Recapture of Bahia
Recapture of Bahia | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Dutch invasions of Brazil | |||||||
The Recovery of Bahía de Todos los Santos, by Fray Juan Bautista Maíno, Museo del Prado. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Spain Portugal | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Fadrique de Toledo |
Willem Schoutens Hans Kyff | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
12,000 men 52 ships[2][3][4] |
3,000 to 5,000 men[5] 18 ships[6][7] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
At least 71 killed and 64 wounded[6][7] |
Unknown killed or wounded 1,912 captured 12 ships sunk 6 ships captured 260 guns captured[7][8] |
The recapture of Bahia (Spanish: Jornada del Brasil; Portuguese: Jornada dos Vassalos) was a Spanish–Portuguese military expedition in 1625 to retake the city of Bahia (now Salvador) in Brazil from the forces of the Dutch West India Company (WIC).
In May 1624, Dutch WIC forces under
Background
On December 22, 1623, a Dutch fleet under the command of Admiral Jacob Willekens and Vice Admiral Pieter Heyn consisting of 35 ships,[10] of which 13 were owned by the United Provinces, while the rest belonged to the WIC, sailed from Texel carrying 6,500 men en route to Cape Verde,[11] where they arrived after being scattered by a storm. There Willekens revealed that his objective was the capture of the city of Salvador, on the coast of Brazil, in order to use its port as a commercial base to ensure the Dutch trade with the East Indies.[12] In addition they would control much of the sugar production in the region, as Salvador was a major center of its production in the area.[13] These intentions to invade Brazil were soon reported to the court of Madrid by the Spanish spies in the Netherlands, but Count-Duke of Olivares did not give them credit.[14]
Campaign
Dutch capture
On May 8, the Dutch fleet appeared off Salvador. The Portuguese governor of Salvador, Diogo de Mendonça Furtado, organized the defense of the town by hastily recruiting 3,000 men.
The Dutch fleet entered the bay divided into two squadrons. One sailed towards the beach of Santo António and disembarked the soldiers commanded by Colonel Johan van Dorth. The other anchored offshore and opened fire on the coastal defenses, which were quickly neutralized. At dawn the city was surrounded by more than 1,000 Dutch soldiers with 2 pieces of artillery.[12] Intimidated, the Portuguese militia threw down their weapons and fled, leaving Mendonça with 60 loyal soldiers.[12] Salvador had been captured at a cost of 50 casualties among the attackers.[12]
Willekens and Heyn installed a garrison under the command of Dorth before departing on new missions, according to the orders they had received. Four ships were sent to Holland carrying booty and news back,[12] and also instructions to call for reinforcements to secure Salvador.[16] The defenses of the city were reinforced and expanded with moats and ramparts and the garrison was soon increased to up to 2,500 men with numerous Portuguese slaves seduced by promises of freedom and land.[12]
However, the Dutch garrison soon began to be harassed by the local guerrilla organized by Bishop
Iberian Expedition
When news of the loss of Salvador arrived to Spain in August 1624,
After passing through the
Siege
Toledo anchored his fleet forming a huge crescent to prevent the escape of the Dutch ships in the bay. At dawn of the following day 4,000 soldiers landed at Santo António beach with food and supplies for four days.[6] They joined up with the Portuguese guerrillas and occupied the field above Salvador. The Dutch were forced back within their walls, warping their 18 ships beneath the protection of their batteries. Their strength at that time amounted to 2,000 Dutch, English, French, and German soldiers and about 800 black auxiliaries.[21]
The quarters of Carmen and San Benito, located both outside the walls, were occupied by the Tercios, and a new one, named Las Palmas, was built.
Two days later, the Dutch attempted to break the blockade sending two
Aftermath
Several days after the Dutch surrender, a relief fleet of 33 ships under Admiral
Francisco de Moura Rollim, appointed governor of Salvador by Fadrique de Toledo, remained in the town with a garrison of 1,000 Portuguese soldiers. During the journey back to Spain, 3 Spanish ships and 9 Portuguese ships sank in storms.[14] Maestro de Campo Juan de Orellana was among the drowned men.[10] The Dutch prisoners were returned to the Low Countries aboard five German store ships, being the officers judged on their arrival by the loss of the city.[14] The Dutch did not return to Brazil until 1630, when they conquered Pernambuco from the Portuguese.
See also
Notes
- ^ Boxer, Charles Ralph (1952). Salvador de Sá and the Struggle for Brazil and Angola, 1602-1686. University of London. pp. 61.
- ^ a b c Duro p.49
- ^ Fausto p.41
- ^ James p.91
- Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo y Mendoza, Admiral of the Spanish fleet and Captain-General of the Army of Brazil. Letter from Don Fadrique to Philip IV.
- ^ a b c Duro p.52
- ^ a b c d e f g h Marley p.110
- ^ Duro p.53
- ISBN 978-1-59884-100-8. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
- ^ a b Duro p.57
- ^ Pérez p.233
- ^ a b c d e f g Marley p.108
- ^ Fernández p.512
- ^ a b c Southey p.148
- ^ Duro p.47
- ^ Duro p.48
- ^ Calvo p.45
- ^ Solano p.245
- ^ Céspedes p.508
- ^ Duro p.50
- ^ Avedaño p.2
References
- Fernández Duro, Cesáreo (1898). Armada española desde la Unión de los Reinos de Castilla y de León. Madrid: Est. tipográfico "Sucesores de Rivadeneyra".
- Fausto, Boris (1999). A concise history of Brazil. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-56526-4
- James, Herman G. (2007). Brazil After a Century of Independence. READ BOOKS. ISBN 978-1-4067-5586-2
- Marley, David (1998). Wars of the Americas: a chronology of armed conflict in the New World, 1492 to the present. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-87436-837-6
- Santos Pérez, José Manuel; Cabral de Souza, George F. (2006). El desafío holandés al dominio ibérico en Brasil en el siglo XVII. Universidad de Salamanca. ISBN 978-84-7800-467-6
- Southey, Robert; Pinheiro, Fernandes (1862). Historia do Brazil, Volumen 2. Rio de Janeiro: B. L. Garnier.
- Calvo, Carlos (1862). Colección histórica completa de los tratados: convenciones, capitulaciones, armisticios, cuestiones de límites y otros actos diplomáticos de todos los estados, comprendidos entre el golfo de Méjico y el cabo de Hornos : desde el año de 1493 hasta nuestros dias. Paris: A. Durand.
- Solano Constancio, Francisco (1839). Historia do Brasil, desde o seu descobrimento por Pedro Alvares Cabral até a abdicação do imperador Pedro i. Paris: J.P. Aillaud.
- Céspedes y Meneses, Gonzalo de (1631). Primera parte de la historia de D. Felippe el IIII., rey de las Espanas. Lisboa: Con licencia la imprimio Pedro Craesbeeck.
- Avendaño y Vilela, Francisco de (1625). Relación del viaje y suceso de la armada en Brasil. Sevilla.