On the 31st of March 1781 the French frigate Silphide arrived in Table Bay with a despatch from the Dutch ambassador at Paris, announcing that on the 20th of the preceding December Great Britain had declared war with the United Provinces, and that the States were in alliance with France. The intelligence was received with alarm by the government, for the mother country no longer occupied the proud position among nations which was hers a century earlier, and it was believed that England was casting longing eyes upon the Cape, as the key of the Indian seas.

The colony was almost defenceless. Its revenue was between £15,000 and £16,000 a year. For a long time the balance of expenditure over revenue had averaged £25,000 a year, and the Company, which was declining in wealth and power, could not afford to maintain a large garrison. There were five hundred and thirty soldiers of all arms on the books, but to save expense, more than one-fourth of these had been allowed to take service with farmers, and it was pretty certain that many would never return to their colours. There were further some six hundred and fifty individuals in the Company's pay, including the civil servants, the mechanics at the workshops, the boating establishment, and convalescent sailors. Next there was a corps of free blacks, which had been in existence for many years, and which was usually drilled for a few days in the month of October.