The Recapture of Angola, or Reconquest of Angola, was a military campaign fought between the Portuguese and the Dutch occupiers of Angola. Its most important episode was the siege imposed by the Portuguese on the far larger Dutch garrison of Luanda. In 1641 Johan Maurits sent an expedition under Admiral Cornelis Jol from

Recife That it may shine on all (Gospel of Matthew, Matthew Sermon on the Mount, 5:15) , image_map = Brazil Pernambuco Recife location map.svg , mapsize = 250px , map_caption = Location in the state of Pernambuco , p ...

Dutch Brazil Dutch Brazil ( nl, Nederlands-Brazilië), also known as New Holland ( nl, Nieuw-Holland), was a colony of the Dutch Republic in the northeastern portion of modern-day Brazil, controlled from 1630 to 1654 during Dutch colonization of the Americas ...

to seize the Angolan capital of

Luanda Luanda () is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seaport ...

. The Dutch were able to easily capture Luanda in August as the Portuguese forces were occupied inland in a campaign against the

Kingdom of Kongo The Kingdom of Kongo ( kg, Kongo dya Ntotila or ''Wene wa Kongo;'' pt, Reino do Congo) was a kingdom located in central Africa in present-day northern Angola, the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Republic of the ...

. The two countries fought to a stalemate over Angola, until in 1648 the governor of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

and Angola,

Salvador de Sá Salvador Correia de Sá e Benevides (1594 in Rio de Janeiro or 1602 in Cádiz – January 1, 1688 in Lisbon) was a Portuguese admiral and crown administrator. In 1625 he fought the Dutch invasion of Salvador in Brazil and regained Angola and São ...

, reached Luanda and finding the city defended by 1200 Dutch troops, besieged them and regained it for Portugal exactly seven years after its loss. When a Dutch force of 300 soldiers returned from the interior to help their garrison of Luanda, they also surrendered to the Portuguese, but their allied warriors of Queen Ndjinga fought a battle against the Portuguese and were defeated as well. Then Salvador Correia de Sa sent a force to Benguela where the Dutch garrison surrendered. He also sent a fleet which recaptured the archipelago of

São Tomé e Príncipe SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U. ...

from the Dutch, who left behind their artillery. This was a decisive Dutch defeat since Dutch Brazil couldn't survive without the slaves from Angola. The end of Dutch presence in South America (with the exception of the Guiana) meant not only the bankruptcy of the

WIC The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is an American federal assistance program of the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for healthcare and nutrition ...

, but also the end of most of the West Dutch empire.

Notes

References

*Lourenço, Paula.''Battles of Portuguese History - Defence of the Overseas. - Volume X.'' (2006)

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

1648 in Africa

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

Angola–Portugal relations Angola–Netherlands relations History of Luanda Battles in Angola 1648 in the Dutch Empire 1648 in the Portuguese Empire {{angola-stub