Britain sends enough troops to keep Ceylon

The force combined roughly 2,700 troops drawn from Highland regiments, Madras Native Infantry, artillery detachments, and logistical auxiliaries. That commitment was several times larger than the force used to capture Trincomalee in 1782. Suffolk, Centurion, Diomede, and Heroine supplied naval power, while armed East India Company ships carried stores and could supplement the warships' guns. Even Diomede's loss on an uncharted rock did not break the expedition because her people were saved and Company vessels brought replacement supplies. This larger and better-supported formation was designed not merely to seize a port but to sustain control over the island.