ORDER OF BATTLE // January 11, 1782
Capture of Trincomalee
Estimated force strength by side, with confidence labels per surviving record.
Forces engaged
1 sides catalogued · combined 450–800 estimated
Regno di Gran Bretagna
450–800
Medium-confidence figure
Battle context
The capture of Trincomalee was the second major engagement between Great Britain and the Dutch East India Company in the East Indies following the outbreak of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War. Coming after the fall of Negapatam, the principal Dutch outpost on the Indian coast, it extended British control to the eastern coast of Ceylon. Trincomalee's deep natural harbor gave the force that held it a significant base for naval operations in the Indian Ocean, and its capture also yielded the vessels present in the port at the time. Together with Negapatam, the seizure stripped the Dutch East India Company of its two most significant positions in the region, substantially curtailing Dutch operational capacity in the East Indies theater of the war.
‹ Full battle dossier