The Battle of Cape St Vincent of 1641 took place on 4 November 1641 when a Spanish fleet commanded by Don
Juan Alonso de Idiáquez y Robles intercepted a Dutch fleet led by Artus Gijsels during the
Eighty Years' War
The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...
. After a fierce battle two Dutch ships were lost but the Dutch claimed only a hundred of their men were killed; the Spanish fleet also lost two ships but over a thousand dead. The damaged Dutch fleet was forced to abandon its planned attack on the
Spanish treasure fleet.
Background
In 1641, after the outbreak of the
Portuguese Restoration War
The Portuguese Restoration War ( pt, Guerra da Restauração) was the war between History of Portugal (1640–1777), Portugal and Habsburg Spain, Spain that began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon (1668), ...
, the Portuguese government, with Dutch and French help, prepared to start the offensive against Spain at sea.
[Fernández Duro p. 270] Dom
António Telles da Silva, who had fought the Dutch in
India, was designated commander of a squadron of 16 ships, which along with another 30 of the
Dutch Republic under Artus Gijsels, was entrusted with the mission to capture and hold the Spanish towns of Cádiz and
Sanlúcar.
The attempts failed thanks to the fortuitous encounter that they had with 5
Dunkirkers under Judocus Peeters, who was chasing a flotilla of
Algerian privateers, off Cape St. Vincent.
Peeters managed to reach Cádiz without losing a single vessel and put on alert the Marquis of Ayamonte and Don
Gaspar Alfonso Pérez de Guzmán, 9th Duke of Medina Sidonia
Gaspar Alfonso Pérez de Guzmán y Sandoval, 9th Duke of Medina Sidonia (1602–1664) was a Spanish nobleman who became Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1636, upon the death of Juan Manuel Pérez de Guzmán, 8th Duke of Medina Sidonia.
In 1622, aged 20 ...
.
[Fernández Duro p. 271]
Gijsels and Telles returned to
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
, where Telles was replaced by Tristão de Mendonça, former Ambassador to the Dutch Republic.
The Portuguese fleet then sailed with the French fleet of the
Marquis de Brézé,
[Saturnino Monteiro, ''Batalhas e combates da Marinha Portuguesa, Volumes 5-6'', p.225. (1997) ] while the Dutch fleet set sail in order to intercept and capture the
Spanish West Indies Fleet between the
Azores and
Cape St. Vincent
Cape St. Vincent ( pt, Cabo de São Vicente, ) is a headland in the municipality of Vila do Bispo, in the Algarve, southern Portugal. It is the southwesternmost point of Portugal and of mainland Europe.
History
Cape St. Vincent was already sacr ...
.
It was a hasty maneuver, since the Dutch ships had orders to return to their country if the West Indies Fleet didn't appear before November.
Battle
The Spanish squadron of Galicia, under Don Andrés de Castro, the squadron of Naples, under Don Martín Carlos de Meneos, and the
galleons of Don Pedro de Ursúa, were urgently gathered in Cádiz to intercept the Dutch fleet.
The military governor of Cádiz, Don
Juan Alonso de Idiáquez y Robles, Duke of Ciudad Real, was appointed commander of the fleet in substitution of the Captain General, the
Duke of Maqueda
Duke of Maqueda ( es, Duque de Maqueda) is a hereditary title in the Spanish nobility, Peerage of Spain, accompanied by the dignity of Grandee and granted in 1529 by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles I to Diego de Cárdenas, 2nd Lord of Maqu ...
, who was ill.
[Fernández Duro p. 272] He was a veteran soldier, having seen action in the Siege of Leucata against the French, but was inexperienced in sea battles.
Gijsels fleet was sighted off Cape St. Vincent on 4 November. The Duke of Ciudad Real immediately ordered to attack the major Dutch vessels. After suffering severe casualties he stopped the attack and the ships to fall back to Cádiz.
[Fernández Duro p. 273] This conduct dissatisfied King
Philip IV Philip IV may refer to:
* Philip IV of Macedon (died 297 BC)
* Philip IV of France (1268–1314), Avignon Papacy
* Philip IV of Burgundy or Philip I of Castile (1478–1506)
* Philip IV, Count of Nassau-Weilburg (1542–1602)
* Philip IV of Spain ...
, who severely reprimanded, among other officers, Don Martín Carlos de Mencos, Admiral Don Pedro de Ursúa, and Captains Pedro Girón, Gaspar de Campos, and Adrián Pulido.
was present at this battle as Rear Admiral of the Dutch fleet.
Aftermath
Some of the Dutch ships under Artus Gijsels, abandoned by their Portuguese and French allies, had to sail back to
England to make repairs.
See also
*
Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1606)
The Battle of Cape St. Vincent was a naval engagement that took place on 6 October 1606, John Lothrop Motley, ''History of the United Netherlands, From the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Years' Truce, 1609'', volume 11 (Harper & Brot ...
References
Bibliography
*Cesáreo Fernández Duro: ''Armada española desde la unión de los reinos de Castilla y de León'', Vol. IV. Est. tipográfico Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, Madrid, 1898.
*Antonio Espinosa: ''Semanario erudito: que comprehende varias obras ineditas de nuestros mejores autores antiguos y modernos''. Don Antonio Espinosa, 1790.
*Agustín Ramón Rodríguez González: ''Victorias por mar de los Españoles'', Biblioteca de Historia, Madrid 2006.
*R. Prud’homme van Reine, ''Rechterhand van Nederland. Biografie van Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter'', (Amsterdam 1996)
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017
1641 in Europe
Cape St. Vincent (1641)
Cape St. Vincent (1641)
Cape St. Vincent (1641)
Cape St. Vincent (1641)
Cape St. Vincent (1641)
Eighty Years' War (1621–1648)