"Like loyal soldiers"

some reflections on the first battle of the Guararapes

Abstract

Known as one of the battles that set the course of the Dutch West India Company’s domain in Brazil, the first battle of Guararapes was subject of study for many historians. Some of them tried to understand how an army that was reputed as one of the most modern of the period has succumbed to an inferior group in size and training. The choice of the battlefield and the use of a not conventional type of war by its enemies seems to be the main line of interpretation for the events. However, the analisys of certain Dutch documents allow us to broaden the debate on the Guararapes’ defeat. The objective of this article is to do some thinking around the military discipline issue on the Company’s army and to discuss some events occurred before and after the battle, which allow us to rethink the struggle and, mainly, its outcome.