Invasion of Java (1811) - Background

Background

The Netherlands had been controlled by France for several years and was 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 threat of a British siege. 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 Netherlands 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 General. Janssens had previously served as Governor General of the Cape Colony, and had been forced to capitulate after being defeated by British forces at the Battle of Blaauwberg in 1806. He arrived in Java in April 1811 aboard the French frigates Méduse and Nymphe and the corvette Sappho, accompanied by several hundred French troops (light infantry) and some senior French officers.

The British had already occupied the Dutch East Indian possessions of Ambon and the Molucca Islands. They had also recently captured the French islands of Réunion and Mauritius in the Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811. Stamford Raffles, an official of the British East India Company who had been forced to leave the Dutch settlement at Malacca when the Netherlands were 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.