This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (February 2020) |
Battle of Rio de Janeiro | |||||||
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Part of the War of the Spanish Succession | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
France | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Francisco de Castro | Jean Duclerc (POW) | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
15,000 troops and militia |
6 ships 1,500 men | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
270 killed and wounded |
600 killed 600 captured |
The 1710 Battle of Rio de Janeiro was a failed raid by a French privateering fleet on the Portuguese colonial city of Rio de Janeiro in August 1710, during the War of the Spanish Succession. The raid was a complete failure; its commander, Jean-François Duclerc, and more than 600 men were captured. French anger over the Portuguese failure to properly hold, release, or exchange the prisoners contributed to a second, successful raid, the following year.
Duclerc was assassinated while in captivity in March 1711; his killers (and their reason for killing him) are unknown.[1]