Terry Foreman on 15 Jun 2016  •  Link

In the war of Portuguese liberation from Spain, by 1662, Spain had committed itself to a major effort to end the war. John of Austria the Younger, Philip IV's illegitimate son, led 14,000 men into Alentejo, and, the following year, they succeeded in taking Évora, the major city of the region.

The Portuguese, under António Luís de Meneses, 1st Marquess of Marialva and the German soldier of fortune, Friedrich Hermann von Schönberg, Count of Mértola, who had been contracted, along with other foreign officers and over 2,000 English troops, were able to turn the tide.

They defeated the Spanish in a major engagement at Ameixial on 8 June 1663, and this forced John of Austria [the King of Spain] to abandon Évora and retreat across the border with heavy losses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Por…

On 4 July 1663, Pepys reports: " Sir Allen Apsley showed the Duke the Lisbon Gazette in Spanish, where the late victory is set down particularly, and to the great honour of the English beyond measure. They have since taken back Evora, which was lost to the Spaniards, the English making the assault, and lost not more than three men." http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Terry Foreman on 29 Jun 2016  •  Link

dirk found in the Rev. Josselin's diary entry of 28 July 1663 this notice:

"....news as if the Portugal near Lisbon had utterly routed the Spanish army which was confirmed to be done near Evora. on May. 29. in which all the English did like themselves valiantly"
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…