The invasion of Java was a successful British
amphibious operation against
Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
in the
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
between August and September 1811 during the
Napoleonic Wars
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Napoleonic Wars
, partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
, image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg
, caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
. Originally established as a colony of the
Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...
, Java remained in Dutch hands throughout the
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...
, during which the French
invaded the
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...
, transforming it into the
Batavian Republic
The Batavian Republic (; ) was the Succession of states, successor state to the Dutch Republic, Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 after the Batavian Revolution and ended on 5 June 1806, with the acce ...
in 1795 and the
Kingdom of Holland in 1806. The Kingdom of Holland was annexed to the
First French Empire
The First French Empire or French Empire (; ), also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. It lasted from ...
in 1810, and Java became a French colony, though it continued to be administered and garrisoned primarily with Dutch personnel.
After their capture of the
French West Indies between 1809 and 1810, and a successful
campaign against France's possessions in Mauritius from 1810 to 1811, British attention turned to the Dutch East Indies. An expedition was dispatched from
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...
in April 1811, while a small squadron of
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
frigates was ordered to patrol off the island, raiding shipping and launching amphibious assaults against
targets of opportunity. British troops 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 Dutch control in 1816, as per the terms of the
Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814.
Background
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
The governor-general of the Dutch East Indies (, ) represented Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1949. Occupied by Japanese forces between 1942 and 1945, followed by the ...
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. He also improved the island's defences by building new hospitals, barracks, arms factories and a new military college.
In 1810, the
Kingdom of Holland were formally annexed by France. As part of the resulting changes,
Jan Willem Janssens was appointed personally by
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
to replace Daendels as governor-general. Janssens had previously served as governor 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, which consisted of the frigates
''Méduse'' and
''Nymphe'' and the corvette ''Sappho'', tasked with supporting Java. The division was accompanied by several hundred
light infantry
Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...
men and several senior French officers. 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''. Two days later, the British sloop
HMS ''Barracouta'' joined the chase, but lost contact on 8 September. Four days later, ''Méduse'' and ''Nymphe'' chased ''Bucephalus'', which escaped and broke contact the next day. The squadron was back in
Brest, France
Brest (; ) is a port, port city in the Finistère department, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany. Located in a sheltered bay not far from the western tip of a peninsula and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an impor ...
on 22 December 1811.
[
British forces had already occupied the Dutch colonies of Ambon and the Molucca Islands; they had also recently captured the French colonies of ]Réunion
Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...
and Isle de France in the Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811. Stamford Raffles
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British Colonial Office, colonial official who served as the List of governors of the Dutch East Indies, governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816 and lieut ...
, an East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
official who had been forced to leave the Dutch colony at Malacca when Holland was annexed, suggested to 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.[
]
Naval raids
The Navy was active off the Javanese coastline before and during the expedition. On 23 May 1811 a party from attacked a flotilla of fourteen Dutch gun vessels off Surabaya, capturing nine of them. Merak, in north-western Java, was attacked and the fort defending the town largely demolished by a party from and HMS ''Leda'' on 30 July. On the same day attacked a squadron of six Dutch gunboats flying French colours, capturing five and destroying the sixth.
Invasion
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. The first division of troops, under the command of Colonel Rollo Gillespie
Major-general (United Kingdom), Major-General Sir Hugh Robert Rollo Gillespie (21 January 1766 – 31 October 1814Dictionary of Indian Biography; Charles E Buckland p166 (1906)) was an officer in the British Army. The Army's historian Sir John ...
, left Madras
Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...
on 18 April, escorted by a squadron under Captain Christopher Cole aboard the 36-gun . 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
Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
on 21 April, escorted by a squadron under Captain Fleetwood Pellew, aboard the 38-gun joined them. The two squadrons sailed together, arriving at Malacca on 1 June, where they made contact with a division of troops from Bengal
Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...
under Lieutenant-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty, escorted by Commodore Broughton aboard the 74-gun . Auchmuty and Broughton became the military and naval commanders in chief respectively of the expedition.
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. 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.
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 east of Batavia. The fleet anchored off the Marandi River on 4 August, and began landing troops at 14:00. 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. A brief skirmish took place between the advance guards, and the Franco-Dutch forces were repulsed.
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. 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. 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
Prize money refers in particular to naval prize money, usually arising in naval warfare, but also in other circumstances. It was a monetary reward paid in accordance with the prize law of a belligerent state to the crew of a ship belonging to ...
.[ On 9 August 1811 Rear-Admiral Robert Stopford arrived and superseded Commodore Broughton, who was judged to be too cautious.] Stopford had orders to supersede Rear-Admiral Albemarle Bertie as 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.
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.[ 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.] In one skirmish, one of Janssens's French subordinates, General Alberti, was killed when he mistook some British riflemen 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.
Siege of Fort Cornelis
Fort Cornelis measured in length by between and 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
The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...
and sailors from HMS ''Nisus''.
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.[ The two sides then exchanged heavy fire, faltering on 23 August, but resuming on 24 August.] 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.
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. The siege cost the British 630 casualties. The defenders' casualties were heavier, but only those among officers were fully recorded. Forty of them were killed, sixty-three wounded and 230 captured, including two French generals.[ Nearly 5,000 men were captured, including three general officers, 34 field officers, 70 captains and 150 subaltern officers.] 1,000 men were found dead in the fort, with more being killed in the subsequent pursuit. Janssens escaped to Buitenzorg with a few survivors from his army, but was forced to abandon the town when the British approached.
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.
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 ''Méduse'' and the ''Nymphe'' attempted to escape from Surabaya. They were pursued by the 36-gun and the 18-gun HMS ''Barracouta'', until ''Barracouta'' lost contact. ''Bucephalus'' pursued them alone until 12 September, when the French frigates came about and attempted to overhaul her. ''Bucephalus''s commander, Captain Charles Pelly, turned about and tried to lead the pursuing French over shoals, but seeing the danger, they hauled off and abandoned the chase, returning to Europe.
On 31 August a force from the frigates , and , and the sloop HMS ''Dasher'' captured the fort and town of Sumenep, on Madura Island in the face of a large Dutch defending force. The rest of Madura and several surrounding islands placed themselves under the British soon afterwards. Suspecting Janssens to be in Cirebon, a force was landed there from , , HMS ''President'', and on 4 September, causing the defenders to promptly surrender. General Jamelle, a member of Janssens's staff, was captured in the fall of the town. The town and fort of Taggal surrendered on 12 September after and arrived offshore.
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 Salatiga fell to the British. Janssens attacked a British force under Colonel Samuel Gibbs that day, but was repulsed. Many of the native militia killed their Dutch officers in the ensuing rout. With his effective force reduced to a handful of men, Janssens surrendered two days later, on 18 September.
Aftermath
The Dutch-held islands of Amboyna, Harouka, Saparua, Nasso-Laut, Buru
Buru (formerly spelled Boeroe, Boro, or Bouru) is the third largest island within the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. It lies between the Banda Sea to the south and Seram Sea to the north, west of Ambon Island, Ambon and Seram Island, Seram island ...
, Manipa, Manado
Manado (, ) is the capital City status in Indonesia, city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of North Sulawesi. It is the second largest city in Sulawesi after Makassar, with the 2020 census giving a population of 451,916,Badan ...
, Copang, Amenang, Kemar, Twangwoo, and Ternate
Ternate (), also known as the City of Ternate (; ), is the
List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city with the largest population in the province of North Maluku and an island in the Maluku Islands, Indonesia. It was the ''de facto'' provi ...
had surrendered to a force led by Captain Edward Tucker in 1810, while Captain Christopher Cole captured the Banda Islands
The Banda Islands () are a volcanic group of ten small volcanic islands in the Banda Sea, about south of Seram Island and about east of Java (island), Java, and constitute an administrative district (''kecamatan'') within the Central Maluku ...
, completing the conquest of Dutch possessions in the Maluku Islands
The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonics, Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West ...
. 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. Stamford Raffles
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British Colonial Office, colonial official who served as the List of governors of the Dutch East Indies, governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816 and lieut ...
was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Java.[British India – From Queen Elizabeth To Lord Reading. By An Indian Mahomedan Contributed by Theodore Morison, 1926 republished by Read Books, 2007; ; pp. 81, 82, 83, 84] 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 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
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
to this day.
Sepoy revolt
The Bengali sepoy regiments stationed in Yogyakarta in 1815, inspired by the Hindu rituals of the Surakarta
Surakarta (Javanese script, Javanese: , Pegon script, Pegon: ), known colloquially as Solo (Javanese script, Javanese: ; ), is a major List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in Central Java, Indonesia. The city adjoins Karanganyar Reg ...
court and the glory of the Javanese temples of Prambanan and Borobodur planned a revolt against the British. This plot was conjured with the help of Sunan and the sepoys planned to kill all the British officers, overthrow European power, and install a Bengali administration over the whole island. In the end, the plan never came to fruition. As described by British officer Sir Stamford Raffles:
He further stated that this revolt would ultimately have led to the reestablishment of Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
in Java and the expulsion of European power
The Sunan of Surakarta took an avid interest in the Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
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.
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:
Citations
References
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Further reading
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{{British colonial campaigns
Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
British rule in Indonesia
Military history of Indonesia
Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
1811 in Southeast Asia
Campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars
Java 1811
Java 1811
1811 in the Dutch East Indies
August 1811
September 1811
Military history of the Indian Ocean