Java Expedition
The Java expedition established the British in control of Java from 1811 to August 1816 with Stamford Raffles as its Lieutenant-Governor during that time.[1][2]
Around 1807 Napoleon, after having deposed his brother Louis, King of the Netherlands, had ordered General Decean to Mauritus and the Dutch Marshal Daendels to Java to improve the defences of those territories against possible British incursion.
In March of 1810, Lord Minto, Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto, and at that time Governor-General of Bengal, succeeded in seizing Bourbon (Reunion). Admiral Bertie's attack on Mauritus, however, was not successful against the forces placed there by Decean. Lord Minto entrusted 10,000 men to Sir John Abercrombie who subdued Decean and his forces and Mauritus passed into British hands.
Lord Minto now set his sights on Java which was held by a large garrison of Dutch and French-led officers, led by General Janssens who had succeeded Marshal Daendels. Lord Minto assigned Stamford Raffles to gather intelligence about the island and its people, the object of which was to determine whether there were sufficient resources, human and financial, to carry out a successful expedition there.
The Java Expedition represented, at that time, the largest force to have been issued from India, with 12,000 men, fifty-seven transports, and over forty warships. On June 11, 1811, the armada left Malacca and by August 4th of that year, the entire fighting force was anchored at Batavia. 3,000 men had been lost to illness.
General Sir Samuel Achmuty commanded the military troops and found himself facing a strongly fortified opponent at Cornelis. The opposing forces were made up of 17,000 men and 280 guns. The battle began in earnest two days after landing on the island. On the 18th of September Janssens surrendered.
People Involved
- Stamford Raffles
- William Robert Broughton
- Archibald Seton
- Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto
- Samuel Achmuty
- Commodore Sir John Hayes
- Captain G.P. Baker
- H.C. Cornelius
See Also
- The Life of Sir Stamford Raffles By Demetrius Charles Boulger, Demetrius Charles de Kavanagh Boulger Published by H. Marshall, 1897; CHAPTER IV THE JAVA EXPEDITION; pp. 83-88
References
- ^ Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor By Keat Gin Ooi Contributor Keat Gin Ooi Published by ABC-CLIO, 2004; ISBN 1576077705, ISBN 9781576077702; p. 937
- ^ British India - From Queen Elizabeth To Lord Reading. By An Indian Mahomedan Contributed by Theodore Morison, 1926 republished by READ BOOKS, 2007; ISBN 1406751480, ISBN 9781406751482; pp. 81, 82, 83, 84