Cassell's History of England, Vol. 5 (of 8): From the Peninsular War to the Death of Sir Robert PeelAnonymous
History
Cassell's History of England, Vol. 5 (of 8): From the Peninsular War to the Death of Sir Robert Peel
Anonymous
Great Britain -- History
leaving three or four hundred men prisoners of war.
In the East Indies we this year sent over from Madras an army and
reduced Batavia, the capital of the Dutch East India settlements, and
the island of Java, as well as the small island of Madura, so that the
last trace of the Dutch power was extinguished in the East, as it was
at home by the domination of Buonaparte. In the West Indies we had
already made ourselves masters of all the islands of France, Denmark,
and Holland; and our troops there had nothing to do but to watch
and keep down the attempts at insurrection which French emissaries
continued to stir up in the black populations. We had some trouble of
this kind in St. Domingo and in Martinique, where the negroes, both
free and slaves, united to massacre the whites, and set up a black
republic like that of Hayti. But the French settlers united with the
English troops in putting them down, and a body of five hundred blacks,
in an attempt to burn down the town of St. Pierre, were dispersed with
great loss, and many were taken prisoners, and fifteen of them hanged.
There was little for our fleets in various quarters to do but to watch
the coasts of Europe where France had dominions for any fugitive French
vessel, for the ships of France rarely dared to show themselves out of
port. In March, however, Captain William Hoste fell in with five French
frigates, with six smaller vessels, carrying five hundred troops up the
Adriatic, near the coast of Dalmatia, and with only four frigates he
encountered and beat them. Captain Schomberg fell in with three French
frigates and a sloop off Madagascar, seized one of them, and followed
the rest to the seaport of Tamatave, in the island of Madagascar, of
which they had managed to recover possession. Schomberg boldly entered
the port, captured all the vessels there, and again expelled the French
from Tamatave. On the American coast our ships were compelled to watch
for the protection of our merchantmen and our interests, in consequence
of the French mania which was prevailing amongst the North Americans,
and which was very soon to lead to open conflict with us.
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