Reconquest of Angola



The Reconquest of Angola (Reconquista de Angola) (1641-1648) was Portugal's campaign to regain its colony in Angola from the Dutch. In 1641 Johan Maurits sent an expedition under Admiral Cornelis Jol from Recife in Dutch Brazil to seize the Angolan capital of Luanda. The Dutch were able to easily capture Luanda in August as the Portuguese forces were occupied inland in a campaign against the Kingdom of Kongo. The two countries fought to a stalemate over Angola, until in 1648 the governor of Rio de Janeiro and Angola, Salvador de Sá, reached Luanda and finding the port defended by only 50 Dutch troops, regained it for Angola exactly seven years after its loss.