ABSTRACT
THE battle of Trafalgar, in 1805, against the allied fleets of France and Spain left Great Britain the mistress of the seas. The loss of her thirteen colonies in North America had naturally awakened a desire for compensation in some other part of the world. The limitation of her trade, caused by the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars, made acceptable the opportunity to bring under her control markets outside of the field of the great European conflict. Not less urgent was the plan to prevent the loss of her power and prestige in the East Indies, which were menaced by the Dutch in possession of Cape Colony. The British determined to take this colony, and sent thither an expedition under Sir Home Popham, in command of the naval forces, and General David Baird, in command of a land force of 6600 men.
