Battle of the Lines of Elvas 1659
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 14 January 1659 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1659 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Portugal | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Portuguese Restoration War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 38.8909, -7.1770 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of the Lines of Elvas (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɛlvɐʃ]), was fought on 14 January 1659, in Elvas, between Portugal and Spain during the Portuguese Restoration War. It ended in a decisive Portuguese victory achieved by commanders António Meneses and André Ribafria.
The battle took place during the Spanish siege of Elvas under the lead of Luis de Haro; the Portuguese garrison under the leadership of Ribafria was later supported by a field Portuguese army under Meneses, which attacked the Spanish besiegers from the rear while the garrison attacked from the front. Ribafria was the one who reformed the Portuguese cavalry into a formidable force. While skillfully exercising his command, he was killed in this clash. In addition, the Spaniards had very few cannons compared to the Portuguese garrison and field force. Thus, the Spanish army was decisively assaulted from both sides and routed.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of the Lines of Elvas (revision 1370600705), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of La Gudiña 1709 · 11 km
- Siege of Campo Maior (1712) 1712 · 16 km
- Battle of Campo Maior 1811 · 17 km
- Battle of the Gebora 1811 · 17 km
- First siege of Badajoz (1811) 1811 · 17 km
- Siege of Badajoz (1705) 1705 · 17 km
Other battles of the Portuguese Restoration War
- Battle of Mbororé 1641
- Siege of São Filipe 1641
- Battle of Montijo 1644
- Battle of Vilanova 1658
- Siege of Badajoz (1658) 1658
- Battle of Ameixial 1663
- Battle of Castelo Rodrigo 1664
- Battle of Montes Claros 1665
- Battle of the Berlengas (1666) 1666
All 10 battles of the Portuguese Restoration War →
Browse more: battles in Portugal · Europe · Early modern battles