In the Battle of the Cunene River, Portuguese Colonial forces were defeated by Angolan

Ovambo Ovambo may refer to: *Ovambo language *Ovambo people * Ovamboland *Ovambo sparrowhawk The Ovambo or Ovampo sparrowhawk, also known as Hilgert's sparrowhawk, (''Accipiter ovampensis'') is a species of sub-Saharan African bird of prey in the famil ...

warriors on 25 September 1904. The defeat was one of the heaviest defeats in Portuguese Colonial history since Alcácer Quibir (1578) and is comparable to the British defeat at Isandhlwana against the Zulus (1879), the Italian defeats at Dogali (1887) and at Adwa (1896) against the Ethiopians or the Spanish defeats at Melilla (1909) and at Annual (1921) against the Rif. After having subdued the Nkhumbi people, Portuguese troops advanced from Huila southward into territories which were just claimed by Portugal but not yet under control. At

Cunene River The Cunene (Portuguese spelling) or Kunene (common Namibian spelling) is a river in Southern Africa. It flows from the Angola highlands south to the border with Namibia. It then flows west along the border until it reaches the Atlantic Ocean. It ...

they were confronted with the resistance of two

Ovambo people The Ovambo people (), also called Aawambo, Ambo, Aawambo (Ndonga, Nghandjera, Kwambi, Kwaluudhi, Kolonghadhi, Mbalantu), or Ovawambo (Kwanyama) the biggest of the Aawambo sub-tribes are a Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, primarily mo ...

s, the Cuamato and Cuanhama, led by their king Tchetekelo. When an advanced unit composed of 500 Portuguese soldiers and Humbi auxiliaries under captain Luís Pinto de Almeida crossed the river, about 300 men were massacred in an ambush."Thus in September 1904 a Portuguese column lost over 300 men killed, including 114 Europeans, in an encounter with the Kunahamas on the Kunene, not far from the German frontier. ... In 1905 and again in 1907 there was renewed fighting in the same region" The Portuguese defeat was followed by a punitive expedition in 1905 and 1907, but not before 1916 Southern Angola was "pacified".

Notes

Sources

* * António Aniceto Monteiro: ''The Conquest of Southern Angola'' (The Massacre, 25 September 1904) * José Bento Duarte: ''Desastre do Vau do Pembe (Angola) – 25 de Setembro de 1904'' Portuguese Angola the Cunene 1904 in Angola {{battle-stub