace of Amiens, in 1802, one of the treaty terms returned the Cape Colony, along with all captured Dutch colonies except Ceylon, to the Batavian Republic.[23] The peace was short-lived, and after the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars in 1803 a second British invasion was planned, executed in 1806 and victory secured following the Battle of Blaauwberg.[24] The Cape Colony remained part of the British Empire until its independence as part of a unified South Africa
in 1910.

Citations

  1. ^ Chandler 1999, p. 373.
  2. ^ Parkinson 1954, p. 18.
  3. ^ a b Parkinson 1954, p. 33.
  4. ^ Parkinson 1954, p. 32.
  5. ^ a b Potgeiter & Grundlingh 2007, p. 45.
  6. ^ Chandler 1999, p. 44.
  7. ^ Potgeiter & Grundlingh 2007, p. 46.
  8. ^ Potgeiter & Grundlingh 2007, p. 43.
  9. ^ a b Potgeiter & Grundlingh 2007, p. 47.
  10. ^ a b c d "No. 13834". The London Gazette. 24 November 1795. pp. 1235–1241.
  11. ^ James 2002, p. 300.
  12. ^ Potgeiter & Grundlingh 2007, p. 48.
  13. ^ a b Clowes 1997, p. 281.
  14. ^ a b Mostert 2007, p. 306.
  15. ^ a b c James 2002, p. 301.
  16. ^ a b c Potgeiter & Grundlingh 2007, p. 51.
  17. ^ a b James 2002, p. 302.
  18. ^ Parkinson 1954, p. 84.
  19. ^ James 2002, p. 353.
  20. ^ Potgeiter & Grundlingh 2007, p. 55.
  21. ^ James 2002, p. 373.
  22. ^ Parkinson 1954, p. 87.
  23. ^ Chandler 1999, p. 10.
  24. ^ Woodman 2001, p. 65.

References

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