Invasion of Java (1811)
The Invasion of Java in 1811 was a successful British 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 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.
| Invasion of Java | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Napoleonic Wars | |||||||||
British Army landing at Cilincing, Java. | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| First French Empire | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Jan Willem Janssens | |||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Unknown | |||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 1,000 | 2,000 | ||||||||
After the fall of French colonies in the West Indies in 1809 and 1810, and a successful 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 targets of opportunity. Troops were 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 the control of the Netherlands in 1816, as per the terms of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814.