Battle of the Lines of Elvas

Battle of the Lines of Elvas
Part of Portuguese Restoration War
Fort of Santa Luzia in Elvas
Date 14 January 1659 Location Near Elvas, Portugal Result Decisive Portuguese victory
Belligerents
Portugal	Spain
Commanders and leaders
António Luís de Meneses Sancho Manoel de Vilhena	Luis de Haro
Strength
10,500: 8,000 infantry 2,500 cavalry 7 cannons	17,500: 14,000 infantry 3,500 cavalry 19 cannons 3 mortars
Casualties and losses
201 killed 697 wounded	11,200 men killed or captured All the artillery captured

10,500:

17,500:

The Battle of the Lines of Elvas (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɛɫvɐʃ]), was fought on 14 January 1659, in Elvas, between Portugal and Spain during the Portuguese Restoration War. It ended in a decisive Portuguese victory.

By 1659, the Portuguese Restoration War had been raging for 18 years and had degenerated into a stalemate. Other than minor cavalry raids, little fighting had occurred and neither the Spanish Hapsburg Army nor the Portuguese had managed to claim a decisive battlefield victory. King Philip IV of Spain sought to end the conflict by laying siege to and capturing a major Portuguese position, thereby luring out and destroying any Portuguese army that tried to aid the embattled garrison. The town of Elvas was chosen as a target due to the threat it posed to the Spanish city of Badajoz, as seen during the Battle of Montijo in 1644 when a Portuguese army based at Elvas had crossed the border, raided Spanish towns, and attacked a Spanish army. The capture of Elvas and Fort Santa Luzia would also allow the Spanish Army to proceed down the Estremoz road to the Portuguese capital of Lisbon if they so chose. The Portuguese court was aware of the Spanish threat to the city and had greatly reinforced the strength of the city's defensive fortifications during the course of the war. However, years of only minor military action in the area had degraded the readiness of the garrison, and the city was unprepared for a siege. In addition, though the Spanish preparation for the offensive was detected, the vast majority the Portuguese Army was deployed in the north of the country in preparation for a suspected Spanish attack.

In December 1658 a Spanish army commanded by D. Grandee Luis de Haro camped in the frontier of the Caia River with 14,000 infantry, 3,500 cavalry, and several pieces of artillery. The Spanish preparation for the siege of Elvas took several days, time which the Portuguese used to further prepare the city defenses and call for aid. De Haro distributed his troops in trenches, giving orders to kill everyone that approached the city, and prepared his army to confront the relief force the Portuguese would inevitably send. The Spanish bombarded the city, causing panic and casualties among the civil population, while disease claimed 300 lives a day inside the walls. The only way the situation could turn in favor of the Portuguese was with the help of a relief army. Queen-Mother Luisa de Guzman decided to call for António Luís de Meneses, Count of Cantanhede, and gave him the command of all Portuguese troops in Alentejo. She also transferred to the same theatre of operations Sancho Manoel de Vilhena, who assumed the post of field marshal.

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