COMMANDER // 1736–1799
Abraham Sluysken
Lifespan
1736 – 1799
Active service 1795 — 1 battle across 1 war; first command at age 59.
Profile
Abraham Josias Sluysken was a Dutch colonial administrator who served as the last Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony before British occupation in 1795. Sluysken was born in the Dutch Republic, and in 1765 became governor of the Dutch trading colony of Dutch Suratte on the northwest coast of India. He was sent to the Cape in 1793. With his eye on defense in the case of a possible French attack, Sluysken commissioned the construction of a few small forts at Simon's Town in 1794. The following year, the citizens of Swellendam and Graaff-Reinet revolted and declared their independence from the Cape. In June, British forces launched an invasion of the Cape Colony, and after Sluysken unsuccessfully attempted to defend the colony he surrendered to the invaders on 14 September 1795. Sluysken returned to Holland on 12 November.
Battles (1)
1795
Battle of MuizenbergFrench Revolutionary Wars · Dutch East India Company