Invasion of Java (1811): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 05:08, 3 December 2023

Latest revision as of 11:14, 10 August 2025

(24 intermediate revisions by 20 users not shown)

Line 1:

{{Short description|British invasion of the island of Java}}

{{Infobox military conflict

|conflict = Invasion of Java

|partof = the [[Napoleonic Wars]]
|image = B26056056H - The landing of the British Army at Chillinching on the island of Java 4th Augt. 1811.jpg

|image_size =280px 300

|caption = [[British Army]]troops landing at [[Cilincing]], [[Java]].

|date = 4 August – 18 September 1811

|partof=the [[Napoleonic Wars]]

|place = [[Java]], [[Dutch East Indies]]

|date=August – 18 September 1811<ref>{{cite news |title=Masa Penjajahan Inggris di Indonesia|url=https://www.kompas.com/skola/read/2020/02/11/140000669/masa-penjajahan-inggris-di-indonesia?page=all |access-date=24 August 2021 |publisher=Kompas.com}}</ref>

|result = British victory

|place=[[Java]], [[Dutch East Indies]]

|territory = [[French and British interregnum in the Dutch East Indies#British interregnum 1811–1816|JavaBritish capturedoccupation byof BritainJava]]

|result=British victory

|combatant1 ={{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] <br /> [[East India Company]]

|territory=[[French and British interregnum in the Dutch East Indies#British interregnum 1811–1816|Java captured by Britain]]

|combatant2 ={{flagicon|France}} [[First French Empire|France]]

|combatant1={{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]

|commander1 = [[Robert Stopford (Royal Navy officer)|Robert Stopford]] <br /> [[Samuel Auchmuty (British Army officer)|Samuel Auchmuty]] <br /> [[Robert Rollo Gillespie]]

* [[File:Flag of the British East India Company (1801).svg|22px]] [[East India Company]]

|commander2 = [[Jan Willem Janssens]]

|combatant2={{flagicon|France}} [[First French Empire]]

|strength1 = 12,000 soldiers <br /> 25 warships

|commander1={{plainlist|

|strength2 = Unknown

* [[Robert Stopford (Royal Navy officer)|Robert Stopford]]

|casualties1 = 1,000

* [[Samuel Auchmuty (British Army officer)|Samuel Auchmuty]]

|casualties2 = 2,000

* [[Robert Rollo Gillespie]]}}

|campaignbox = {{Dutch colonial campaigns}} <br /> {{Campaignbox Napoleonic Wars}} <br />{{Campaignbox British campaigns in East Indies}}

|commander2=[[Jan Willem Janssens]]

|strength1={{plainlist|

* 12,000 soldiers (mostly [[Bengal Army|Bengali]] and [[Madras Army|Madrasi]] soldiers)

* 25 warships}}

|strength2=Unknown

|casualties1=1,000

|casualties2=2,000

|campaignbox={{Dutch colonial campaigns}}

{{Campaignbox Napoleonic Wars}}

}}

The '''Invasion of Java in 1811''' was a successful British [[Amphibious warfare|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 Wars|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.

The '''Invasioninvasion of Java in 1811''' was a successful British [[Amphibious warfare|amphibious operation]] against the Dutch East Indian island of [[Java]] thatin tookthe place[[Dutch East Indies]] between August and September 1811 during the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. Originally established as a colony of the [[Dutch RepublicEast India Company]], Java remained in Dutch hands throughout the [[French Revolutionary Wars|French Revolutionary]] and Napoleonic Wars, during which time the French [[Low Countries theatre of the War of the First Coalition|invaded]] the [[Dutch Republic]], andtransforming establishedit into 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 defendedgarrisoned primarily bywith Dutch personnel.

After the fall of French colonies in the West Indies in 1809 and 1810, and a successful [[Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811|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 [[Target of opportunity|targets of opportunity]]. Troops were landed on 4 August, and by 8 August the undefended city of [[History of Jakarta|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.

After thetheir fallcapture of the [[French colonies in the West Indies]] inbetween 1809 and 1810, and a successful [[Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811|campaign against FrenchFrance's possessions in Mauritius]] infrom 1810 andto 1811, British attention turned to the [[Dutch East Indies]]. An expedition was dispatched from [[Company rule in India|British India]] in April 1811, while a small squadron of [[Royal Navy]] frigates was ordered to patrol off the island, raiding shipping and launching amphibious assaults against [[Target of opportunity|targets of opportunity]]. TroopsBritish weretroops landed on 4 August, and by 8 August the undefended city of [[HistoryBatavia, ofDutch JakartaEast Indies|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.{{fact|date=December 2024}} 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 restored to the Dutch in the [[Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814|Convention of London]] in 1814.{{cn|date=August 2022}}

The island remained in British hands for the remainder of the Napoleonic Wars, but was returned to Dutch control in 1816, as per the terms of the [[Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wright |first=H.R.C. |date=1950 |title=The Anglo-Dutch Dispute in the East, 1814–1824 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2590770 |journal=The Economic History Review |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=229–239 |doi=10.2307/2590770 |jstor=2590770 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Background==

[[File:COLLECTIEVue TROPENMUSEUMde Olieverfschilderijl'isle voorstellendeet hetde Kasteella Bataviaville geziende vanBatavia Kaliappartenant Besaraux westHollandois, metpour opla deCompagnie voorgronddes de vismarktIndes TMnr(mirror 118-167correction).jpg|thumb|left|Batavia,1780 capitalillustration of [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies, with citadel in the background.]]]]

The NetherlandsDutch had been controlledunder byFrench Francecontrol for several years and waswere already at war with Britain. The strongly pro-French [[Herman Willem Daendels]] was appointed Governor General[[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 siegethreat.<ref name=Fregosi320>{{cite book|last=Fregosi|title=Dreams of Empire|page=320}}</ref> In particular, Daendels established an entrenched camp named Fort Cornelis a few miles south of [[HistoryBatavia, ofDutch JakartaEast Indies|Batavia]]. He also improved the island's defences by building new hospitals, barracks, arms factories and a new military college.<ref name=Fregosi320>{{cite book|last=Fregosi|title=Dreams of Empire|page=320}}</ref>

In 1810, the Netherlands[[Kingdom of Holland]] were formally annexed by France. As part of the resulting changes, [[Jan Willem Janssens]] was appointed personally by [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] to replace Daendels as Governor Generalgovernor-general. Janssens had previously served as Governor Generalgovernor of the [[Dutch Cape Colony]], and had been forced to capitulate after being defeated by British forces at the [[Battle of Blaauwberg]] in 1806. Janssens accompanied a French frigate division under Joseph-François Raoul, consistingwhich consisted of the frigates [[French frigate Méduse (1810)|''Méduse'']] and [[French frigate Nymphe (1811)|''Nymphe'']] and the corvette ''Sappho'', tasked towith supportsupporting Java. ThisThe forcedivision was accompanied by several hundred French troops ([[light infantry)]]men and someseveral senior French officers.<ref name=Fregosi320/> They arrived in Java in April 1811 without mishap. On 2 September, the frigates arrived at [[Surabaya]], tailed by the 32-gun frigate [[HMS Bucephalus (1808)|HMS ''Bucephalus'']]. Two days later, anotherthe British ship,sloop [[HMS Barracouta (1807)|HMS ''Barracouta'',]] joined the chase, but lost contact on 8 September. Four days later, ''Méduse'' and ''Nymphe'' chased the ''Bucephalus'', which escaped and broke contact the next day. The squadron was back in [[Brest, France|Brest]] on 22 December 1811.<ref name=Fregosi320/>

The British forces [[Invasion of the Spice Islands|had already occupied]] the Dutch East Indian possessionscolonies of [[Ambon Island|Ambon]] and the [[Molucca Islands]].; Theythey had also recently captured the French islandscolonies of [[Réunion]] and [[Isle de France (Mauritius)|Isle de France]] in the [[Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811]]. [[Stamford Raffles]], an official of the [[British East India Company]] official who had been forced to leave the Dutch settlementcolony at [[Malacca]] when the NetherlandsHolland werewas annexed, suggested to [[Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto|Lord Minto]], the [[Governor-General of India]], that Java and the other Dutch possessions should be captured. With the large forces which had been made available to him for the Mauritius campaign, Minto enthusiastically adopted the suggestion, and even proposed to accompany the expedition himself.<ref name=Fregosi320/>

===Naval raids===

Line 48 ⟶ 42:

[[File:The Boats of H.M.S Sloop Procris (10 guns) engaging French Gunboats off the mouth of the Indramayo, Java.jpg|thumb|Captain Robert Maunsell capturing French Gunboats off the mouth of the [[Indramayu|Indramayo]], July 1811]]

The British force, initially under the command of Vice-Admiral [[William O'Bryen Drury]], and then after his death in March 1811, under Commodore [[William Robert Broughton]], assembled at bases in India in early 1811.<ref name="James26">{{cite book |last=James|title=The Naval History of Great Britain|volume=6|page=26}}</ref> The first division of troops, under the command of Colonel [[Rollo Gillespie]], left [[Madras]] on 18 April, escorted by a squadron under Captain [[Christopher Cole (Royal Navy officer)|Christopher Cole]] aboard the 36-gun {{HMS|Caroline|1795|6}}. They arrived at [[Penang]] on 18 May, and on 21 May the second division, led by Major-General [[Frederick Augustus Wetherall]], which had left [[Calcutta]] on 21 April, escorted by a squadron under Captain [[Fleetwood Pellew]], aboard the 38-gun {{HMS|Phaeton|1782|6}} joined them.<ref name="James26"/> The two squadrons sailed together, arriving at [[Malacca]] on 1 June, where they made contact with a division of troops from [[Bengal]] under Lieutenant-General [[Samuel Auchmuty (British Army officer)|Sir Samuel Auchmuty]], escorted by Commodore Broughton aboard the 74-gun {{HMS|Illustrious|1803|6}}. Auchmuty and Broughton became the military and naval commanders in chief respectively of the expedition.<ref name="James26"/>

With the force now assembled Auchmuty had roughly 11,960 men under his command, the previous strength having been reduced by approximately 1,200 by sickness. Those too ill to travel on were landed at Malacca, and on 11 June the fleet sailed onwards. After calling at various points en route, the force arrived off [[Indramayu]] on 30 June.<ref name="James27">{{cite book |last=James|title=The Naval History of Great Britain|volume=6|page=27}}</ref> On 31 July Captain Maunsell commanding the sloop the ''Procris'', discovered a convoy of 40 or 50 [[proas]], escorted by six French gunboats in the mouth of the Indromayo river. Launching boats they were able to board and capture five of the French gunboats in quick succession; the sixth blew up. Meanwhile, however, the convoy escaped up the shallow muddy river.<ref>{{cite web |title=Captain Robert Maunsell capturing French gunboats off Java, July 1811 |url=https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-15631 |website=Royal Greenwich Museums |access-date=27 February 2022}}</ref>

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 {{convert|12|mi|km}} east of Batavia.<ref name="James31">{{cite book |last=James |title=The Naval History of Great Britain |volume=6 |page=31}}</ref> The fleet anchored off the Marandi River on 4 August, and began landing troops at 14:00.<ref name="Woodman107">{{cite book |last=Woodman|title=The Victory of Seapower|page=107}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Woodman107"/><ref name="James32">{{cite book |last=James|title=The Naval History of Great Britain|volume=6|page=32}}</ref> A brief skirmish took place between the advance guards, and the Franco-Dutch forces were repulsed.<ref name="James32"/>

===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.<ref name="James32"/> The British advanced on Batavia, reaching it on 8 August and finding it undefended. The city surrendered to the forces under Colonel Gillespie, after Broughton and Auchmuty had offered promises to respect private property.<ref name="James32"/><ref name="Woodman108">{{cite book |last=Woodman|title=The Victory of Seapower|page=108}}</ref> The British were disappointed to find that part of the town had been set on fire, and many warehouses full of goods such as coffee and sugar had been looted or flooded, depriving them of [[prize money]].<ref name=Fregosi321/> On 9 August 1811 Rear-Admiral [[Robert Stopford (Royal Navy officer)|Robert Stopford]] arrived and superseded Commodore Broughton, who was judged to be too cautious.<ref name=Fregosi321>{{cite book|last=Fregosi|title=Dreams of Empire|page=321}}</ref><ref name="James33">{{cite book |last=James|title=The Naval History of Great Britain|volume=6|page=33}}</ref> Stopford had orders to supersede Rear-Admiral [[Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet|Albemarle Bertie]] as [[Cape of Good Hope Station|commander in chief at the Cape]], but on his arrival he learnt of Vice-Admiral Drury's death, and the planned expedition to Java, and so travelled on.<ref name="Woodman108"/>

===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.<ref name=Fregosi321/> 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.<ref name=yourarchives>[{{Cite web |url=http://yourarchives.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php?title=Java_Expedition_1811 |title=nationalarchives site] |access-date=2010-01-28 |archive-date=2012-03-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305085009/http://yourarchives.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php?title=Java_Expedition_1811 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In one skirmish, one of Janssens's French subordinates, General Alberti, was killed when he mistook some British riflemen{{cn|date=August 2023}} 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.<ref name="James33"/>

===Siege of Fort Cornelis===

Line 76 ⟶ 73:

==Aftermath==

The Dutch-held islands of [[Ambon Island|Amboyna]], [[Haruku|Harouka]], [[Saparua]], [[Nusa Laut|Nasso-Laut]], [[Buru]], [[Manipa]], [[Manado]], [[Kupang|Copang]], Amenang, Kemar, Twangwoo, and [[Ternate]] had surrendered to a force led by Captain Edward Tucker in 1810, while Captain Christopher Cole captured the [[Banda Islands]], completing the conquest of Dutch possessions in the [[Maluku Islands]].<ref name="Woodman104-6"/> Java became the last major colonial possession in the East not under British control, and its fall marked the effective end of the war in these waters.<ref name="Woodman110"/><ref name="Woodman104-6">{{cite book|last=Woodman|title=The Victory of Seapower|pages=104–6104–106}}</ref> [[Stamford Raffles]] was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Java.<ref>Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor By [[Keat Gin Ooi]] Contributor Keat Gin Ooi Published by ABC-CLIO, 2004; {{ISBN|1-57607-770-5}}, {{ISBN|978-1-57607-770-2}}; p. 937</ref><ref>British India -– From Queen Elizabeth To Lord Reading. By An Indian Mahomedan Contributed by Theodore Morison, 1926 republished by READRead BOOKSBooks, 2007; {{ISBN|1-4067-5148-0}}, {{ISBN|978-1-4067-5148-2}}; pp. 81, 82, 83, 84</ref> He ended Dutch administrative methods, liberalized the system of land tenure, and extended trade.

Britain returned Java and other East Indian possessions to the newly independent [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]] under the terms of the [[Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814|Convention of London]] in 1814. One enduring legacy of the British occupation was the road rules, as the British had decreed that [[Left- and right-hand traffic|traffic should drive on the left]], and this has endured in [[Indonesia]] to this day.

Line 91 ⟶ 88:

The Sunan of Surakarta took an avid interest in the [[Hindus|Hindu]] sepoys, and would attend [[Puja (Hinduism)|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.

{{blockquote |text=In Surakarta, however, the Sunan immediately responded to the sepoys’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<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/20133619 |title=The Kolkata (Calcutta) Stone and the Bicentennial of the British Interregnum in Java, 1811 – 18161811–1816 |last1=Carey |first1=Peter B. |journal=The Newsletter |number=74 |date=Summer 2016 |via=academia.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://brill.com/downloadpdf/book/9789067183031/B9789067183031-s009.pdf |title=Into a new era the British interregnum, 1812-18161812–1816}}</ref>}}

==British order of battle==

Line 265 ⟶ 262:

| style="text-align:center;"| 18

| style="text-align:center;"| [[Image:Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg|22px]]

| style="text-align:left;"| Commander [[Henry Peachey, 3rd Baron Selsey|Henry John Peachey]]

| style="text-align:left;"|

|- valign="top"

Line 294 ⟶ 291:

==References==

{{refbegin}}

* {{cite book|last=Fregosi|first=Paul|author-link=Paul Fregosi|title=Dreams of Empire: Napoleon and the First World War 1792-18151792–1815|publisher=Hutchinson|year=1989|isbn=0-09-173926-8}}

* {{cite book |first=William|last=James|author-link=William James (naval historian)|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PN09AAAAcAAJ |title=The Naval History of Great Britain: From the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV|publisher=R. Bentley|___location=London|year=1847|volume=6}}

* {{cite book |first=Richard|last=Woodman|title=The Victory of Seapower: Winning the Napoleonic War 1806–1814|publisher=Mercury Books|___location=London|year=2005|isbn=1-84560-012-6}}

* {{cite book |first=Rene|last=Chartrand|title=British Forces in Java 1811-1816|publisher=Osprey Publishing|___location=London|year=1996|isbn=9781855325061}}

{{refend}}

==Further reading==

{{refbegin}}

* {{cite book|last=Carey|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Carey (historian)|title=The British in Java, 1811-18161811–1816. A Javanese Account|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1992}}

* {{cite book|last=Boulger|first=Demetrius Charles|title=The Life of Sir Stamford Raffles|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.501910/page/n107|chapter=Chapter IV: The Java Expedition|publisher=H. Marshall|year=1897|pages=83–88}}

{{refend}}

{{British colonial campaigns}}

[[Category:Wars involving the United Kingdom]]

[[Category:Battles involving British India|Java]]

[[Category:WarsBattles involving the NetherlandsUnited Kingdom|Java]]

[[Category:WarsBattles involving the United KingdomFrance|Java]]

[[Category:British rule in Indonesia]]

[[Category:Military history of Indonesia]]

[[Category:Netherlands–United Kingdom relations]]

[[Category:Conflicts in 1811|Java]]

[[Category:19th-century military history of the United Kingdom]]

[[Category:1811 in Asia]]

[[Category:1811 in Southeast Asia]]

[[Category:Campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars]]

Line 321 ⟶ 313:

[[Category:Invasions of the Dutch East Indies|Java 1811]]

[[Category:1811 in the Dutch East Indies]]

[[Category:August 1811 events]]

[[Category:September 1811 events]]

[[Category:19th-century militaryMilitary history of the UnitedIndian KingdomOcean]]