Journey through Time
1665 – Montes Claros Battle
The Battles
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Political Context Before the Battle of Montes Claros
During the seventy-year period from 1580 to 1640, the government of the Filipes gradually became known as a period of peculiar kings.
This conception became more intense in 1621 during the reign of Filipe III, who raised taxes and recruited Portuguese soldiers to serve in the Spanish army, namely in the war of Catalonia.
The Portuguese people perceived, and rightly so, that the raise in tax was not intended for an improvement in living conditions in Portugal, but to fund Spanish projects, namely military campaigns in Europe and its ultramarine expansion.
In light of this situation, the discontentment of Portugal gradually spread. The most important and distinguished aristocracy set in motion the Restoration, a movement that emerged on the 1st of December, 1640, with the immediate coalescence of other social levels, from the high clergy to the lowest classes.
This collective coalescence of the Portuguese people explains the human and material sacrifices present in the following years during the military resistance along the boarders and in the ultramarine territory.
The proclamation of D. João IV became official on the 15th of December, in the Terreiro do Paço in Lisbon. Soon after, the young monarch summoned the Courts present in Lisbon since the 28th of January, 1641, with the participation of the clergy, aristocracy and the people of Lisbon. It was through these Courts that he recruited 20,000 infantrymen and 4,000 knights.
Military confrontation began in 1641, with the scrimmages in Alto Minho, Beira Alta and above all on the coastal area of Algarve and Alentejo.
However, the first battle, the Battle of Montijo, occurred on 26 May 1644. This Battle was fought in Spain, near Badajoz, and ended with a resounding victory for Portugal.
During this period of great uncertainty and affliction concerning the future and facing the more than probable invasion of the Spanish army, D. João IV, in a ceremony held in 1646 in the Church of Vila Viçosa, consecrated the people of Portugal to the Immaculate Conception and proclaimed Our Lady as queen and patron saint of Portugal. The kings of Portugal were never again able to place crowns on their heads as from this date the right was bestowed to Our Lady.
D. João IV died in November 1656, having trusted the rule of the Kingdom in a will to D. Luísa de Gusmão. Although Spanish by birth, from the region of Andaluzia, D. Luísa immediately embraced her husband´s cause and efficiently served the Restoration movement both before and after the death of D. João IV, assuring the independence of Portugal and the survival of the Dynasty.
On the 15th of November, 1656, D. Afonso VI was crowned king at the young age of thirteen.
The centre of Elvas was surrounded on 22 October 1658. On 14 January 1659 the Spanish siege of Elvas was broken by a Portuguese relief army, which had a significant victory in what would become known as the Battle of the Lines of Elvas.
The rule of D. Luisa Gusmão lasted until the 23rd of June, 1662, date in which D. Afonso VI assumed the power of Portugal at the age of nineteen.
In May 1663, a new Spanish army of 26,500 men invaded Portugal, from Badajoz. Nevertheless, upon reaching Alcácer do Sal, it was forced to retreat to Spain. The Battle of Ameixial was fought on 8 June 1663, 5 Km from Estremoz. It was an overwhelming Portuguese victory, with heavy Spanish casualties.
Yet Philip IV of Spain could not accept Portugal’s revolt, and was determined to regain control of the Portuguese Crown. The war between the Spanish and the French had just ended. They could therefore focus on Portugal, gather strength and supplies for a major offensive strike that would settle the war in their favour once and for all.
The Unraveling of the Battle
Phillip IV recruited the experienced and acclaimed Marquis of Caracena from Flanders to command the invading army.
Due to the availability of Spanish resources in the aforementioned areas, Spanish troops were gathered from posts in continental Europe. These troops were experienced in various war scenarios, including Flanders, the Italian States, Germany, Switzerland, and troops that had fought the French forces.
They were the elite and the pick of the skilled and notorious Tercio Español. In total the Spanish army had around 22,000 men, of which 15,000 were infantry and 7,000 were cavalry, and most had considerable combat experience. This army also had fourteen pieces of artillery.
On 1 June 1665, the Marquis of Caracena left Badajoz, leading a powerful army, and crossed the Caia River on the 7th. On 9 June, Borba fell into his power. He then charged Vila Viçosa, which he besieged and tried, unsuccessfully, to conquer.
The Portuguese army gathered in Estremoz, comprising 20,500 infantry and cavalry soldiers, set out on 17 June. Its goal was to help the heroic garrison of the besieged centre, before it gave way under the weight of the enemy, but also to draw the Spanish army into battle.
On 17 June, when the Spanish found out that the Portuguese army was approaching, they left a small contingent behind to surround Vila Viçosa and marched towards the Portuguese. The two armies met on the plains between the mountain ranges of Vigária and Ossa, after nine o’clock in the morning.
Caracena intended to attack the Portuguese army as it marched, in order to create confusion. The Marquis of Marialva saw through this plan, and ordered his army to stop in Montes Claros and await an order of battle. The Duke of Schomberg carried out this mission swiftly and with keen military science.
The army of the Marquis of Caracena charged the Portuguese forces with two bodies, a cavalry column and an infantry column. The first fights took place near the Convent of Our Lady of Light (Convento de Nossa Senhora da Luz).
Caracena, who set up his command post in the Serra da Vigária, planned to surprise the Portuguese cavalry. As it was divided into two columns, the Spanish cavalry would charge the centre and the right column in an attempt to isolate them from the left.
Foreseeing this course of action, the Duke of Schomberg moved the Portuguese cavalry from the left flank (vineyards) to the right flank (foothills of the Serra de Ossa), which proved to be an extremely wise move.
When the Spanish cavalry commenced its attack on the Portuguese right flank, the first line of Portuguese terços and cavalry suffered considerable losses. It was saved from this critical situation by the reinforcement to the Portuguese cavalry and the decisive intervention of the artillery, under command of Luís de Meneses, who opened fire at close range against enemy lines.
Meanwhile the Spanish infantry advanced upon the left column of the Portuguese infantry, in spite of the tricky vine-laden terrain.
In response to this Spanish assault, an English regiment made a hasty retreat, two French regiments were repelled and an auxiliary terço from Évora that came to its aid suffered casualties.
The Duke of Schomberg, who diligently responded to the toughest confrontations, commanded three Portuguese terços to fight on this location. This initiative forced the Spaniards to lose ground.
Once it had recovered, the Spanish cavalry sought to break the second line of the Portuguese right column. Faced with the ensuing critical situation, the Marquis of Marialva was deployed to organise a strong resistance with pikes and artillery, together with the Count of Ericeira, Luís de Meneses, who commanded the Portuguese artillery. The retreat of the Portuguese army was thus thwarted.
Subsequently there were tough and extremely violent clashes between the squads of both armies, with advances and retreats between the two cavalries. The Marquis of Marialva feared that the Spanish infantry would break the Portuguese left, situated in the aforementioned vineyards, which would then compromise the brilliant second line of defense that the Portuguese centre and right were putting up. He therefore dismantled the Portuguese right column and moved some terços to the left column. This swift move allowed balance to be restored to the Portuguese troops and prevented the Portuguese lines from being broken.
The Battle was extremely intense and was for a long time undecided, or even seemed to be going in favour of the Spanish side. At three in the afternoon, after seven long hours of fighting, the aggressive attacks of the Spanish army were averted as a result of the tenacious and well-organised Portuguese resistance.
Once the Portuguese forces recovered from the initial breaches and under the ultimately effective protection of its artillery, located in the foothills of the Serra d’Ossa, they were able to send the enemy into retreat.
When it realised it could not defeat the Portuguese forces, the Spanish cavalry suspended its charges and the artillery ceased fire.
The Spanish army then decided to retreat inconspicuously, but when Diniz de Melo, general of the cavalry, was informed of this plan he decided to charge the Spaniards with full force. The assault was so vigorous that the retreat became a disorderly stampede.
The Marquis of Marialva saw the Spanish cavalry flee towards Borba and, making the most of the situation, cut off their escape route.
This further added to the uncontrolled retreat, which meant the Spanish army left behind thousands of prisoners in the hands of Portuguese captors. Only four terços that had gathered in the Serra da Vigária, with the Marquis of Caracena, managed to escape.
At that point, upon observing the battle’s development, the garrison of Vila Viçosa stormed bravely and broke the 1,800-strong Spanish siege force. The Spanish artillery surrounding Vila Viçosa was captured and many were held as prisoners. The remaining Spanish besiegers disbanded.
The Battle of Montes Claros thus ended with a heavy defeat for Spain, after nine hours of gruelling fights.
The Portuguese army lost around 700 men. Nevertheless, the Spanish army sustained 4,000 casualties and 6,000 prisoners, as well as losing 3,500 horses that were later allocated to the various companies in the Kingdom. In addition, the Spanish army lost 14 pieces of artillery, countless bullets, all kinds of infantry weapons, eighty infantry flags and eighteen cavalry flags to the Portuguese.
Yet another great Spanish general had been sacrificed on the fire of the restoration war. Yet another dangerous invasion plan had been foiled and the kingdom’s independence consolidated.
Consequences of the Battle
The Battle of Montes Claros was fundamental for Portugal to secure territorial integrity and reach the 21st century as a free and independent Country. In fact, after a number of military victories, the Battle of Montes Claros confirmed an irreversible process, since it was the decisive battle that ended the war.
On an international level, the Portuguese victory at Montes Claros strengthened the resolve of France and England to establish a peace treaty between Portugal and Spain.
For France, Portugal’s independence from Spain would help ensure the European hegemony that the Thirty Years War had afforded it. France even signed a 10-year offensive and defensive alliance with Portugal on 31 March 1667, against Charles II of Spain.
For England, the split between Portugal and Spain would advance its naval power and facilitate its overseas expansion. Accordingly, the English ambassador in Madrid worked during 1666 and 1667 on an Anglo-Spanish treaty that negotiated a 45-year truce with Portugal.
This political scenario resulted in the Peace Treaty being signed in Madrid on 5 January 1668, and ratified in Lisbon on 13 February. This treaty instituted an everlasting peace between both Countries.
