The Spanish-Portuguese War between 1735 and 1737 was fought over the Banda Oriental, roughly present-day

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. At the time, this part of South-America was sparsely populated and was on the border between Portuguese Brazil and the Spanish Governorate of the Río de la Plata. Spain claimed the area based on the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494, but Portugal had founded the first city there, Sacramento Colony, in 1680. Spain had taken the city twice, in 1681 and in 1705, but was required to give it back to the Portuguese by the

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in 1713. The following years saw an expansion of the Portuguese settlements around the Sacramento Colony to a radius of up to 120 km. As a reaction, Captain-General of Río de la Plata Bruno Mauricio de Zabala had founded

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

on December 24, 1726 to prevent further expansion. However, the Portuguese trade made the Spanish suffer, as they were still compelled to trade with Spain over the

Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru (), officially known as the Kingdom of Peru (), was a Monarchy of Spain, Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in ...

, who imposed heavy taxes. Spain considered the Portuguese presence to be illegitimate and their trade contraband. In March 1734, the new Captain-General of Río de la Plata, Miguel de Salcedo y Sierraalta, received orders from Madrid to reduce the action radius of the Sacramento Colony to "a gunshot," around 2 km. He sent an ultimatum to António Pedro de Vasconcelos, the Portuguese governor of the colony, who stalled for time. In 1735, tensions raised between Spain and Portugal and Spanish ships under Alzaybar captured several Portuguese vessels. On April 19, Spanish First Secretary of State José Patiño ordered Salcedo to attack Sacramento. Salcedo gathered 1500 men and marched slowly on Sacramento but wasted much time attacking minor targets along the road. He was supported by 4,000 Guaraní warriors who came from the Jesuit Reductions. The siege started on October 14, 1735. By then, Vasconcelos had prepared the defense with a garrison of about 900 men and sent a messenger to

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to ask for reinforcements. José da Silva Pais sent six Portuguese ships, which arrived on January 6 followed by 12 more ships a few days later. The Spanish had tried to impose a naval blockade, but the Portuguese had more ships and gained naval superiority. In 1736 and 1737, more ships were sent from Spain and Portugal, and occasional confrontations between a few ships occurred, but Spain could not gain the upper hand. On September 6, 1736, the Portuguese even lay siege to Montevideo but withdrew when Salcedo sent a relief force of 200 men. On March 16, 1737, under the influence of

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and the

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, a treaty was signed. In September, the siege was lifted and the Spanish withdrew their forces and Miguel de Salcedo was disposed as governor of Buenos Aires. The war was local and involved only a couple of thousand men on each side.

Ships involved

Portugal

Spain

Notes

References

*Robert Southey, ''History of Brazil'' (1819)

External links

Guerras entre España y Portugal en la cuenca del Río de la Plata
(Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Spanish-Portuguese War (1735-37) 18th century in Spain 1730s in Spain 1730s in Portugal 1735 in Spain 1735 in Portugal 1737 in Spain 1737 in Portugal Military history of Uruguay Wars involving Spain Wars involving Portugal 18th century in Portugal 18th century in Uruguay 1730s conflicts Portugal–Spain military relations Portuguese colonization of the Americas 1730s in South America 1735 in South America 1736 in South America 1737 in South America