The capture of Salvador da Bahia by the Portuguese

On December 22, 1623, the Dutch fleet under the command of Admiral Jacob Willekens and Vice Admiral Pete Peterson Hein , consisting of 35 ships ^[9] , of which 13 were owned by the United Provinces, and the rest belonged to the Dutch West Indies Company , sailed from Texel to Cabo Verde ^[10] . Here the ships fell into a strong storm. Villekens announced to the team the real purpose of the campaign - to take the city of Salvador da Bahia on the coast of Brazil, in order to use it as a port to ensure Dutch trade with the East Indies ^[11] . In addition, the Dutch sought to control sugar production in the region, and Salvador was a major center for its production ^[12] . Spanish intentions to invade Brazil were reported by Spanish spies in the Netherlands to Madrid , but the Count Duke de Olivares did not matter to these reports ^[13] .

Dutch siege

On May 8, 1624, the Dutch fleet appeared at Salvador . The Portuguese governor of Salvador, Diogo de Mendoza Furtado, attempted to organize the defense of the city and called a militia of 3,000 fighters ^[14] , mainly from Portuguese settlers and black slaves ^[11] . The port was protected from the sea by two forts: Fort Santo Antonio from the east and Fort San Filipe from the west. Six cannon batteries were erected on the coast, and the streets were barricaded.

The Dutch fleet entered the bay, divided into two squadrons. One proceeded towards Santo Antonio beach and landed troops under the command of Colonel Johan van Dort. Another squadron anchored near the city and opened fire on the coastal battery. At dawn, the city was surrounded by more than 1,000 Dutch soldiers. ^[11] The Portuguese militias dropped their weapons and fled, leaving Mendoza with 60 loyal soldiers. ^[15] Salvador was captured, the losses of the attackers amounted to about 50 people ^[11] .

Villekens and Hein placed the garrison under Dort's command before the squadron left the city. Four ships were sent to Holland with trophies ^[11] , as well as a request to send reinforcements to Salvador ^[16] . The defense of the city was strengthened by building a defensive rampart and increasing the number of garrisons up to 2500 people ^[11] .

However, the Dutch garrison soon began to be attacked by local partisans, organized by Bishop Teixeira, who fled inland. He managed to collect about 1,400 Portuguese and 250 Indians ^{[17] [18]} , who began to carry out sabotage and ambush attacks on the Dutch. In a clash with the partisans, Dort was killed, and the morale of the garrison seriously fell. Dorta was replaced by Albert Schoutens, but he also died in ambush, and was succeeded by his brother Willem.

Iberian Expedition

When the news of the loss of Salvador in August 1624 reached Spain, King Philip IV ordered the formation of the combined Spanish-Portuguese fleet under the command of Admiral Fadrique Alvarez de Toledo, 1st Marquis of Villanueva de Valdues, with the task of returning the city. On November 22, the Portuguese fleet, led by Manuel de Menezes and Francisco de Almeida, left Lisbon . It consisted of 22 ships and about 4000 soldiers ^[1] . The Spanish fleet left Cadiz on January 14 - the delay occurred due to bad weather. It included 38 ships ^[1] , among them was 21 galleon . The crew consisted of 8,000 sailors and soldiers, a third of them were Italians. The commander of the landing was Pedro Rodriguez de Sebastian ^[19] .

After passing the Canary Islands on January 28, the Spanish fleet arrived in Cape Verde on February 6 , where it merged with the Portuguese fleet. Along the way, one ship with 140 sailors on board was lost due to falling onto the reefs ^[20] . Five days later, after a military council was held, the combined fleet arrived on the coast of Brazil. After several days of waiting for Portuguese ships and 7 caravels lagging behind due to a storm, on March 29 the fleet entered the Toduz us Santos Bay.

Siege

Toledo deployed its huge crescent-shaped fleet to prevent Dutch ships from entering the bay. At dawn the next day, 4,000 soldiers landed on the beach of Santo Antoniu with a supply of provisions for four days ^[5] . They teamed up with the Portuguese partisans and occupied a hill on the outskirts of the city. The Dutch were forced to hide behind the walls under the protection of their artillery batteries. The garrison at that time consisted of 2,000 Dutch, English, French and German soldiers and about 800 black slaves ^[21] .

In the quarters of Carmen and San Benito, located outside the walls, the Spaniards began to erect siege fortifications. The defenders carried out several sporadic attacks to prevent siege operations. During one of these sorties, the Spanish captain Pedro Osorio was killed, as well as 71 Spanish officers and soldiers, 64 more were injured ^[6] . However, the siege continued.

Two days later, the Dutch tried to break through the blockade by throwing two set fire to the Spanish-Portuguese fleet, but they did not harm the besiegers ^[6] . Rebellions began in the ranks of the defenders, and Willem Schoutens was overthrown and replaced by Hans Kuff. The garrison was forced to capitulate a few weeks later, when the siege line approached the trenches of the defenders. 1912 Dutch, British, French and Germans surrendered, 18 banners, 260 guns, 6 ships, 500 black slaves and a significant amount of gunpowder, money and goods were handed over ^[6] .

A few days after the Dutch surrender, a Dutch fleet of 33 ships under the command of Admiral Budewein Hendrix arrived in Salvador ^[6] . Toledo was warned of his arrival and placed 6 galleons in the defensive line, possessing deadly artillery power. Finding a large Spanish-Portuguese fleet anchored in the harbor, Hendrix decided to go into the open sea. Spanish warships tried to chase him, but one galleon ran aground and the chase was stopped ^[6] . Hendricks divided his fleet into three squadrons: one returned to Holland for supplies and ammunition for the garrison of El Salvador; the other two attacked the Spanish San Juan de Puerto Rico and the Portuguese Elmina , but were defeated.

Francisco de Moura Rollim, appointed Toledo Governor of Salvador, remained in the city with a garrison of 1,000 Portuguese soldiers. During a trip to Spain, 3 Spanish and 9 Portuguese ships died in a storm ^[13] . Dutch prisoners were returned home on board five German merchant ships ^[13] . The Dutch returned to Brazil in 1630 when they occupied Pernambuco .

• Fernández Duro, Cesáreo (1898). Armada española desde la Unión de los Reinos de Castilla y de León. Madrid: Est. tipográfico "Sucesores de Rivadeneyra".
• Fausto, Boris (1999). A concise history of Brazil. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-56526-4
• James, Herman G. (2007). Brazil After a Century of Independence. READ BOOKS. ISBN 978-1-4067-5586-2
• Marley, David (1998). Wars of the Americas: a chronology of armed conflict in the New World, 1492 to the present. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-87436-837-6
• Santos Pérez, José Manuel; Cabral de Souza, George F. (2006). El desafío holandés al dominio ibérico en Brasil en el siglo XVII. Universidad de Salamanca. ISBN 978-84-7800-467-6
• Southey, Robert; Pinheiro, Fernandes (1862). Historia do Brazil, Volumen 2. Rio de Janeiro: BL Garnier.
• Calvo, Carlos (1862). Colección histórica completa de los tratados: convenciones, capitulaciones, armisticios, cuestiones de límites y otros actos diplomáticos de todos los estados, comprendidos entre el golfo de Méjico y el cabo de Hornos: desde el aasto nasu aasto di aasto nasu aasto naso aesto di aastoast Paris: A. Durand.
• Solano Constancio, Francisco (1839). Historia do Brasil, desde o seu descobrimento por Pedro Alvares Cabral até a abdicação do imperador Pedro i. Paris: JP Aillaud.
• Céspedes y Meneses, Gonzalo de (1631). Primera parte de la historia de D. Felippe el IIII., Rey de las Espanas. Lisboa: Con licencia la imprimio Pedro Craesbeeck.
• Avendaño y Vilela, Francisco de (1625). Relación del viaje y suceso de la armada en Brasil. Sevilla