Battle of Rio de Janeiro (1710)

Battle of Rio de Janeiro Part of the War of the Spanish Succession Date 19 September 1710 Location Rio de Janeiro, Colony of Brazil Result Portuguese victory Belligerents Portuguese Empire  France Commanders and leaders Francisco de Moraes de Castro Jean-François Duclerc (POW) Strength 15,000 troops and militia 6 ships 1,500 men Casualties and losses 270 killed and wounded 600 killed 600 taken prisoner

The 1710 Battle of Rio de Janeiro was a failed raid by a French privateering fleet on the Portuguese colonial city of Rio de Janeiro in August 1710, during the War of the Spanish Succession. The raid was a complete failure; its commander, Jean-François Duclerc, 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.^[1]

References

1. Boxer, p. 91

• Boxer, Charles Ralph. The golden age of Brazil, 1695-1750: growing pains of a colonial society

Coordinates: 22°54′35″S 43°10′35″W / 22.9098°S 43.1763°W