Capture of Recife (1595)
Capture of Recife (1595) | |||||||
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Part of the Anglo–Spanish War | |||||||
Recife in the early 17th century by Gillis Peeters | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
England | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Jorge de Albuquerque Coelho | James Lancaster | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
350 soldiers and militia[3] Unknown Indian allies |
5 ships 30 prizes 400 soldiers & sailors[4] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1 galley frigate captured, 29 other prizes[5] Recife: 120 killed, wounded or captured 8 ships captured All stores captured[6] |
60 casualties or to disease 1 prize scuttled[6][7] |
The Capture of Recife also known as James Lancaster's 1595 Expedition or Lancaster's Pernambucan expedition was an English military expedition during the
Background
By virtue of the
Expedition
In October 1594 they sailed from
As they sailed further South a few of the ships headed back to cash in the prizes, and whilst raiding supplies at Tenerife Lancaster learned from prisoners of a wine ship that a rich carrack from the East Indies had been wrecked near Olinda of which her cargo was safely stowed at Recife.[11] This was great news for Lancaster which gave him even more of an incentive to take Recifie. The fleet now totaling nearly fifteen ships would accompany him there and converted the galley-frigate into a troop ship.[1][3]: 38
By the end of March 1595 Lancaster arrived at Recife which is located where the Beberibe River meets the Capibaribe River to flow into the Atlantic Ocean and as such for the Portuguese it is a major port which was governed by Jorge de Albuquerque Coelho. The place is surrounded by many small coral islands and rivers while Recife itself is protected by Fort São Jorge which lies on a spit of land which leads directly via a sandy isthmus to the next port of Olinda.[4] When Lancaster arrived he found three sixty-ton Dutch fluitships already there intending to take the cargo and prevent it going back to Portugal. Lancaster went aboard the Dutch ship and made arrangements with their commander, both of whom agreed to share the spoils as the English had the means to take the town and hold it, whilst the Dutch did not.[3]: 51
Capture of Recife
On the early hours of Good Friday, Lancaster landed his troops on the beach and surrounded Recife on both land and sea so that the Portuguese would be confused as to where the main attack was to come from.[1] After a preliminary naval bombardment the English attacked on all sides and the Portuguese resistance, although strong to start with, soon petered out; Fort São Jorge was overwhelmed and the spit of land was taken with only minor loss and consequently the town itself was taken with little resistance.[7] The garrison fled to Olinda almost three miles away and took refuge, meanwhile Lancaster, with only ten casualties, permitted not the slightest disorder after the place was taken.[3]: 51 [11]
Now in possession of the area Lancaster knew the Portuguese were preparing a counterattack so he strengthened Fort São Jorge (using the captured ordnance) which connected Recife with Olinda. He then proceeded at leisure to stow his ships with the goods found in the town of which there nearly 100 houses and store buildings.
The Portuguese however intended to drive the English away so made several attempts at retaking the town, but each time assaulting the fortified isthmus they were repelled with heavy losses.[1] The next attempt was made via the waters; blazing rafts were sent down the river and at the same time an attempt by fire-ships on sea was also made but these attempts were frustrated by Lancaster.[10][11]
A number of French corsairs arrived during the middle of the occupation and Lancaster, being an exceptional diplomat as well of military mind, gave them
After remaining in possession of Recife for more than twenty days Lancaster knew that he would have to leave soon and prepared to sail. The Portuguese however were observed constructing a battery to command the entrance of the harbor, and Lancaster, sent a strong party of 275 men to destroy their work.[7][8] Attacking at night the English surprised the Portuguese who fled and the destruction was achieved, but some order was lost as fifty of the English ran forward, beyond the cover of the ships' broadsides, were met by a large body of Portuguese and their Indian allies and were ambushed.[3]: 53 Almost all the officers of the party including Venner (who was trying to get them back), and others to the number of thirty-five were killed before the rest found the safety of the English lines.[4] Buoyed by this success the Portuguese with their Indian allies then launched another attack on the isthmus, only to be repelled again this time with the help of the ships guns.[8] After this close call Lancaster decided that the occupation had reached its end and decided to take advantage of leaving unmolested with the destruction of the battery.[1][9]
Aftermath
Lancaster put to sea with fifteen vessels ladened with merchandises but a strong gale outside caused the fleet to be scattered.[8] Lancaster had four ships with him and arrived in the Downs in July, only one ship never made it, that being a Portuguese prize heavily damaged in gales and lack of crew so was scuttled.[9]
The declared value of the bulk of goods from the carrack brought back by Consent and Salomon was £31,000 and the cargo of Virgin and two of the fluitships were assessed at £15,000. Pereguine, Welcome their prize and the other fluitship carried at least as much totaling over £51,000.
The Portuguese would soon increase Recife's defenses and forts were built on the isthmus between Recife and Olinda to deter subsequent attacks but to little avail. The Dutch would return here again and again before being
See also
- Siege of Recife (1630)
- Recapture of Recife
- East India Company
References
- Citations
- ^ a b c d e f Bicheno pg 308-09
- ^ a b c Ebert p.146
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Foster pg 35-54
- ^ a b c d e f Frank p. 42-47
- ^ Holmes, Abiel (1829). The Annals of America: From the Discovery by Columbus in the Year 1492, to the Year 1826. Harvard University: Hilliard and Brown. p. 111.
- ^ a b c d Andrews pg 211-12
- ^ a b c d e Markham, Clements Robert (1877). The Voyages of Sir James Lancaster to the East Indies, Volume 56. Hakluyt Society. pp. 35–37.
- ^ ISBN 9780141922003.
- ^ a b c Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. .
- ^ a b c d e Koebel pg 74-75
- ^ a b c Howego pg. 606
- ^ Hufferd p.206
- Bibliography
- Andrews, Kenneth R. (3 January 1964). Elizabethan Privateering 1583-1603. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 180–81. ISBN 9780521040327.
- Bicheno, Hugh. (2012). Elizabeth's Sea Dogs: How England's Mariners Became the Scourge of the Seas. Conway. ISBN 978-1844861743.
- Bradley, Peter T. (2010). British Maritime Enterprise in the New World: From the Late Fifteenth to the Mid-eighteenth Century. Edwin Mellen Press Ltd. ISBN 978-0773478664.
- Ebert, Christopher (2008). Between Empires: Brazilian Sugar in the Early Atlantic Economy, 1550-1630 Volume 16 of The Atlantic world. BRILL. ISBN 9789004167681.
- Foster, William (1940). The voyages of Sir James Lancaster to Brazil and the East Indies, 1591-1603. The Hakluyt Society. ISBN 9781409414520.
- Franks, Michael (2006). The Basingstoke Admiral: A Life of Sir James Lancaster (c. 1554 - 1618). Hobnob Press, 2006. ISBN 9780946418596.
- Howego, Raymond (2001). Encyclopedia of Exploration. Hordern House. ISBN 978-1875567362.
- Hufferd, James (2005). Cruzeiro do sul: a history of Brazil's half millennium, Volume 1. AuthorHouse. ISBN 9781468531367.
- Koebel, W.H. (2011). South America (Illustrated ed.). The Echo Library. ISBN 978-1406866964.
- External links