Battle of the Cunene

Battle of the Cunene river
Part of Portuguese colonisation of Southern Angola
A depiction from Angelo Agostini, O Malho (1904)
Date 25 September 1904 Location Vau de Pembe, near the Cunene River (modern-day Ombadja, Cunene Province, Angola) 16°48′S14°54′E / 16.8°S 14.9°E / -16.8; 14.9 Result Ovambo victory
Belligerents
Ovambo warriors	Kingdom of Portugal
Commanders and leaders
Tchetekelo	Luís de Almeida
Strength
Unknown	~500
Casualties and losses
Unknown	~300

The Battle of the Cunene River took place between Portuguese colonial forces and Ovambo warriors from Oukwanyama and Cuamato in modern-day Angola on 25 September 1904.

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 they were confronted with the resistance of two Ovambo peoples, the Cuamato/Kwamato and Cuanhama/Kwanyama, 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. ^[1]

The Portuguese defeat was followed by a punitive expedition in 1905 and 1907, ^[2] but not before 1916 Southern Angola was "pacified".

Notes

1. "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" ( Chisholm 1911 , p. 40)
2. Chisholm 1911, p. 40.

Sources

• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Angola"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 40.
• 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