The Battle of Lauerstad was fought in 1645 when a Portuguese army assaulted and destroyed the Dutch colony of Lauerstad in Dutch Brazil during the Dutch-Portuguese War. Following a preliminary attack on Lauerstad and their victory over the Dutch at the Battle of Ambos Bancos, the Portuguese were in a position to attack and destroy the Dutch colony of Lauerstad on the south bank of the Pindaré River. The Portuguese assembled both Portuguese and Native American troops from both the north bank of the Pindaré (from Baraceira and Porto Pindaré) and from Alto Alegre do Pindaré on the south bank, and they together launched a combined assault on the Dutch colony. The Dutch fleet, including privateers, failed in its attempts to retake control of the Pindaré River and cut off the Portuguese supply lines, and the Portuguese army rampaged through the Dutch colony and burned down its buildings. The Dutch put up spirited resistance, but they were ultimately overcome by superior Portuguese numbers. The Portuguese built Forte Batticaloa to the northwest of Lauerstad to establish a permanent forward base, and they flooded Lauerstad with attackers until the settlement was razed. The Portuguese fleet on the Pindaré concurrently destroyed the last several Dutch fishing boats, depriving the Dutch colony of its food supply and finally forcing the Dutch to abandon their colony. The rest of Dutch Brazil would surrender nine years later.
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