Siege of Galle (1640)

Siege of Galle (1640)

A Dutch painting depicting the siege
Date8–13 March 1640
Location
Portuguese Fort Santa Cruz de Gale, Galle
Result Dutch–Kandyan victory
Belligerents
Dutch East India Company
Kingdom of Kandy

Portuguese Empire

  • Lascarins
    (local soldiers on the Portuguese side)
Commanders and leaders
Willem Jacobszoon Coster
Adrian Cornelio
Rajasinghe II of Kandy		 Lourenço Ferreira de Brito,
Francisco de Mendonça Manuel †
Strength

Total strength

  • 3,350 European troops[1][2]
  • Unknown number of sailors, Bandanese and Malay troops.
  • Unknown number of Kandyans
  • 24 ships[1]
  • at least 27 shallops[3]

Garrison of the Fort

Reinforcements

Casualties and losses
450 European troops were killed[2][8] (estimates range up to 1,350),[9][10]
A large number were wounded[11]
Casualties to non-European troops are not known		 170 Portuguese were killed,[11][12]
700 soldiers and civilians were captured[13]
Casualties to non-Portuguese troops are not known

The Siege of the Portuguese fort Santa Cruz de Gale at Galle in 1640, took place during the Dutch–Portuguese and Sinhalese–Portuguese Wars. The Galle fort commanded 282 villages, which contained most fertile cinnamon lands in southern Sri Lanka[14] It was also an important strategic coastal defense of Portuguese Ceylon.[15] The Dutch, who were in an alliance with the Kingdom of Kandy, landed an expeditionary force under Commodore Willem Jacobszoon Coster of Akersloot, at the Bay of Galle, on 8 March 1640. After bombarding the fort for four consecutive days, Dutch troops stormed the fort and secured a victory on 13 March 1640. The Portuguese garrison, led by Captain Lourenço Ferreira de Brito, mounted a stiff resistance and unexpectedly high casualty rates among Dutch troops gave rise to the proverb “Gold in Malacca, lead in Galle”.[11][note 1] With this victory the Dutch gained access to a large port which they later used as a convenient naval base to attack Goa and other South Indian Portuguese defenses. They also gained access to the Sri Lankan cinnamon trade and gained a permanent foothold on the island.[8]

  1. ^ a b Queyroz p 827.
  2. ^ a b Paul E. Peiris p 273.
  3. ^ a b Queyroz p 848.
  4. ^ Queyroz p 829.
  5. ^ Queyroz p 830.
  6. ^ a b c d Queyroz p 828.
  7. ^ a b c d Queyroz p 833.
  8. ^ a b Peiris – Rise of Dutch Power p 77
  9. ^ Queyroz p 835.
  10. ^ Queyroz p 845.
  11. ^ a b c Paul E. Peiris p 278.
  12. ^ Queyroz p 836.
  13. ^ Paul E. Peiris p 279.
  14. ^ S.G. Perera p 116.
  15. ^ Bacarro p 39.
  16. ^ Vos p126.


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