Britain Captures the Cape of Good Hope in 1795

The French Revolution had changed the dynamics of Europe, and when William V of Orange fled to Britain in January 1795, and the Batavian Republic formed in the Netherlands, William invited England to take control of Dutch colonial territory rather than let it fall into French hands. British troops under the command of Major-General Henry Craig landed at Simonstown in July, and were soon joined by a second detachment under Major-General Alured Clarke.

The local burgher force gave a half-hearted defense, and the Commissioner-General, Sluysken, retreated first to Wynberg, and finally to Rustenberg, where he surrendered on 16 September 1795.

The Cape changed hands three times between 1795 and 1814 (as the French revolution and the Napoleonic wars raged in Europe). It passed back to Dutch (Batavian) control in 1803 (under the Treaty of Amiens) and then back to the British on 10 January 1806. It was permanently ceded to the British by the Dutch on 13 August 1814.