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.
DateApril 1 – May 1, 1625[1]
Location
Bahia, Colonial Brazil
12°58′S 38°30′W / 12.967°S 38.500°W / -12.967; -38.500
Result Spanish-Portuguese victory
Belligerents
 Spain
 Portugal

Dutch Republic Dutch Republic

Commanders and leaders
Fadrique de Toledo
Francisco de Rivera		 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 Jacob Willekens captured Salvador Bahia from the Portuguese. Philip IV, king of Spain and Portugal, ordered the assembly of a combined army and naval task force with the objective of recovering the city. The task force, consisting of Spanish and Italian Tercios and Spanish and Portuguese naval units, was commanded by Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo y Mendoza, who was appointed Captain General of the Army of Brazil. The fleet crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and arrived at Salvador on April 1 of 1625.[9] The town was besieged for several weeks, after which it was recaptured. This resulted in the expulsion of the Dutch from the city and the nearby areas. The city was a strategically important Portuguese base in the struggle against the Dutch for the control of Brazil.

  1. ^ Boxer, Charles Ralph (1952). Salvador de Sá and the Struggle for Brazil and Angola, 1602–1686. University of London. pp. 61.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Duro2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Fausto p. 41
  4. ^ James p. 91
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ a b Duro p. 52
  7. ^ a b c Marley p. 110
  8. ^ Duro p. 53
  9. ^ Marley, David (2008). Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the Western Hemisphere, 1492 to the Present. ABC-CLIO. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-59884-100-8. Retrieved May 19, 2013.