Herman Willem Daendels

In the severe winter of 1794/95, French forces under Pichegru with a Dutch contingent under Daendels crossed the frozen rivers shielding the Netherlands.

Forced by the French advance, Stadtholder William V fled to England on a fishing boat on 18 January 1795.

The Batavian Republic was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 following the Batavian Revolution that ended the old Dutch Republic.

French forces entered Amsterdam on 19 January 1795, intending to stay there over the winter.

On the night of 23 January 1795, a French Revolutionary Hussar regiment captured a Dutch fleet frozen at anchor in the Nieuwediep near Den Helder.

British troops disembarked near Callantsoog on 27 August 1799 without opposition, as the depleted Batavian fleet under Rear-Admiral Story evaded battle.

On 30 August 1799 a Batavian Navy fleet under Schout-bij-nacht Samuel Story surrendered to the Royal Navy under Admiral Andrew Mitchell near Wieringen, without a shot being fired.

On 19 September 1799 French commander Guillaume Brune defeated the Anglo-Russian forces piecemeal at Bergen, an engagement in the series of battles preceding Castricum.

On 2 October 1799 the Duke of York attacked the Franco-Batavian army in a battle conventionally named for Alkmaar, though Bergen was again the center of the fighting.

On 6 October 1799 a Franco-Batavian force under Brune and Daendels defeated the Anglo-Russian force under the Duke of York and General Ivan Essen near Castricum, ending hopes for the invasion's success.

After Castricum the Duke of York convened a council of war; the expedition was evacuated, with the Russians wintering in the Channel Islands and returning to St. Petersburg in August 1800.