Invasion of Java (1811)

The invasion of Java was a successful British <a href="/facts/Amphibious_warfare/1Povrhpm">amphibious operation</a> against <a href="/facts/Java/2MNA2rLm">Java</a> in the <a href="/facts/Dutch_East_Indies/1vl6kw8p">Dutch East Indies</a> between August and September 1811 during the <a href="/facts/Napoleonic_Wars/jo0MdaTD">Napoleonic Wars</a>. Originally established as a colony of the <a href="/facts/Dutch_East_India_Company/0pvAaGFP">Dutch East India Company</a>, Java remained in Dutch hands throughout the <a href="/facts/French_Revolutionary_Wars/S6nK1AT0">French Revolutionary Wars</a>, during which the French <a href="/facts/Low_Countries_theatre_of_the_War_of_the_First_Coalition/s1cCoeQx">invaded</a> the <a href="/facts/Dutch_Republic/PlxBXbKF">Dutch Republic</a>, transforming it into the <a href="/facts/Batavian_Republic/Wrn4rrRu">Batavian Republic</a> in 1795 and the <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Holland/5cbYshPE">Kingdom of Holland</a> in 1806. The Kingdom of Holland was annexed to the <a href="/facts/First_French_Empire/b16nSfY7">First French Empire</a> 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 <a href="/facts/French_West_Indies/4vJy9rP9">French West Indies</a> between 1809 and 1810, and a successful <a href="/facts/Mauritius_campaign_of_1809%25E2%2580%25931811/pNjk65qz">campaign against France's possessions in Mauritius</a> from 1810 to 1811, British attention turned to the Dutch East Indies. An expedition was dispatched from <a href="/facts/Company_rule_in_India/Y4EqFHr0">British India</a> in April 1811, while a small squadron of <a href="/facts/Royal_Navy/Xdy8YCH7">Royal Navy</a> frigates was ordered to patrol off the island, raiding shipping and launching amphibious assaults against <a href="/facts/Target_of_opportunity/VHCf8h6D">targets of opportunity</a>. British troops landed on 4 August, and by 8 August the undefended city of <a href="/facts/Batavia%2c_Dutch_East_Indies/QtgusW2S">Batavia</a> 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 <a href="/facts/Salatiga/NpcHzkDt">Salatiga</a> 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 <a href="/facts/Anglo-Dutch_Treaty_of_1814/u9QGNeyT">Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814</a>.

Invasion of Java (1811) open-in-new

Invasion of Java (1811)