Page 238 - INDIANNAVYV1

206 HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAV7. ;
them a greater numLer of French prisoners than the amount
of their united crews, and as each ship, from assisting to man the
prizes, had scarcely hands enough to work her guns, the squadron
bore up for Batavia, to procure a supply of guns and men
Commodore Renaud also made no attempt to renew the action.
On the union of Holhmd with the French Republic in 1795,
England declared war against that country, and the Indian
Government prepared an expedition to reduce the island of
Ceylon, which did not prove a very arduous task, owing to the
disorganised and mutinous state of the Dutch* troops. General
Stewart was sent from Madras with a military force, the naval por-
tion of the armament, including the Company's frigate ' Bom-
bay,' thirty-eight guns, Comnjodore Picket, built at Bombay in
17"93,and some smaller vessels of theMarine.beingunder the com-
mand of Rear-Admiral Rainier, who hoisted his broad pennant on
board the ' Suffolk,' seventy-four guns. The expedition first at-
tacked Trincomalee, which capitulated on the 26th of August,
after a siege of three weeks, just as the British troops were about
to storm. After the surrender of some minor places, on the 25th
of September General Stewart embarked some troops on board
H.M.S. ' Centurion,' fifty guns, and the Bombay,' and proceeded
'
to the north side of the island to Jaffnapatam, a strong fort,
which was pusillanimously surrendered at the first summons.
As the Indian Government now determined to acquire the whole
island, considerable reinforcements were sent from the three
Presidencies, and, on the 5th of Februar3% 1796, an expedition,
consisting of four of the King's ships, and five belonging to the
Company, having on board a large body of troops connnanded
by General Stewart, anchored off Negombo, a fort about twenty-
two miles to the northward of Colombo, which capitulated to the
squadron, the stores and merchandise, to the value of twenty-five
lacs of rupees, falling into the hands of the captors. Meanwhile,
the General proceeded to the Dutch capital, Colombo, which was
also surrendered without a struggle, although the garrison
equalled in numbers the atta(;king force,t and soon the other
Dutch forts in the island followed the example of the capital.
In the latter part of 1797, His Majesty's ship ' Resistance,'^
* " History of Ceylon," by William Knighton, p. 305.
t The British troops consisted of tlie 52nd, 73i-d, and 77tli Regiments, three
battalions of Sepoys, and a detachment of Artillery ; and the Dutch garrison, of
two battalions of Hollanders, the French Regiment of Wurtemburg, with some
Native troops. (Knighton, p. 307 ; Percival, p. 92.)
X On the 24th of July, 1798, this fine frigate, by some inexplicable means,
blew up in the Straits of Banca, when, with the exception of thirteen seamen,
Captain Pakenham, his officers and crew, consisting of two hundred and fifty
seamen and thirty marines, together with fourteen Spanish prisoners and some
passengers, all perished ; of the survivors, only four reached land in safety, after
suflering great privations. The ' Resistance,' with a Spanish prize, had put into
Balambangan whence they proceeded to Celebes, and arrived in about eighteen
days at Limby, near Manado, on that island. The same evening the captain des-
patched the brig to Amboyna for supplies, when the 'Bombay,' frigate, proceeded to