Hout Bay 1 : Great Britain 0 Page 2 of 2
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Page 1 of 2 The “Battle of Hout Bay” – the Real Story! www.houtbayheritage.co.za On the eleventh of June 1795 a fleet a 9 British ships under the command of Adm. George Keith Elphinstone, with foot soldiers under the command of Gen James Henry Craig, arrived in False Bay with the news that Prince William V of Orange had fled to exile in England following the occupation of Holland by French republican forces. Fearing that the French would attempt to take the Cape, Elphinstone’s fleet was sent by Britain conveying a letter from Prince William commanding the VOC authorities to hand over the Cape to the British forces for safekeeping until such time as the Dutch monarchy was restored. The letter was delivered to the VOC’s Governor Sluysken who discussed the matter with his ‘Council of Policy’ leaving him in a quandary, as they knew well that the inhabitants of Cape Town were unhappy about having overseas masters, be they Dutch, English or French. They wanted a Republic. A several weeks long impasse resulted and on the 7 th Aug General Craig disembarked a force of 1600 soldiers, marines and sailors who marched along the old coastal route to Cape Town via Kalk Bay and Fish Hoek, and finally approached Muizenberg. Alongside the column of troops, line astern, was a squadron of four gunships under the command of Commodore John Blankett consisting of two ships of the line, the “AMERICA” and the “STATELY” both of 64 Guns and two ship sloops of 16 guns, the “RATTLESNAKE” and the “ECHO”. As the column of men approached Muizenberg where a Dutch gun battery had been hastily and inadequately constructed, the four ships covered their progress from a distance of less than a cannon shot away. The Muizenberg Battery of guns was prepared to address the column of men but totally unprepared for the covering naval vessels from which fire commenced. Facing an enemy with over 100 guns was a daunting but brief ordeal. In spite of their ill prepared gun platforms, the bold Dutch Gunners scored a hit on the AMERICA which killed one gunner and a seaman, but they soon retired after spiking their guns as the British troops approached. This concluded what we know today as the Battle of Muizenberg. The British knew that they were hopelessly outnumbered on land and were relying on the arrival of long awaited reinforcements under the command of Maj Gen Alured Clarke with 3000 additional men. The British advance towards Cape Town was slow and dogged by skirmishes. Eventually on the 14 th Sept, General Clarke arrived and rapidly deployed his men into an invincible position forcing a truce. On the same day Commodore John Blankett’s squadron of ships was despatched from Simons Town for Cape Town and after rounding Cape Point proceeded north. Just before noon on the 15 th Sept Blankett ordered his squadron to reduce sail as they neared Hout Bay and requested Capt. Temple Hardy of HMS ECHO to proceed with full sail into Hout Bay to fire a few shots in order to draw fire from any shore battery and to assess their strength and calibre. An exchange erupted and both East and West Forts fired several shots. The ECHO however, skilfully went about and withdrew to join the rest of the squadron which continued to Cape Town. And that was the so called “Battle of Hout Bay” with the score of:- Hout Bay 1 : Great Britain 0 Page 2 of 2 Blankett’s squadron continued to Table Bay and was fired on by another shore battery at “Kyk in die Pot” which is today the site of Fort Wynyard subsequently established in 1865. Late on that night of the 15 th Sept 1795 the VOC administration capitulated and hostilities were terminated. The first British occupation of the Cape was complete. Dave Cowley Sept 2014 Postscript: As far as we can tell, only four of the Peninsula’s many batteries ever fired their guns in anger; The Muizenberg Battery, Kyk in die Pot and Hout Bay’s East and West Batteries. The two former batteries no longer exist, though the sites are known. So Hout Bay’s batteries are the only two which survive. We’d better hang on to them! .