Battle of Kitombo
Battle of Kitombo | |||||||
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Part of Kongo Civil War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Kongo states of Soyo and Ngoyo | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Count Estêvão Da Silva | Commander João Soares de Almeida † | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Unknown number of musketeers, heavy infantry and bowmen 4 Dutch light field pieces |
Unknown number of irregular bowmen Unknown number of auxiliary Imbangala 400–500 Portuguese musketeers 4 light cannons and a detachment of cavalry | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown but very heavy, including João Soares de Almeida |
The Battle of Kitombo was a military engagement between forces of the
Background
The Portuguese had long traded with the
Preparations
The governor of Luanda,
The then Prince of Soyo, Paulo da Silva, received word of the impending invasion and prepared his army to meet it.[8] In a surprising show of post-Mbwila BaKongo unity, Soyo called on the kingdom of Ngoyo for assistance.[9] Ngoyo had at one time been at least nominally subordinate to the king of Kongo but had grown apart from the state during the 17th century. Ngoyo, which boasted a large fleet of shallow draught craft, sent many soldiers to its southern neighbour in anticipation of the attack.[9]
Few details exist on exactly how the campaign was fought. It was divided into two phases with the first being the Battle of Mbidizi River, a brief but bloody engagement north of the Mbidizi river in June. Afterwards the Portuguese advanced deeper into Kongo.[6]
Battle
The decisive engagement of the campaign occurred near or at a wooded area called Nfinda Ngula near the large village of Kitombo in October. During the interval, both forces were able to reorganise and to replenish their supplies. The Soyo army used this time to re-equip themselves with more arms from their Dutch allies.[6] The BaKongo forces regrouped at Nfinda Ngula, a densely forested area that had served Soyo well in their battles against Kongo during the invasions of Garcia II. The Soyo-Ngoyo army rallied around Estêvão Da Silva and his light artillery pieces.[10][5] It proved difficult to access for the Portuguese artillery, allowing the allied force to use the Dutch light field pieces to good effect. They then charged and routed the Portuguese. The colonial army was comprehensively destroyed.[6] The Portuguese not killed in the battle drowned attempting to flee across the river or were captured.[6] Legend has it the captives were offered as white slaves to the Dutch.[6] Its commander, de Almeida, died during the battle.[5] The number of casualties among the Soyo forces are unknown.[11]
Aftermath and peace
The Battle of Kitombo was a humiliating defeat for the Portuguese and a boon for the state of Soyo. Portuguese Angola remained hostile to Soyo and Kongo, but they dared not venture back.[3] Soyo and the House of Kimpanzu became even more powerful in the politics of the region, but never attained the wealth of pre-Mbwila Kongo as the Portuguese had feared. The next prince of Soyo used the state's Dutch contacts, specifically through Capuchin missionaries, to persuade the Pope to intervene on their behalf. At the behest of the Soyo, the pope sent a papal nuncio to the King of Portugal who obtained an agreement recognising Soyo's independence and bringing an end to further attempts on its sovereignty.[5]
See also
References
- ISBN 9781857283938Page 103. 1999
- ISBN 978-0-02-923550-8.
- ^ ISBN 9780521593700Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1998
- ISBN 97805215937001998
- ^ ISBN 9780300049107
- ^ ISBN 9780333734049
- ^ Battell, Andrew and Purchas, Samuel The Strange Adventures of Andrew Battell of Leigh, in Angola and the Adjoining Regions, page 132. London: The Hakluyt Society, 1901 OCLC 959072849
- ISBN 9780521593700
- ^ ISBN 9781857283938
- ^ John K. Thornton, A History of West Central Africa to 1850, Cambridge University Press, 2020, p.197
- ISBN 9780521593700