'A view of the Cape of Good Hope. The Battle previous to the Surrender', 8 January 1806

Coloured aquatint by J Clark and J Hamble after William Marshall Craig, published by Edward Orme, 1806.

Under the terms of the Peace of Amiens concluded between Britain and France on 25 March 1802, Britain restored the Cape to the Dutch, and by February 1803 the British garrison had been withdrawn. With the renewal of the war with France on 18 May 1803, a second British expedition was sent to the Cape: some 6,000 men under Brigadier General David Baird landed on 6-7 January 1806. On 8 January, it was advancing on Cape Town when it was opposed by the Dutch commander, Janssens, near Blaawberg. The Dutch were defeated in battle and Cape Town taken two days later. On 18 January, Janssens signed the capitulation which handed over the Cape to Britain commencing the second, and as it turned out, permanent period of British occupation. Possession was confirmed when the Kingdom of the Netherlands officially ceded it to Britain in 1814.