Battles of the Brazilian War of Independence
1822–1824 · 2 battles covered, in date order. Click a battle on the map for its summary.
Battle (size: ships engaged)
Brazilian movement
Portuguese movement
Routes are approximate.
4 May 1823 · Off Salvador, Bahia
Battle of 4 MayInconclusive; Cochrane broke off
Cochrane sailed from Rio on 3 April to blockade Salvador, where General Madeira de Melo's Portuguese army was besieged by Brazilian troops on land. On 4 May he met the Portuguese squadron under João Félix Pereira de Campos, thirteen ships with a ship of the line and two big frigates, and tried to cut through its line and fall on the rear. Pedro I opened fire on the corvette Princesa Real around noon, but most of his ships hung back out of range, and Portuguese-born sailors in his crews, Pedro I's among them, hampered the fight. Seeing he could not win even locally, Cochrane broke off and anchored at Morro de São Paulo. He sent the slowest ships away, moved the best men and guns into Pedro I and Maria da Glória, and kept up the blockade with those two.
7
vs
13
July 1823 · São Luís, Maranhão
Surrender of São LuísBrazilian success; Maranhão surrendered without a fight
After chasing the Bahia convoy into the Atlantic, Cochrane took Pedro I north on his own initiative to Maranhão, where the Portuguese still held the capital, São Luís. He arrived on 26 July flying Portuguese colours, seized the ships in the harbour, and told the authorities that a large Brazilian fleet and army were just over the horizon. There was no such force, but the junta believed him, and within days the town and its garrison surrendered and the province joined the empire. Cochrane then sent John Pascoe Grenfell in a captured brig to Belém, where the same bluff brought Pará over in August.