The 1710 Battle of Rio de Janeiro was a failed raid by a French

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

ing fleet on the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

colonial city of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

in August 1710, during the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

. The raid was a complete failure; its commander,

Jean-François Duclerc Jean-François Duclerc ( Guadeloupe, 1??? – Rio de Janeiro, 18 March 1711) was a French privateer, and appointed Knight of the Order of Saint-Louis. Background He was born in Guadeloupe as son of Jean Duclerc. He started a career in the French ...

, and more than 600 men were captured. French anger over the Portuguese failure to properly hold, release, or exchange the prisoners contributed to a second, successful raid, the following year. Duclerc was assassinated while in captivity in March 1711; his killers (and their reason for killing him) are unknown.Boxer, p. 91

References

*Boxer, Charles Ralph
''The golden age of Brazil, 1695-1750: growing pains of a colonial society''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rio De Janeiro, Battle of 1710 Naval battles of the War of the Spanish Succession Naval battles involving France Naval battles involving Portugal Military history of Brazil Conflicts in 1710 1710 in France 1710 in Brazil