Dutch possession of Trincomalee had already depended on outside naval help during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War. Britain took the port in 1782, but Pierre Andre de Suffren arrived with French ships and troops and restored it to the Dutch. The recovery gave the Dutch another thirteen years of control. The precedent also clarifies the different outcome in 1795, when no comparable French relief force could intervene.
Notable Point · 6:27-7:51
Suffren restores Trincomalee to the Dutch in 1782
The 1795 conquest had a close precedent: Britain captured Trincomalee in 1782, and Pierre Andre de Suffren's French force recovered it for the Dutch.