Battle of Blaauwberg The Battle of Blaauwberg , also known as the Battle of Cape Town , fought near Cape Town on 8 January 1806 , was a small but significant military engagement . It established British rule in South Africa , which was to have many ramifications during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries . A bi - centennial commemoration was held in January 2006 . Background . The battle was an incident in Europe ' s Napoleonic Wars . At that time , the Cape Colony belonged to the Batavian Republic , a French vassal . Because the sea route around the Cape was important to the British , they decided to seize the colony in order to prevent it — and the sea route — from also coming under French control . A British fleet was despatched to the Cape in July 1805 , to forestall French troopships which Napoleon had sent to reinforce the Cape garrison . The colony was governed by Lt Gen Jan Willem Janssens , who was also commander - in - chief of its military forces . The forces were small and of poor quality , and included foreign units hired by the Batavian government for the purpose . They were backed up by local militia units . Events . The first British warship reached the Cape on Christmas Eve 1805 , and attacked two supply ships off the Cape Peninsula . Janssens placed his garrison on the alert . When the main fleet sailed into Table Bay on 4 January 1806 , he mobilised his garrison , declared martial law , and called up the militia . After a delay caused by rough seas , two British infantry brigades , under command of Lt Gen Sir David Baird , landed at Melkbosstrand , north of Cape Town , on 6 and 7 January . Janssens moved his forces to intercept them . He had decided that " victory could be considered impossible , but the honour of the fatherland demanded a fight " . His intention was to attack the British on the beach and then to withdraw to the interior , where he hoped to hold out until the French troopships arrived . However , on the morning of 8 January , while Janssens ' s slow - moving columns were still moving through the veld , Baird ' s brigades began their march to Cape Town , and reached the slopes of the Blaauwberg mountain ( now spelled " Blouberg " ) , a few kilometres ahead of Janssens . Janssens halted and formed a line across the veld . The battle began at sunrise , with exchanges of artillery fire . They were followed by an advance by Janssens ' s militia cavalry , and volleys of musket fire from both sides . Then , one of Janssens ' s hired foreign units , in the centre of his line , turned and ran from the field . A British bayonet charge disposed of the units on Janssens ' s right flank , and he ordered his remaining troops to withdraw . Janssens began the battle with 2 , 049 troops , and lost 353 in casualties and desertions . Baird began the battle with 5 , 399 men , and had 212 casualties . From Blaauwberg , Janssens moved inland to a farm in the Tygerberg area , and from there his troops moved inland to the Elands Kloof in the Hottentots - Holland mountains , about 50 km from Cape Town . The British forces reached the outskirts of Cape Town on 9 January . To spare the town and its civilian population from attack , the commandant of Cape Town , Lieutenant - Colonel Hieronymus Casimir von Prophalow sent out a white flag . He handed over the outer fortifications to Baird , and terms of surrender were negotiated later in the day . The formal Articles of Capitulation for the town and the Cape Peninsula were signed the following afternoon , 10 January , at a cottage at Papendorp ( now the suburb of Woodstock ) which became known as " Treaty Cottage . " Although the cottage has long since been demolished , Treaty Street still commemorates the event . The tree under which they signed remains to this day . However the Batavian Governor of the Cape , General Janssens had not yet surrendered himself and his remaining troops and was following his plan to hold out for as long as he could , in the hope that the French troopships for which he had been waiting for months would arrive and save him . He had only 1 , 238 men with him , and 211 deserted in the days that followed . Janssens held out in the mountains for a further week . Baird sent Brig Gen William Beresford to negotiate with him , and the two generals conferred at a farm belonging to Gerhard Croeser near the Hottentots - Holland on 16 January without reaching agreement . After further consideration , and consultation with his senior officers and advisers , Janssens decided that " the bitter cup must be drunk to the bottom " . He agreed to capitulate , and the final Articles of Capitulation were signed on 18 January . Uncertainty reigns as to where the Articles of Capitulation were signed . For many years it has been claimed that it was the Goedeverwachting estate ( where a copy of the treaty is on display ) , but more recent research , published in Dr Krynauw ' s book " Beslissing by Blaauwberg " suggests that Croeser ' s farm ( now the Somerset West golfcourse ) may have been the venue . An article published in the 1820s by the then resident clergyman of the Stellenbosch district , Dr Borcherds , also points towards Croeser ' s farm . The terms of the capitulation were reasonably favourable to the Batavian soldiers and citizens of the Cape . Janssens , and the Batavian officials and troops were sent back to the Netherlands in March . The British forces occupied the Cape until 13 August 1814 , when the Netherlands ceded the colony to Britain as a permanent possession . It remained a British colony until it was incorporated into the Union of South Africa on 31 May 1910 . Articles of Capitulation . Summary of the Articles of Capitulation signed by Lt Col Von Prophalow , Maj Gen Baird and Cdre Popham on 10 January 1806 : Summary of the Articles of Capitulation signed by Lt Gen Janssens and Brig Gen Beresford on 18 January 1806 and ratified by Maj Gen Baird on 19 January :