In 1795, as Napoleon tore through Europe and Holland fell under French domination, Britain sent a fleet to take the Cape Colony before France could grab it. The story of the first British conquest — from Commodore Johnstone's earlier blunder to Elphinstone's methodical success at Muizenberg and Saldanha Bay — is the story of how one empire handed off to another.
By the late eighteenth century, the story of South Africa had been the story of a long struggle for the wealth of Asia. Portugal led the way. Holland rose to eminence. And now, with the French Revolution turning Europe upside down, the balance was shifting again. The Dutch East India Company was dying. It had been mismanaged for decades, hollowed out by corruption and debt. The French Revolution came, and the so-called Patriot party in Holland fell into the arms of the French Jacobins. The Prince of Orange fled to England. Napoleon pillaged the Netherlands and made it a satellite state. England, fighting France everywhere, moved to take Holland's colonies before the French could. The Cape of Good Hope — controlling the only sea route to India — was the most important of all.
Johnstone's Blunder and Suffren's Lost Chance
England had already tried once, badly. In 1781, Commodore Johnstone was sent with an English squadron to take the Cape. He stopped at the harbour of St. Iago in Cape Verde, where his ships were huddled together in the most unseamanlike fashion. Admiral Suffren of France, sent with a smaller fleet to protect the Cape, saw his chance. He bore down and attacked. Johnstone beat off the attack — mainly because Suffren's captains failed to support him — but was so astonished at surviving that he forgot to pursue the French. By the time he arrived at the Cape, Suffren had landed a French force and the Commodore decided not to attack. He did capture four Dutch East Indiamen at Saldanha Bay by sailing boldly in while the Dutch ran their ships aground and fled. One Dutch captain, in his terror, set fire to a neighbouring house instead of his own ship. Johnstone was put on half-pay when he got home.
Elphinstone Takes the Cape
In 1795, a second and better-organized expedition arrived. Admiral Sir George Elphinstone commanded at sea, General Craig on land. They carried a letter from the Prince of Orange himself, asking the Cape Government to receive the English as allies come to defend the colony from France. The Cape Government was divided. Some wanted to side with the Orange faction, others with the Patriots and France. The frontier districts of Graaff Reinet and Swellendam had already declared themselves republics on the French model, planning to plant trees of liberty and install guillotines. Their plans included making sure that slaves participated in the "blessings of liberty and equality." After months of maneuvering, skirmishing at Muizenberg where the Dutch had fortified the narrow coast road, and a crucial moment when fifteen reinforcement ships appeared over the horizon just as the small British force was considering retreat, the Dutch Governor Sluysken surrendered on the best terms he could get. General Craig was made Governor and ruled wisely. Elphinstone went on to complete the conquest by catching an entire Dutch fleet of nine ships in Saldanha Bay — blocking the narrow entrance with fourteen English ships and politely inviting the Dutch to surrender. They did, with two thousand soldiers and 342 guns. It was a thoroughly British business: successful, methodical, and accomplished with minimal fuss.
The narrow strip of coast at Muizenberg — between the mountain and False Bay — was the only road from the sea to Cape Town, and the Dutch thought it impregnable. It wasn't.
The eight years of first British occupation were broadly constructive. Justice was improved. Trade was encouraged. A more humane native policy was attempted. But then the Peace of Amiens in 1802 required Britain to hand the Cape back to the Dutch Batavian Republic. Britain did so. They would not be waiting long to take it back.
