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172                                XXXIX Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

           reinforcements.  If Clarke did not arrive, they would run the risk of battle or retire to the
           ships.  In these “depressing circumstances [the] … high spirit of the Admiral was one of
           the most essential services” and this was gratefully acknowledged by his colleagues. 50
              In the meantime the Dutch authorities could not be convinced of the wisdom of an
           attack on the British position.  However, due to the insistence of the burghers and some
           of the officers, Sluysken eventually ordered such an attack.  Before the Dutch attack
           occurred, and no doubt to the considerable relief of the British, a fleet of 14 British
           ships with General Clarke and the long awaited reinforcements sailed into False Bay on
                       51
           3 September.   British preparations for an attack commenced immediately and on 14
           September they advanced on Wynberg with 4 000 to 5 000 men that included sappers
           and artillery.
              The overwhelming British attack forced the Dutch to retreat, and as the situation
           seemed hopeless Gordon and Sluysken stressed that the Cape could no longer be de-
           fended against the British.   Negotiations commenced and Clarke agreed to a 24-hour
                                   52
           truce at midnight on 14 September.  The surrender documents were signed on 16 Sep-
           tember.  Many of the Dutch soldiers and burghers blamed their officers and specifically
           Gordon for the poor defence.  As the situation was getting out of hand, the Dutch urged
                                                         53
           the British to come to their aid as soon as possible.   On the same day the British oc-
           cupied the batteries outside Cape Town, while 1 400 men marched into the town.  As the
           Dutch garrison marched out of the Castle to surrender, the soldiers jeered and swore at
                                          54
           their officers, calling them traitors.
                                                                                  55
              The news of the capture of the Cape caused considerable relief in Britain.   The
           First Lord of the Admiralty, Earl Spencer, referred to the Cape as a “very valuable ac-
           quisition … obtained for this country at so little expense of lives and money … one of
                                                    56
           the most advantageous we have ever made”.   Dundas congratulated Elphinstone on
           “… the surrender of Cape Town” and placing such an “… essential establishment under
                                      57
           the dominion of Great Britain”.   The House of Orange or the interest of the Netherlands
           were not mentioned, it is clear that the conquest was purely in the interest of Britain.

           6. Concluding remarks
              After the Netherlands became allied to France, the alliance had a series of bases,
           literally around the world.  Britain acted quickly by occupying a number of these bases


           50  Allardyce, Memoir, p. 98.
           51   NAUK ADM50/64, Admirals Journals, Vice Admiral Elphinstone, Monarch, 4/4/1795- 13/1/1797, 4/9/1795.
           52  CA VC76, Campagne, Memorie en bijzonderheden wegens overgave der Kaap, pp. 140-141.
           53  CA VC75, Marnitz, Verhaal van de overgaave van de Kaap, p. 235.
           54  Barnard verifies this account with reference to a number of contemporary sources. See C.J. Barnard,
              Robert Jacob Gordon se Loopbaan aan die Kaap (MA, Stellenbosch University), in C. Beyers, et al
              (eds.), Archives Year Book for South African History, 13/1 (Parow, 1950), p. 428.
           55 J. Holland Rose, William Pitt and the Great War (London, 1911), p. 254.
           56  Erskine, ‘Admiral Elphinstone’s Naval Task Force, p. 88.
           57  NAUK WO 1/324, Dundas – Elphinstone, 16/1/1796, p. 483.
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