 In 1793 , the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic went to war with the French Republic , joining the ongoing French Revolutionary Wars . Despite resistance from the Dutch Army and a British expeditionary force , the Dutch Republic was overrun by the French in the winter of 1794 – 1795 , the French reforming the country into the Batavian Republic , a client state of the French regime . Although war between Britain and the Batavian Republic had not been declared , the British government sent instructions on 19 January for Batavian shipping to be seized and , in conjunction with Stadtholder William of Orange , living in exile in London , for Batavian colonies to be neutralised in order to deny their use to the French . On 9 February these orders culminated in the outbreak of war between Britain and the Batavian Republic . 
