The British answer to expensive overseas garrisons was to import a smaller officer and non-commissioned cadre while raising much of the rank and file locally. Ceylon's later local regiments supplied troops for island defence and wars elsewhere in the empire. The Dutch had long possession, trade revenue, and local knowledge from which to build a comparable force but did not do so. Their failure to improve Colombo after the warning of 1782 left its works so weak that Stewart judged an immediate assault practical after a nine-day march. His confidence, combined with only 16 killed and 60 wounded in the entire campaign, is presented as evidence of weak defences rather than reckless British command.
Notable Point · 1:45:00-1:48:02
Local regiments made colonial defence affordable and useful
Britain combined imported officers with locally raised troops, creating forces that could defend Ceylon and contribute to campaigns elsewhere.