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Battle of Blaauwberg | |||||||||
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Part of the War of the Third Coalition | |||||||||
An illustration of British troops storming the Cape of Good Hope | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
United Kingdom |
Batavian Republic France | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
David Baird Home Riggs Popham | Jan Willem Janssens | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
5,399 4 ships of the line 2 frigates 3 brigs 9 troopships |
2,061 1 ship of the line 1 frigate | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
15 killed 189 wounded 36 drowned[1] |
337–700 killed, wounded, captured or missing 1 ship of the line scuttled 1 frigate scuttled[2][3] |
The Battle of Blaauwberg (also known as the Battle of Cape Town) was a successful British amphibious operation during the War of the Third Coalition which lasted from 8–18 January 1806 and resulted in the capture of the Dutch Cape Colony. After defeating their Batavian opponents, the British signed a treaty under the Treaty Tree in Woodstock, Cape Town which established Britain's control over the Cape Colony. The colony later became a permanent part of the British Empire following the Congress of Vienna that marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1814.[4] Due to establishing permanent British rule over the Cape Colony, the battle would have many ramifications for southern Africa during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A bi-centennial commemoration of the battle was held in January 2006.