Theinvasion of the Cape Colony, also known as theBattle of Muizenberg (Dutch:Slag om Muizenberg), was a British military expedition launched in 1795 against theDutch Cape Colony at theCape of Good Hope. The Dutch colony at the Cape, established and controlled by theUnited East India Company in the seventeenth century, was at the time the only viable South African port for ships making the journey from Europe to the European colonies in the East Indies. It therefore held vital strategic importance, although it was otherwise economically insignificant.
In the winter of 1794, during theFrench Revolutionary Wars,French troops entered theDutch Republic, which was reformed into theBatavian Republic. In response,Great Britain launched operations against theDutch Empire to use its facilities against theFrench Navy. The British expedition was led by Vice-AdmiralSir George Elphinstone and sailed in April 1795, arriving offSimon'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 atMuizenberg, and skirmishing between British and Dutch forces continued until September when a larger military force landed. WithCape Town under threat, Dutch governor,Abraham Josias Sluysken, surrendered the colony.
Elphinstone subsequently strengthened the garrison against counterattack and stationed aRoyal Navy squadron off the port. Almost a year later a Dutch reinforcement convoy reached the colony only to find that it was badly outnumbered, and surrendered without a fight. The British occupation continued until thePeace of Amiens in 1802 when it was returned to the Dutch. In 1806, during theNapoleonic Wars, a second British invasion reoccupied the colony after theBattle of Blaauwberg and it remained a British colony until the establishment of theUnion of South Africa in 1910.
The Cape Colony was administered from two towns, the largerCape Town on the wideTable Bay facing west and smallerSimon's Town onFalse Bay facing north. Neither bay was sheltered fromAtlantic storms and both were notoriously dangerous, with winds, currents and rocks posing considerable threats to shipping.[3] Beyond its importance as a resupply port for European ships, the colony had little economic value in the 1790s,[4] and was defended by a 3,600-strong garrison of approximately 1,000 VOC regular troops supplemented byBoer commandos and thePandour Corps under the command of GovernorAbraham Josias Sluysken and ColonelRobert Jacob Gordon. This garrison was centered on theCastle 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 capturedAmsterdam. After theStadtholder,William of Orange, fled to Britain, the Dutch Republic was reconstituted as theBatavian Republic by the revolutionaries.[6] In Britain, William issued theKew Letters instructing his colonial governors to cooperate with British occupation forces.[7] At the urging ofSir Francis Baring, theSecretary of State for WarHenry Dundas authorised a mission to ensure control of the Cape Colony and eliminate the potential threat it posed to the East Indian trade.[8] TheAdmiralty sent two battle squadrons to the Cape on 3 April 1795, one under Vice-AdmiralSir George Elphinstone and the other under CommodoreJohn Blankett, carrying a small expeditionary force of 515 soldiers from the78th Regiment of Foot under Major-GeneralSir James Henry Craig. A larger force under GeneralAlured Clarke was instructed to follow these squadrons on 15 May with troops and supplies for a longer campaign, with orders to hold atSan-Salvador until requested.[5]
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 andRoyal Marines on 14 July,[10] who occupied Simon's Town while the Dutch withdrew to the pass atMuizenberg, 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]
Elphinstone became concerned that the Dutch positions were too strong for his forces to overwhelm, and on 19 June he sentHMSSphinx 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 captainsTemple Hardy andJohn 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,HMSAmerica,HMSStately,HMSEcho andHMSRattlesnake opened fire on Dutch forward positions. Return fire from Dutch field guns killed two men onAmerica 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 toWynberg but British forces were not strong enough to advance, suffering shortages of food and ammunition. Elphinstone's positions were, however, improved by reinforcements, which arrived in theArniston on 9 August, as well as disorganisation in the Dutch command resulting in stalemate.[16] The British commander subsequently authorised the seizure of five DutchEast 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 18cannons.[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 the95th and98th Regiments of Foot, the 2nd Battalions of the 78th and84th Regiments of Foot, and a contingent of EIC troops fromSaint 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 sentAmerica,Rattlesnake,Echo and the IndiamanBombay Castle toblockade 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, mostlyimpressed Americans, to escape into the countryside before the deadline passed.[14]
Total British losses were four killed and 54 wounded.[10] Among the Dutch ships captured was the 14-gunbrigStar. The British tookStar into service asHMSHope.[13] Elphinstone's substantial squadron remained on station at the Cape to deter efforts to recapture the colony. Parts of this force were subsequently deployed to bolster British forces in the Indian Ocean.[18] The blockade of Île de France was restored andArrogant andVictorious were sent to theDutch East Indies where they would fightan inconclusive battle with a French squadron offSumatra in September 1796.[19]
Elphinstone sailed forMadras, where he received reports that aBatavian Navy squadron had sailed from Europe to retake the Cape Colony. Returning to Cape Town, Elphinstone assembled a large squadron to await the Dutch arrival. Further reports revealed the strength and progress of the Dutch and Elphinstone had ample time to prepare his squadron for their arrival and increase the garrison ashore.[20] The Batavian squadron's commander, Rear-AdmiralEngelbertus 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 inSaldanha Bay andintimidated 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 ofBaron Keith for his service in the capture and defence of the Cape, a reward that historianC. Northcote Parkinson calls "on the whole, easily earned".[22] At thePeace of Amiens, in 1802, one of the treaty terms returned the Cape Colony, along with all captured Dutch colonies exceptCeylon, to the Batavian Republic.[23] The peace was short-lived, and after the outbreak of theNapoleonic Wars in 1803 a second British invasion was planned, executed in 1806 and victory secured following theBattle of Blaauwberg.[24] TheCape Colony remained part of theBritish Empire until its independence as part of a unifiedSouth Africa in 1910.
James, William (2002) [1827].The Naval History of Great Britain, Volume 1, 1793–1796. London: Conway Maritime Press.ISBN0-85177-905-0.
Mostert, Noel (2007). Norton, W. W. (ed.).The Line upon a Wind: An Intimate History of the Last and Greatest War Fought at Sea Under Sail: 1793—1815. London: Vintage Books.ISBN978-0-7126-0927-2.
Woodman, Richard; et al. (Illustrations from theNational Maritime Museum) (2001) [1998]. Gardiner, Robert (ed.).The Victory of Seapower: Winning the Napoleonic War, 1806–1814 (2nd ed.). London: Caxton Editions.ISBN978-1861760388.
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