Herman Willem Daendels Herman Willem Daendels ( 21 October 1762 – 2 May 1818 ) was a Dutch politician who served as the 36th Governor General of the Dutch East Indies between 1808 and 1811 . Early life . Born in Hattem , Netherlands , on 21 October 1762 , Daendels was the son of Burchard Johan Daendels , the mayoral secretary , and Josina Christina Tulleken . He studied law at the University of Harderwijk , acquiring his doctorate on 10 April 1783 . Political Activity . In 1785 , he sided with the Patriot s , who had seized power in several Dutch cities . In 1786 he defended the city of Hattem against stadholderian troops . In 1787 , he defended Amsterdam against the Prussia n army that invaded the Netherlands to restore William V of Orange . After William V was in power again , he fled to France because of a death sentence . Daendels was close witness to the French revolution . He returned to the Netherlands in 1794 , as a general in the French revolutionary army of general Charles Pichegru and commander of the Batavian Legion . Daendels helped unitarian politician Pieter Vreede to power in a coup d ' état on 25 January 1798 . The group behind Vreede was dissatisfied with the conservative - moderate majority in parliament , which tried to prevent the formulation of a more democratic , centralistic constitution . The reign of Vreede did not bring the expected results , however , and Daendels supported another coup d ' état against Vreede on 14 June 1798 . In the Batavian Republic Daendels occupied several political offices , but he had to step down when he failed to prevent the Anglo - Russian Invasion of Holland in 1799 , and became a farmer in Heerde , Gelderland . Military and colonial career . Governor - General of the Dutch East Indies . Louis Bonaparte made Daendels colonel - general in 1806 and Governor - General of the Dutch East Indies in 1807 . After a long voyage , he arrived in the city of Batavia ( now Jakarta ) on 5 January 1808 and relieved the former Governor General , Albertus Wiese . His primary task was to rid the island of Java of the British Army , which he promptly achieved . He built new hospitals and military barracks , a new arms factories in Surabaya and Semarang , and a new military college in Batavia . He demolished the Castle in Batavia and replaced it with a new fort at Meester Cornelis ( Jatinegara ) , and built " Fort Lodewijk " in Surabaya . However , his best - known achievement was the construction of the Great Post Road ( ) across northern Java from Anjer to Panaroecan . The road now serves as the main road in the island of Java , called Jalur Pantura . The thousand - kilometre road was completed in only one year , during which thousands of Javanese forced labourers died . He displayed a firm attitude towards the Javanese rulers , with the result that the rulers were willing to work with the British against the Dutch . He also subjected the population of Java to forced labour ( " Rodi " ) . There were some rebellious actions against this , such as those in Cadas Pangeran , West Java . There is considerable debate as to whether he increased the efficiency of the local bureaucracy and reduced corruption , although he certainly enriched himself during this period . General in Napoleon ' s Grande Armée . When the Kingdom of Holland was incorporated into France in 1810 , Daendels returned to Holland . He was appointed a Divisional General ( Major General ) and commanded the 26th Division of the Grande Armée in Napoleon ' s invasion of Russia . Governor - General of the Dutch Gold Coast . After the fall of Napoleon , king Willem I and the new Dutch government feared that Daendels could become an influential and powerful opposition leader and effectively banned him from the Netherlands by appointing him Governor - General of the Dutch Gold Coast ( now part of Ghana ) . In the aftermath of the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade , Daendels tried to redevelop the rather dilapidated Dutch possessions as an African plantation colony driven by legitimate trade . Drawing on his experience from the East Indies , he came up with some very ambitious infrastructural projects , including a comprehensive road system , with a main road connecting Elmina and Kumasi in Ashanti . The Dutch government gave him a free hand and a substantial budget to implement his plans . At the same time , however , Daendels regarded his governorship as an opportunity to establish a private business monopoly in the Dutch Gold Coast . Eventually none of the plans came to fruition , as Daendels died of malaria in the castle of St . George d ' Elmina , the Dutch seat of government , on 8 May 1818 . His body was interred in the central tomb at the Dutch cemetery in Elmina town . He had been in the country less than two years .