The Battle of Vilanova took place on 17 September 1658 during 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), ...

near the Fort of São Luis de Gonzaga, located south of Tui in the southern bank of the

Minho River The Minho ( , ) or Miño ( , , ; cel-x-proto, Miniu) is the longest river in Galicia, sharing the border with Portugal, with a length of . By discharge, it is the fourth river of the Iberian peninsula, after the Douro, Ebro, and Tagus. The Mi ...

. A Spanish army commanded by the Governor of Galicia, Rodrigo Pimentel, Marquis of Viana, entered Portuguese territory and confronted a Portuguese army led by João Rodrigues de Vasconcelos e Sousa, 2nd Count of Castelo Melhor. The Spanish were victorious and proceeded over the following months to capture

Monção Monção () is a municipality in the district of Viana do Castelo in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 19,230, in an area of 211.31 km2. The current Mayor is the Social Democrat António Barbosa. The municipal holiday is March 12. Climat ...

Salvaterra de Miño Salvaterra de Miño is a town and Municipalities of Spain, municipality (''concello'') in the Provinces of Spain, province of Pontevedra (province), Pontevedra, Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Sp ...

and other Portuguese strongholds.

Background

After the death of King John IV in 1656, various Spanish offensives were launched against Portuguese territory, mainly from

Extremadura Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...

, but also from Galicia, where a second front was opened to force the Portuguese to divide their forces.González López, p. 158 The Spanish governor of Galicia,

Vicente de Gonzaga y Doria Vicente de Gonzaga y Doria, (1602 – 23 November 1694) was Viceroy of Valencia, 1663, Viceroy of Catalonia, 1664–1667 and Viceroy of Sicily, 1678, second of the 11 sons/daughters of Ferrante II Gonzaga, 1st Duke of Guastalla, (1563 – 5 August ...

, crossed in the Miño river in command of 6,000 infantry and 900 cavalry soldiers with the aim of preventing the Portuguese army from sending reinforcements to its garrisons in

Alentejo Alentejo ( , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond () the Tagus river" (''Tejo''). Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo and Baixo Alent ...

.González López, p. 159 He laid siege to the town of Salvatierra de Miño, occupied by Portugal since 1642, but the lack of forces that his army suffered forced him to lift the siege.González López, p. 160 However, he ordered a fort to be built atop of the hill of San Pedro de la Torre, near the Portuguese riverside of the Minho river. The fort, named ''São Luis de Gonzaga'', was located a league from Valença do Minho and

Vila Nova de Cerveira Vila Nova de Cerveira (, ) is a municipality in the district of Viana do Castelo in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 9,253,Olivenza Olivenza () or Olivença () is a town in southwestern Spain, near the Portuguese border, on a historically disputed section of the Portugal–Spain border. Its territory is administered by Spain as a municipality belonging to the province of Bad ...

and

Mourão Mourão () is a municipality in the District of Évora in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 2,663, in an area of 278.63 km2. Geography The municipality borders the municipality of Alandroal to the north, Spain to the east, Barrancos to ...

.González López, p. 163 A new governor for Galicia, don Rodrigo Pimentel, Marquis of Viana, was appointed by King Philip IV in May 1658 with instructions of recover Salvatierra de Miño and other important towns of the area. Pimentel was seconded in the leadership of his army by don Baltasar de Rojas y Pantoja, Maestre de Campo General; and Maestre de Campo don Francisco de Castro, who had previous experience against Portuguese armies. Marquis of Viana established his headquarters in Tui, where a force consisting of 4,000 infantry, 3,000 militia, 2,000 sappers and 700 cavalry was gathered. The commander of the cavalry was the Portuguese loyalist don Bernardino de Meneses, Marquis of Peñalba, Count of Tarouca and Grandee of Portugal.

Battle

The Spanish army departed

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a Spanish city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital of both the ''Comarca'' (County) and Province of Pontevedra, and of the Rías Baixas in Galicia. It is also the capital of its own municipality whi ...

on 6 September and entered Portuguese territory on 12 September having crossed the Miño river through a

pontoon bridge A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, uses float (nautical), floats or shallow-draft (hull), draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the supports limits the maxi ...

. Three Portuguese forts located throughout their lines were assaulted and captured by the Tercio of Rojas y Pantoja in a skirmish which cost the Spanish 20 men, among them don Diego Suárez de Deza, Señor de

Castrelos Castrelos e Carrazedo is a civil parish in the municipality of Bragança Municipality, Bragança, Portugal. It was formed in 2013 by the merger of the former parishes Castrelos and Carrazedo. The population in 2011 was 241, On 17 September the Portuguese army under João Rodrigues de Vasconcelos e Sousa, Count of Castelo Melhor, numbering 5,500 infantry and 500 cavalry men, approached a league from the Spanish. Count of Peñalba was then sent to inspect the field in command of 8 cavalry squadrons, which were led by don Francisco de la Cueva, don Francisco Taboada, don Álvaro de Anaya, don Francisco Marcos de Velasco, don Antonio de Mocoso, don Andrés de Robles and don Pedro Niño. They were accompanied by 8 battalions of the tercios. Teniente Maestro the Campo General don Francisco Buzo, meanwhile, was ordered to

skirmish Skirmishers are light infantry or light cavalry soldiers deployed as a vanguard, flank guard or rearguard to screen a tactical position or a larger body of friendly troops from enemy advances. They are usually deployed in a skirmish line, an ir ...

with the Portuguese in command of 400

musketeer A musketeer (french: mousquetaire) was a type of soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern warfare particularly in Europe as they normally comprised the majority of their infantry. The musketeer was a pre ...

s. The maneouver of Count of Peñalba was covered by Teniente Maestro de Campo General don Francisco Rojo with his Tercio, while don Francisco de la Cueva moved on the opposite flank with the same aim. Marquis of Viana led the major attack from Vila Nova de Cerveira; the Maestro de Campo General commanded a second attack from Valença do Minho with Comisario General don Cristóbal Zorrilla, various other officers and 1,000 soldiers belonging to the Tercios of don Gabriel Sarmiento de Quirós and dos Luís Pérez de Vivero. Don Francisco Buzo, whose musketeers were harassing the Portuguese army, reported to Marquis of Viana that Count of Castelo Melhor seemed to have intentions of withdraw with his army.González López, p. 172 Count of Peñalba with his cavalry and Teniente Maestre de Campo General don Pedro de Aldao with the infantry, in an attempt to avoid it, found the Portuguese entrenched in a slope and attacked their formations until break them. The Portuguese cavalry was defeated; then the infantry fled. 18 Spanish were killed and about 60 or 63 wounded. Count of Castelo Melhor lost 900 men: 250 killed, 380 wounded and 260 prisoners, among who were 28 officers including Count of Vimieiro.

Aftermath

The day after the battle, the Spanish army captured the Tower of Nogueira and four other watchtowers, as well as some small villages. The Count of Castelo Melhor retreated to Covas de Ponte de Lima, being pursued by the Spanish cavalry, who plundered the place before rejoining the main force. On 30 September, having reorganised his army, the Marquis of Viana laid siege to the fortress of Lapela, which had been his first objective. The village was taken on 6 October with its garrison of 150 soldiers, who were imprisoned in Galicia.González López, p. 173 Monção was also besieged, falling in Spanish hands on 7 January 1659 after a costly and expensive siege for both countries. The Count of Castelo Melhor died of illness during the winter and could not prevent the fall of the town. The main objective of the campaign, the recapture of Salvatierra de Miño, was achieved on 17 February.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vilanova, Battle of Battles involving Portugal Battles involving Spain Conflicts in 1658 Battles of the Portuguese Restoration War 1658 in Europe 1658 in Portugal