The Battle of Ambos Bancos was fought between the armies of Portugal and Dutch Brazil in 1645 during the Dutch-Portuguese War. The Portuguese launched an offensive against the Dutch on the south bank of the Pindaré River after establishing the colony of Alto Alegre do Pindaré on the south bank and due west of the Dutch colony of Lauerstad, assembling a large army of both Portuguese troops and Potiguara Native American allies. The Portuguese army marched east to attack the Dutch colony of Lauerstad, launching a preliminary attack on the settlement to gauge its strength before retreating to the northwest, along the riverbank. There, they intercepted a sizable Dutch army as it marched to a fishing boat, which was to carry a portion of the Dutch army across the river to attack the Portuguese colony. The Portuguese killed many of the Dutch soldiers before they reached the boat, but the boat succeeded in transporting 12 Dutch troops across the Pindaré to attack the Portuguese port of Porto Pindaré. The Dutch raiding party was repulsed by Portuguese militiamen and by the Portuguese watchtowers, and all of the Dutch raiders were killed. The Portuguese victory at Ambos Bancos ("both banks (of the Pindare)") enabled the Portuguese to launch an all-out attack on Lauerstad now that its garrison army had been annihilated.
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