Invasion of Java (1811): Difference between revisions

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|result = British victory

|territory = [[French and British interregnum in the Dutch East Indies#British interregnum 1811–1816|British occupation of Java]]

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

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

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

|commander2 = [[Jan Willem Janssens]]

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|casualties1 = 1,000

|casualties2 = 2,000

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

}}

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After their capture of the [[French West Indies]] between 1809 and 1810, and a successful [[Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811|campaign against France's possessions in Mauritius]] from 1810 to 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]]. British troops landed on 4 August, and by 8 August the undefended city of [[Batavia, Dutch East 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 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:Vue de l'isle et de la ville de Batavia appartenant aux Hollandois, pour la Compagnie des Indes (mirror correction).jpg|thumb|left|A 1780 illustration of [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies]]]]

The Dutch had been under French control for several years and were 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 British threat. In particular, Daendels established an entrenched camp named Fort Cornelis a few miles south of [[Batavia, Dutch East 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>

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[[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>

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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, 1811–1816 |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, 1812–1816}}</ref>}}

==British order of battle==

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[[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:Military history of the Indian Ocean]]