Battle of Kitombo The Battle of Kitombo was a military engagement between forces of the BaKongo state of Soyo , formerly a province of the Kingdom of Kongo , and the Portuguese colony of Angola . Pre - Battle Situation . In 1665 the Kingdom of Kongo clashed with their one - time allies the Portuguese at the Battle of Mbwila . The engagement resulted in a crushing Portuguese victory ending in the death of the Mwenekongo António I and most of the kingdom ' s nobility . Afterwards , Kongo erupted in a brutal civil war between the House of Kinlaza , which had ruled under the dead king , and the House of Kimpanzu . Soyo , home to many Kimpanzu partisans , was eager to take advantage of the chaos . Within a few months of the national tragedy at Mbwila , the Prince of Soyo invaded the capital of São Salvador and installed his protégé , Afonso II on the throne . This happened again in 1669 with the placement of Álvaro IX on the throne . By this time both the Portuguese and central authority in Kongo were growing tired of Soyo ' s meddling . While the Kinlaza and others in Kongo lived in fear of a Soyo invasion , the governor of Luanda was fearing the growing power of Soyo . With access to Dutch merchants willing to sell them guns and cannons plus diplomatic access to the Pope , Soyo was on its way to becoming as powerful as Kongo had been before Mbwila . King Rafael I , driven by Soyo from his capital , fled to Luanda , where he sought Portuguese aid to restore him to the throne . In return , he promised Portugal money , mineral concessions and the right to build a fortress in Soyo to keep out the Dutch . Preparation . The governor of Luanda , Francisco de Távora , ordered a force of Portuguese augmented by native allies such as the feared Imbangala into Soyo to crush the kingdom once and for all . It was led by João Soares de Almeida , with a force of over 400 Portuguese musketmen . Luanda ' s Colonial Army . This colonial force was the most powerful that had been organized in Central Africa up until then . It included 400 musketeers , a rare detachment of cavalry , 4 light cannons , an unknown number of levee bowmen , Imbangala Auxiliaries and even some naval vessels . Soyo and Ngoyo ' s Army . The then Prince of Soyo , Paulo da Silva , got word of the impending invasion and prepared his army to meet it . In a surprising show of post - Mbwila BaKongo unity , Soyo called on the kingdom of Ngoyo for assistance . Ngoyo had at one time been at least nominally subordinate to the king of Kongo but had grown farther and farther away from the state during the 17th century . Ngoyo , who boasted a large fleet of shallow draught craft , sent many soldiers to its southern neighbor in anticipation of the attack . The battle . Few details exists on exactly how the battle was executed other than it was waged near the village of Kitombo . It was divided into two phases with the first being the Battle of Mbidizi River , a brief but bloody engagement north of the Mbidizi river in June and the last occurring near or at the wooded area called Nfinda Ngula in October . Nfinda Ngula . The next engagement , for which the battle is most famous , occurred three months later in October . During the interval , both forces were able to lick their wounds . The Soyo army used this time to re - equip themselves with more arms from their Dutch allies . The BaKongo forces regrouped at Nfinda Ngula , a densely forested area that had served Soyo well in their battles against Kongo during Garcia II ' s invasions . The area had proven impregnable even to artillery and allowed Soyo ' s army to rally around the Prince and its light artillery pieces . Using the Dutch light field pieces to good effect , the BaKongo attacked and routed the Portuguese . The colonial army was comprehensively destroyed . The Portuguese not killed in the battle drowned fleeing across the river or were captured . Legend has it the captives were offered as white slaves to the Dutch . Its commander also died in the battle . The number of casualties among the Soyo forces are unknown except for the Prince of Soyo who died during the battle . Aftermath and peace . The battle at Kitombo was a humiliating defeat for the Portuguese and a boon for the state of Soyo . Portuguese Angola remained hostile to Soyo and Kongo as a whole , but dared not venture back . Soyo and the House of Kimpanzu became even more powerful in the politics of the region , but never attained the wealth of pre - Mbwila Kongo as the Portuguese had feared . The next prince of Soyo used the state ' s Dutch contacts , specifically through Capuchin missionaries , to get the Pope to intervene on their behalf . At the behest of Soyo , the pope acquired a papal nuncio from the king of Portugal recognizing Soyo ' s independence and that the crown would make no further attempts on its sovereignty .