In early 1810, as the cyclone season came to an end, Hamelin ordered a squadron of frigates under Captain Guy-Victor Duperré to attack British convoys in the Bay of Bengal.
The government in Madras had augmented the garrison of Rodriguez over the previous year, so that by June 1810 it stood at over 3,650 men: 1,800 British Army regulars and 1,850 HEIC Army sepoys under Keating's overall command [REF].