Battle of Elmina (1625)
Battle of Elmina | |||||||
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Part of the Dutch-Portuguese War | |||||||
![]() View of Elmina, 1668. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Jan Dircksz Lam †[4] | Fernando de Sottomayor [5] | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
1,200 soldiers[6] 15 ships [5] |
56 Portuguese[1][5] 200 African allies | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
All killed except 45 [5] | 27 killed |
The Battle of Elmina was a military engagement of the Dutch-Portuguese War, fought near the castle of São Jorge da Mina (Elmina Castle)[3][7] in the Portuguese Gold Coast in 1625. It was fought between 1,200 soldiers of the Dutch West India Company (transported by a fleet of 15 ships) who landed and assaulted the Portuguese garrison of the castle. The garrison was reinforced by 200 African allies put in service of the governor Sottomayor by the local caciques.[8]
The Dutch opened the battle by bombarding the castle. Then the Dutch began to march to the castle, but they were ambushed by the Portuguese and their African allies from hidden positions and were almost totally massacred. Among the dead were the commander-in-chief and all his officers.[5] The Portuguese had very few casualties and took 15 flags, 15 drums, and more than 1,000 muskets, pikes, pistols, and dresses.
The Dutch ships fired over 2,000 cannonballs at the castle before they withdrew.
See also[]
References[]
Bibliography[]
- Glete, Jan, Warfare at Sea, 1500-1650: maritime conflicts and the transformation of Europe (2000).
- Rodriguez, Junius P., The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery, Volume 1 (1997).
- Boxer, C. R., Fidalgos in the Far East (1948).
- Dei-Anang, Michael, Ghana Resurgent (1964).
- Taylor, Gerard, Capoeira: the Jogo de Angola from Luanda to cyberspace, Volume 1 (2005).
- Graham Dann, A. V. Seatton, Slavery, Contested Heritage, and Thanatourism (2001).
- Johannes Postma, V. Enthoven, Riches from Atlantic Commerce: Dutch transatlantic trade and shipping, 1585-1817 (2003).
- Lewis H. Gann, Peter Duignan, Africa and the World: an introduction to the history of sub-Saharan Africa (1999).
- Battles of the Dutch–Portuguese War
- Dutch Gold Coast
- Portuguese Gold Coast
- 1625 in Africa
- Conflicts in 1625
- Elmina
- Battles involving Portugal
- Battles involving the Dutch Republic
- 1625 in the Portuguese Empire
- 1625 in the Dutch Empire
- History of Ghana
- 17th century in Ghana