Battle of Blaauwberg

Part of the Napoleonic Wars

The Storming of the Cape of Good Hope

Date

8–18 January 1806

Location

Bloubergstrand, Cape Town, South Africa

Result

British victory

Dutch Cape Colony controlled by the United Kingdom for the duration of the Napoleonic War

Belligerents

United Kingdom

Batavian Republic

Commanders and leaders

Lieutenant General Sir David Baird

Lieutenant General Jan Willem Janssens

Strength

5,399

2,049

Casualties and losses

212 casualties

353 casualties

British victory

The Battle of Blaauwberg, also known as the Battle of Cape Town, fought near Cape Town on 8 January 1806, was a small but significant military engagement. It established British rule in South Africa, which was to have many ramifications for the region during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A bi-centennial commemoration was held in January 2006.

The battle was an incident in Europe's Napoleonic Wars. At that time, the Cape Colony belonged to the Batavian Republic, a French vassal. Because the sea route around the Cape was important to the British, they decided to seize the colony in order to prevent it—and the sea route—from also coming under French control. A British fleet was despatched to the Cape in July 1805, to forestall French troopships which Napoleon had sent to reinforce the Cape garrison.

The colony was governed by Lieutenant General Jan Willem Janssens, who was also commander-in-chief of its military forces. The forces were small and of poor quality, and included foreign units hired by the Batavian government. They were backed up by local militia units.

The first British warship reached the Cape on Christmas Eve 1805, and attacked two supply ships off the Cape Peninsula. Janssens placed his garrison on alert. When the main fleet sailed into Table Bay on 4 January 1806, he mobilised the garrison, declared martial law, and called up the militia.

After a delay caused by rough seas, two British infantry brigades, under the command of Lt Gen Sir David Baird, landed at Melkbosstrand, north of Cape Town, on 6 and 7 January. Janssens moved his forces to intercept them. He had decided that "victory could be considered impossible, but the honour of the fatherland demanded a fight". His intention was to attack the British on the beach and then to withdraw to the interior, where he hoped to hold out until the French troopships arrived.

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Wikipedia