| Spanish–Portuguese War | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The Banda Oriental | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Portugal |  Spain | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Silva Pais António Pedro de Vasconcelos | Miguel de Salcedo y Sierraalta | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| About 2,000 Portuguese | About 2,000 Spanish 4,000 Guaranís | ||||||||
TheSpanish-Portuguese War between 1735 and 1737 was fought over theBanda Oriental, roughly present-dayUruguay.
At the time, this part of South-America was sparsely populated and was on the border betweenPortuguese Brazil and the SpanishGovernorate of the Río de la Plata. Spain claimed the area based on theTreaty 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 theTreaty of Utrecht 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 PlataBruno Mauricio de Zabala had foundedMontevideo 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 theViceroyalty of Peru, 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 toAntónio 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 StateJosé 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 4,000Guaraní warriors who came from theJesuit 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 toRio de Janeiro 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 ofFrance,Great Britain and theDutch Republic, a treaty was signed. In September, the siege was lifted and the Spanish withdrew their forces and Miguel de Salcedo was disposed asgovernor of Buenos Aires.
The war was local and involved only a couple of thousand men on each side.
| Ship | Guns | Commander | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Galga | 56 | ||
| San Francisco Javier | 52 | ||
| Paloma Indiana | 52 | ||
| San Esteban | 50 | Jorge Echeverria | |
| Hermiona | 50 | José Araña | |
| Nuestra Señora de la Encina | 36 | ||
| San Bruno | 36 |