Batavian Camp Traditional Geocache
Henzz: Time to put this series to bed...
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Difficulty:
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Size: 
(micro)
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At the cache site, ignore for a moment the present day. Take your imagination back over a 200 year space. Do you see them? A 2000-strong army camping out here at the freshwater spring. The horses are restless and the men uneasy in anticipation of an eminent battle. General Janssens strides past giving words of encouragement. It is 6 January 1806.
England and France were at war. Europe was up in flames and the Batavian Republic (The name by which the Netherlands was known from 1795 to 1806) was allied to France. Lieutenant General Janssens represented Batavia in the Cape. Given the strategic importance of the Cape, he had every reason to expect some sort of intervention from the British. The inevitable news arrived on Christmas day when a French privateer ran itself aground after being chased by a British Warship. Three days later came a further account of an aproaching British fleet. On the 4th January the wait was over. Sentries on Signal Hill saw the Horizon fill with sails, awesome in magnitude. The British has arrived. Janssens was presented with a dilemma. Many expected him to play the waiting game, marshaling his defence on the line of forts. Instead he pushed northwards with about 2000 men to confront the enemy. Janssens arrived at Rietvlei late afternoon on the 6th. The freshwater spring here made for an obvious stopover in the advance towards the British landing at Losperd's Bay (now called Melkbosstrand). They pressed on early the next morning, to take up position on the plain east of Kleinberg, with a small group of scouts on top of Blaauwberg to observe the enemy movements. The Rietvlei camp was bombarded by several warships during that afternoon. The British did not know that General Janssens' army left the site already. Today this spring is overgrown by reeds. People drive by without knowing the significance of this place and a plaque is the only reminder for those who care to read it.
THIS IS PART OF A 4 CACHE SERIES - ALSO DO GC1JEDR AND GC1JEEW AND GC2D9MC TO KNOW THE FULL HISTORY.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Zntargvp Anab.
Fvk Crathvaf.