Episode 60 – The Battle of Blaauberg in 1806 and an American landdrost takes control of the Eastern Cape
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Show notes
Its January 1806 and the British have dispatched a fleet of 61 vessels to Cape Town under the charge of Commodore Home Popham to seize the port. As you’ve heard that was after the war between England and France reignited in 1805 after a the briefest of lulls.
On the 2nd October 1805 Admiral Nelson overcame the combined French and Spanish fleets at Trafalgar and his victory helped put some of the fears of an invasion of England to rest.
But this meant Cape Town and other colonial backwaters faced more ambitious projects
Seven thousand troops were going to be deposited on the shores of the Peninsular.
The fleet had arrived off Losperd’s Bay, now called Melkbosstrand, twenty five kilometers north west of Cape Town. The wild Atlantic surf was heavy and 36 members of the Highland brigade drowned that morning when their boat capsized – leading to a quote from Captain Graham last episode where he said all went down singing.
Perhaps that’s a bit of an exaggeration – they were probably screaming for help but Graham is infamous for his histrionics as you’ll hear.
The British troops were armed with muskets and their usual regimental colours, including feathers, plumes and pompoms. Waiting for them was Dutch Governor Janssens and he was not welcoming. He had 1700 troops – 1258 of them regulars but his problem was all were unreliable. Erratic displays of courage had been the bane of the VOC Governors lives for 200 years already so no surprise there.
Meanwhile, the missionaries James Read and Johannes van der Kemp were made aware of the arrival of a new master. At first, the two thought of it as an act of God in their favour, and just in time.
