Capture of Bahia

Part of the Dutch-Portuguese War

Date	8 May 1624
Location	Salvador da Bahia, present-day Brazil
Result	Dutch victory

Belligerents

Dutch Republic

Portuguese Empire

Commanders and leaders

Jacob Willekens
Pieter Heyn

Diogo de Mendonça Furtado

Strength

6,500

3,000

Casualties and losses

50 killed or wounded

The capture of Bahia was a military engagement between Portugal (at that time, united with Spain in the Iberian Union) and the Dutch West India Company, occurred in 1624, that ended in the capture of the Brazilian city of Salvador da Bahia by the latter. This capture was part of the Groot Desseyn plan of the Dutch West India Company. Although the Dutch intentions were reported to the Spanish no preventive counter-action was taken by them.

On December 22, 1623, a Dutch fleet under the command of Admiral Jacob Willekens and Vice Admiral Pieter Heyn and consisting of 35 ships, sailed from Texel carrying 6,500 men. 13 were owned by the United Provinces, while the rest belonged to the WIC; these vessels were en route to Cape Verde, where they arrived after being scattered by a storm. There Willekens revealed his objective, which was the capture of the city of Salvador da Bahia. The Dutch plans to invade Brazil were soon reported by Spanish spies in the Netherlands to the court of Madrid, but Count-Duke of Olivares did not give them credit.

On May 8 the Dutch fleet appeared off Salvador. The main objective of the expedition was the capture of the port to use it as a commercial base to ensure Dutch trade with the East Indies. In addition, they would control much of the sugar production in the region, as Salvador was a major center for the substance.

The Portuguese governor of Salvador, Diogo de Mendonça Furtado, tried to organize the defense of the town with 3,000 men who had been hastily recruited as a mostly Portuguese militia from peasant levees and black slaves, all of them resentful of Spanish rule. The port was protected by the sea and two forts: Fort Santo António in the east and Fort São Filipe in the west. Additionally, a six-gun battery was erected on the beach and the streets were barricaded.

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Wikipedia