our line of battle ships, fourteen frigates,
seven sloops, eight Honourable East India Company's cruisers,
fifty-seven transports and several gunboats--altogether over 100 sail.
Composed equally of European and Indian troops, there were upwards of
10,000 men under Sir Samuel Auchmuty's command. The European troops
included the 14th, 59th, 69th, 78th, and 89th Regiments of Infantry,
Royal Artillery, and Royal Marines, and a small detachment of Royal
Engineers.

A course was set for a rendezvous off the coast of Borneo, and on August
4, 1811, a landing was effected at Chillingching, a village about ten
miles east of Batavia. To the astonishment of the British Commander, his
landing was not opposed, the defending force being concentrated in the
neighbourhood of Weltervreden and Meister Cornelius, to-day the thriving
residential suburbs of Batavia.

General Janssens rejected Lord Minto's summons to surrender.

On August 10, Batavia was in the hands of the British troops, and on
that day, after two hours of hard fighting, Weltervreden was captured,
the 78th Highlanders having a heavy casualty list amongst their
officers.

The French troops bravely contended every foot of ground, and battles,
with heavy losses on both sides, were fought on August 22, August 24,
and August 26. Colonel Gillespie, who led the advance in each of these
engagements, performed prodigies of bravery in the latter fight, for we
read that "Colonel Gillespie took one General in the batteries, one in
the charge, and a Colonel, besides having a personal affair in which
another Colonel fell by his arm."

Altogether, the British captured three General officers, 34 field
officers, 70 captains and 150 subaltern officers in these fights.

The rout of the enemy was complete. General Janssens made his escape to
Buitenzorg, thirty miles distant, with a few cavalrymen and the remnants
of his army of 13,000 men. He did not remain here long, but fled
eastwards.

A British force was shipped to Cheribon, where a large number of French
officers were captured; and the port of Samarang was next attacked, with
the object of forcing General Janssens back upon Solo, while the eastern
end of the island was occupied by another British force. On September
10, an action was fought outside Samarang, and Janssens, defeated,
retreated to Fort Salatiga; but eventually, being deserted by his
troops, he opened up negotiations for capitulation.

This must have been a bitter e