270px, Landing of the liberal forces in Oporto on 8 July 1832
The landing at Mindelo was a landing of Portuguese Liberal forces north of
Porto
Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...
on 8 July 1832, marking a turning point in the
Liberal Wars
The Liberal Wars (), also known as the Portuguese Civil War () and the War of the Two Brothers () was a civil war in Portugal that lasted from May 1828 to May 1834, fought between liberal progressive constitutionalists (led by former King P ...
(1828 - 1834). It took place at the beach near Arnosa de Pampelido, known currently as praia da memória (memory beach), in the parish of
Perafita, Lavra e Santa Cruz do Bispo in
Matosinhos
Matosinhos () is a City#Portugal, city and a Concelho, municipality in the district of Porto District, Porto in Portugal. The municipality covers an area of approximately and had 172,557 inhabitants in 2021. It is bordered by the municipalities o ...
.
The landing may have taken the name of
, a parish located 9 km north of the site, due to the term's historical use to refer to a larger geographical area between the rivers
Ave
is a Latin word, used by the Roman Empire, Romans as a salutation (greeting), salutation and greeting, meaning 'wikt:hail, hail'. It is the singular imperative mood, imperative form of the verb , which meant 'Well-being, to be well'; thus on ...
and Leça.
The landing
During the first 4 years of the War, Absolutist forces loyal to
Dom Miguel, who had usurped the throne of Portugal, were in control of the Portuguese mainland. While the Liberals loyal to ex-
Emperor of Brazil
The monarchs of Brazil (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''monarcas do Brasil'') were the imperial head of state, heads of state and hereditary rulers of Brazil from the House of Braganza that reigned from the creation of the Brazilian monarchy ...
,
Dom Pedro Duke of Braganza, controlled the
Azores
The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...
.
On 8 July 1832 a fleet of 60 ships under the command of the British Admiral
George Rose Sartorius arrived from the Azores at the ''Arnosa de Pampelido'' beach near Mindelo.
Some 7500 men came ashore, including
António Severin de Noronha Count of Vila Flor,
Alexandre Herculano,
Almeida Garrett
João Baptista da Silva Leitão de Almeida Garrett, 1st Viscount of Almeida Garrett (; 4 February 1799 – 9 December 1854) was a Portuguese poet, orator, playwright, novelist, journalist, politician, and a peer of the realm. A major promoter ...
,
Joaquim António de Aguiar and
José Travassos Valdez
José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ).
In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...
. There were also many foreign volunteers : French, Belgian, Polish, Italian, German, Spanish and a British contingent under the command of Colonels
George Lloyd Hodges and
Charles Shaw. The Army was later called ''Os Bravos do Mindelo'' (''The Braves of Mindelo'').
The Absolutist authorities were caught by surprise and were not able to oppose the landing, nor the occupation of Porto the next day. On 23 July the Liberal Army were able to repulse the Absolutists in the
Battle of Ponte Ferreira
The Battle of Ponte Ferreira, fought on 22–23 July 1832, was the first major battle of the Portuguese Civil War between the forces of Pedro IV of Portugal, Dom Pedro, ex-Emperor of Brazil and Regent for his daughter Maria II of Portugal, Maria ...
, but had to fall back on Porto where they were
besieged for an entire year.
Honours
The port city on the island of
São Vicente in
Cape Verde
Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...
was named
in 1838 in honour of the Landing at Mindelo.
[Génese e desenvolvimento da cidade do Mindelo: a preservação de uma identidade]
Fred Yanick Fonseca Delgado, 2016, p. 42-48
In 1864, a granite obelisk was inaugurated in the landing site in praia da memória (memory beach) in memory of the landing. Inscribed in it are a speech attributed to
Dom Pedro which was said before the landing and a description of the landing.
Sources
Disembarkation Braves of Mindelo 1832
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Landing at Mindelo
1832 in Portugal
July 1832
Conflicts in 1832