Battle of Itaparica

Last updated
Battle of Itaparica
Part of the Brazilian War of Independence
"A Flotilha Itaparicana" em 1823 (52322449263).jpg
The Itaparica Flotilla in 1823, by Trajano Augusto de Carvalho in Nossa Marinha: Seus Feitos e Glórias (1822–1940)
Date7–9 January 1823
Location 12°59′00″S38°40′00″W / 12.98333°S 38.66667°W / -12.98333; -38.66667
Result Brazilian victory
Belligerents
Flag of Empire of Brazil (1822-1870).svg  Empire of Brazil Flag of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves.svg  Kingdom of Portugal
Commanders and leaders
Flag of Empire of Brazil (1822-1870).svg Antônio de Sousa Lima
Flag of Empire of Brazil (1822-1870).svg João das Botas
Flag of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves.svg Joaquim José da Cunha
Strength
3,257 soldiers [1]

Ships: [1]
2 gunboats
1,200 soldiers [2]

Ships: [2]
2 brigs
1 schooner
1 barque
35 gunboats/small vessels
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown

The Battle of Itaparica was fought in the then province of Bahia from January 7 to 9, 1823, between the Brazilian Army and Armada and the Portuguese Army and Navy during the Brazilian War of Independence. [2]

Contents

Despite the fact that the independence of Brazil had been proclaimed by Prince Regent Pedro on 7 September 1822, the armed struggle continued in Bahia, with the confrontation of Portuguese resistance. The fights lasted until 2 July 1823, when the Bahian victory was finally proclaimed. In January 1823, Itaparica Island was the scene of the Battle of Itaparica, a Brazilian triumph that was fundamental to victory in the war.

Commanded by Antônio de Sousa Lima, the soldiers of the Itaparica Battalion defended the island from the desperate attack of the Portuguese, using a defensive system that began at the São Lourenço Fort, and continued with trenches mounted in strategic places, manned by soldiers. and small cannon pieces, such as Largo da Quitanda, Fonte da Bica, and Praia da Convento, as well as the beaches of Amoreiras, Mocambo, Manguinhos, and Porto dos Santos, among others.

On the Portuguese side, João Félix Pereira de Campos was the commander of the Portuguese fleet in Bahia, 42 vessels of different sizes were involved in this attack, which resulted in a shameful defeat for Portuguese soldiers and sailors. According to Pereira de Campos' letters, which they attributed to the fact that there was a garrison made up of an unexpected number of people and the "way of defending" against the forces of the island of Itaparica.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portuguese Navy</span> Naval branch of the Portuguese Armed Forces

The Portuguese Navy, also known as the Portuguese War Navy or as the Portuguese Armada, is the navy of the Portuguese Armed Forces. Chartered in 1317 by King Dinis of Portugal, it is the oldest continuously serving navy in the world; in 2017, the Portuguese Navy commemorated the 700th anniversary of its official creation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Itaparica Island</span> Island in Atlantic Ocean

Itaparica is an island located at the entrance of Todos os Santos Bay on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in the state of Bahia, Brazil. It is located about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the city of Salvador, Bahia and covers 146 square kilometres (56 sq mi). There are two municipalities on the island: Vera Cruz and Itaparica (13%). Itaparica has 40 kilometres (25 mi) of beaches and exuberant tropical vegetation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cisplatine War</span> 1825–1828 war between Brazil and the United Provinces of the River Plate

The Cisplatine War was an armed conflict fought in the 1820s between the Empire of Brazil and the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata over control of Brazil's Cisplatina province. It was fought in the aftermath of the United Provinces' and Brazil's independence from Spain and Portugal, respectively, and resulted in the independence of Cisplatina as the Oriental Republic of Uruguay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Pascoe Grenfell</span> Navy officer and diplomat of the Empire of Brazil

John Pascoe Grenfell was a British officer of the Empire of Brazil. He spent most of his service in South America campaigns, initially under the leadership of Lord Cochrane and then Commodore Norton. He was the nephew of British politician Pascoe Grenfell and grandfather to General Sir John Grenfell Maxwell. In Brazil, he rose to the rank of admiral and for his achievements was made a knight grand cross of the Imperial Order of the Rose and a knight of the Imperial Order of the Southern Cross.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federalist Revolution</span> Civil war in Brazil

The Federalist Revolution was a civil war that took place in southern Brazil between 1893 and 1895, fought by the federalists, opponents of Rio Grande do Sul state president, Júlio de Castilhos, seeking greater autonomy for the state, decentralization of power by the newly installed First Brazilian Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armed Forces of the Empire of Brazil</span> Combined military forces of the erstwhile Empire of Brazil (1822–1889)

The Armed Forces of the Empire of Brazil were the overall unified military forces of the Empire of Brazil. The Brazilian military was first formed by Emperor Dom Pedro I to defend the new nation against the Portuguese in the Brazilian War of Independence. The Army and Armada were commissioned in 1822 with the objective of defeating and expelling the Portuguese troops from Brazilian soil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Jenipapo</span>

The Battle of Jenipapo was fought near the Jenipapo river in the then province of Piauí, on 13 March 1823, between the Imperial Brazilian Army and the Portuguese Army during the Brazilian War of Independence.

The Battle of Pirajá was fought as part of the Independence of Bahia and more broadly, as part of the War of Independence of Brazil. It was fought in Pirajá, now a neighborhood of the city of Salvador, Bahia on November 8, 1822. The Battle of Pirajá was the largest engagement in the fight for the independence of Bahia, involving approximately 10,000 troops.

The siege of Caxias was a siege during the Brazilian War of Independence in which the Brazilian Army under the command of José Pereira Filgueiras attempted to capture the city of Caxias in Maranhão, which was defended by the Portuguese Army of João José da Cunha Fidié. The siege lasted from 23 May 1823 until 31 July 1823, when the Portuguese surrendered to the Brazilian forces after the combats that occurred between 17 July and 19 July that severely reduced its numbers. The event marked the beginning of the Portuguese forces' collapse in Maranhão.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Salvador (1822–1823)</span> Conflict during the Brazilian War of Independence

The siege of Salvador occurred during the Brazilian War of Independence, during which the newly formed Brazilian army, under the command of French general Pierre Labatut, attempted to capture the city of Salvador in Bahia from its Portuguese defenders. The siege lasted from 2 March 1822 until 2 July 1823, finally ending when the Portuguese commander, Madeira de Melo, surrendered his forces to the Brazilians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manuel Marques de Sousa, Count of Porto Alegre</span> Brazilian statesman and military leader (1804–1875)

Manuel Marques de Sousa, Count of Porto Alegre, nicknamed "the Gloved Centaur", was an army officer, politician and abolitionist of the Empire of Brazil. Born into a wealthy family of military background, Manuel Marques de Sousa joined the Portuguese Army in Brazil in 1817 when he was little more than a child. His military initiation occurred in the conquest of the Banda Oriental, which was annexed and became the southernmost Brazilian province of Cisplatina in 1821. For most of the 1820s, he was embroiled in the Brazilian effort to keep Cisplatina as part of its territory: first during the struggle for Brazilian independence and then in the Cisplatine War. It would ultimately prove a futile attempt, as Cisplatina successfully separated from Brazil to become the independent nation of Uruguay in 1828.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conquest of the Azores</span> Naval battle between Spain and Portugal (1583)

The Conquest of the Azores, but principally involving the conquest of the island of Terceira, occurred on 2 August 1583, in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores, between forces loyal to the claimant D. António, Prior of Crato, supported by the French and English troops, and the Spanish and Portuguese forces loyal to King Philip II of Spain, commanded by the Admiral Don Álvaro de Bazán, Marquis of Santa Cruz, during the War of the Portuguese Succession. The victory of the Marquis of Santa Cruz resulted in the rapid Spanish conquest of the Azores, facilitating the integration of the Kingdom of Portugal and its colonial possessions into the Spanish Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brazilian War of Independence</span> 1822–1823 war between Portugal and Brazil

The Brazilian War of Independence was waged between the newly independent Brazilian Empire and the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves, which had just undergone the Liberal Revolution of 1820. It lasted from 1822, when the first skirmishes took place, to March 1824, with the surrender of the Portuguese garrison in Montevideo, but hostilities only ceased on 29 August 1825, with the signing of the Treaty of Rio de Janeiro, which ended the war. The conflict was fought on land and sea and involved both regular forces and civilian militia. Land and naval battles took place in the territories of Bahia, Cisplatina, Rio de Janeiro, Grão-Pará, Maranhão and Pernambuco, which today are part of Ceará, Piauí and Rio Grande do Norte states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Quitéria</span> Brazilian lieutenant and national heroine

Maria Quitéria de Jesus was a Brazilian lieutenant and national heroine. She served in the Brazilian War of Independence in 1822–23 dressed as a man. She was promoted to cadet and Lieutenant and decorated with the Imperial order. She has been called the "Brazilian Joan of Arc", and has become a kind of national legendary figure. Quitéria was the first woman to serve in a military unit in Brazil. She, along with Maria Filipa de Oliveira and Sister Joana Angélica (1761-1822), are known as the three Bahian women resistance fighters in the War of Independence against the Portuguese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Captaincy of Bahia</span>

The Captaincy of Bahia, fully the Captaincy of the Bay of All Saints, was a captaincy of Portuguese Brazil.

Maria Filipa de Oliveira was an Afro-Brazilian independence fighter, and is consisted a controversial figure. She is believed to be from island of Itaparica, Bahia, and was active during the Brazilian War of Independence. The independence struggle against the Portuguese lasted a little over a year, with many battles centered on Itaparica. Maria Filipa is noted as one of three women who participated in the struggle for Bahia's independence in 1823, the others being the military figure Maria Quitéria (1792-1853) and Sister Joana Angélica (1761-1822).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imperial Brazilian Navy</span> Navy of the Brazilian Empire between 1822 and 1889

The Imperial Brazilian Navy was the navy created at the time of the independence of the Empire of Brazil from the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. It existed between 1822 and 1889 during the vacancy of the constitutional monarchy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forte de São Lourenço</span>

Forte de São Lourenço is a fort located in Itaparica, Bahia in Brazil. It sits on a strategic point at the north of Itaparica Island on a site used for whaling in the early 17th century. The Dutch constructed a small earthwork fortification on the site during the Dutch occupation of Brazil (1630–1654); it was reconstructed by the Portuguese in its present form in the early 18th century. The fort was used by Brazilian forces during the Brazilian struggle for independence in 1823; the Brazilian Navy has owned the fort since the same year. The Forte de São Lourenço was listed as a federal historic structure in 1938.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar Bandeira</span> House in Salvador, Bahia

Solar Bandeira is a former manor house in Salvador, Brazil. It was built by Pedro Rodrigues Bandeira (1768-1835), a wealthy merchant and financier of Bahian forces during the Brazilian War of Independence. Solar Bandeira is located on the slope in the Soledade neighborhood, formerly a suburb of Salvador that included plantation and the Convent Our Lady of Solitude. The garden, which had rich mosaic work and a view of the Bay of All Saints, was called the "marvel and pride of Bahia" in the 18th and 19th century. Solar Bandeira, despite its protected status, is in an advanced state of ruin and may not be visited.

Brazilian ship <i>Pedro I</i> Brazilian naval vessel (1763–1833)

Pedro I was a ship of the line of the Imperial Brazilian Navy. It was a third-rate, three-masted, two-decked, 74-gunned sailing ship. The ship was built by Antônio da Silva in the Bahia Navy Arsenal in Salvador for the Portuguese Navy in Colonial Brazil in 1763. First named Santo António e São José, it took part in several naval actions in the decades after its construction such as the bombardment of Algiers in 1784.

References

Citations

Bibliography

Rodrigues, José Honório (1975). Independência: Revolução e contra-revolução - As Forças Armadas (in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro: F. Alves.