Luís Alves de Lima e Silva
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Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of Caxias (kaˈʃiɐs or kaˈʃiɐʃ; 25 August 1803 – 7 May 1880), nicknamed "the Peacemaker" and "Iron Duke", was an army officer, politician and monarchist of the Empire of Brazil. Caxias pursued a military career, as had his father and many relatives before him. In 1823, he fought as a young officer during most of the Brazilian War for Independence against Portugal. In 1825, he was assigned to Brazil's southernmost province, Cisplatina. He remained there for over three years while Brazil unsuccessfully attempted to prevent the province's secession during the Cisplatine War. In the face of major protests during 1831, Caxias remained loyal to Emperor Dom
Pedro I, even though his own father and uncles deserted the monarch. Nonetheless, Pedro I abdicated in favor of his young son, Dom Pedro II
, to whom Caxias eventually became a friend and instructor in swordsmanship
and horsemanship.
During Pedro II's childhood, the governing regency
was faced with countless rebellions throughout the country. Once again, unlike his father and relatives who either joined or supported the rebellions, Caxias remained on the side of the lawful government. He commanded loyal forces that put down uprisings from 1839 to 1845, including the Balaiada
, the Liberal rebellions of 1842 and the War of the Ragamuffins. In 1851, he led the Brazilian army to victory in the Platine War
against the Argentine Confederation
. A decade later, he was promoted to the highest army rank: Marshal of the Army. He was given command over Brazilian forces in the Paraguayan War, in which he prevailed over the Paraguayans in a series of battles. As reward for his achievements, Caxias was raised to the titled nobility, becoming first a baron, then a count, a marquis and lastly a duke. He was the only person made a duke during the 58-year reign of Pedro II.
In the early 1840s, Caxias became a member of the Reactionary Party, which eventually evolved into the Party of Order, and finally into the Conservative Party
. He was elected senator in 1846. The Emperor appointed him president
(prime minister) of the Council of Ministers for the first time in 1856. He briefly filled the office again in 1861, but fell when his cabinet lost its majority in the parliament. Over the decades, Caxias witnessed the growth, zenith and slow decline of his party, which became divided and weakened by internal conflicts. In 1875, old and sick, he headed a cabinet for the last time. After years of failing health, he died on 7 May 1880.
For decades after his death and during the downfall of the Brazilian monarchy, Caxias' achievements were largely ignored. His reputation was slowly rehabilitated over time. In 1925, his birthday was selected as the official "Day of the Soldier", in which the nation honors the Brazilian army. On 13 March 1962, he was officially designated as the army's protector, and is held as both its paradigm and the most important figure in its tradition. Historians have regarded Caxias in a positive light, and he is usually ranked as the greatest Brazilian military officer.
) located in the captaincy of Rio de Janeiro. He was the first son and second of ten children of Francisco de Lima e Silva and Mariana Cândido de Oliveira Belo. His godparents were his paternal grandfather, José Joaquim de Lima da Silva, and his maternal grandmother, Ana Quitéria Joaquina.
Although he would eventually become one of the most important figures in Brazilian history
, there is scant information regarding Luís Alves' life prior to age 36, at which point he was chosen to suppress the Balaiada
rebellion. It is known that his early years were spent on the São Paulo farm owned by his maternal grandfather and namesake, Luís Alves de Freitas. The young boy may have been initially schooled at home, as was common then. He also may have learned to read and write from his grandmother, Ana Quitéria.
The arrival of the Portuguese Royal Family
in Rio de Janeiro in 1808 changed the lives of the Lima family. King Dom
João VI
embarked upon a series of wars of conquest which resulted in the expansion of Brazil's territory with the annexation of Cisplatina
to the south and of French Guiana
to the north. By 1818, Luís Alves' relatives, who were military officers and had served in the wars, had been ennobled. His grandfather, José Joaquim, became a member of the Order of Christ
and fidalgo cavaleiro da Casa Real (knight noble of the Royal House). His father, Francisco de Lima, and uncles were also granted honors. Within two generations, the Lima family had risen from mere commoners to join the ranks of Portugal's untitled nobility.
In 1811, Luís Alves moved with his parents from his grandparents' farm to Rio de Janeiro and was enrolled at the Seminário São Joaquim (Saint Joachim's School). Seven years later, on 4 May 1818, he was admitted into the Royal Military Academy. On 12 October 1818 he was promoted to the rank of alferes (equivalent to a second lieutenant today), and to lieutenant (nowadays first lieutenant) on 4 November 1820. A young man of regular features, Luís Alves was of average height, and had a round face, brown hair and brown eyes. He was considered a very reasonable and honest person. Historian Thomas Whigham described him as someone who "learned the art of giving orders early in life. Immaculate in his dress, he was soft spoken, polite, and smoothly in control of himself. He seemed to radiate calm composure and authority."
In the Royal Military Academy, he took the infantry course. To graduate as an infantryman, he was supposed to take classes of the first and fifth year, which he did in 1818 and 1819, respectively. Although the entire course (which ran from the first to seventh year) was only mandatory for artillerymen and engineers, he opted to take classes of the second year in 1820 and the third year in 1821. He took classes in the Royal Military Academy that ranged from arithmetic, algebra and geometry to tactics
, strategy
, camping, fortification in campaign and terrain reconnaissance. Though an accomplished student, the young lieutenant was often reprimanded for bullying new students.
On 18 January 1823, Pedro I created the "Emperor's Battalion", a handpicked elite infantry unit that included Luís Alves, who was named as adjutant
to the company's commander, his uncle, Colonel José Joaquim de Lima e Silva. The Emperor's Battalion was sent to the province of Bahia
in the northeast on 28 January and placed, along with other troops, under the command of French Brigadier General Pierre Labatut
. The Brazilian imperial forces besieged Bahia's capital, Salvador
, which was held by the Portuguese. During the siege, Luís Alves fought in at least three attacks (on 28 March, 3 May and 3 June) against Portuguese positions around Salvador, all successful. In the engagement on 28 March, he personally led a charge on an enemy bunker.
During the Bahia campaign, high ranking officers mutinied against Labatut, who was taken prisoner and sent back to Rio de Janeiro. It is unlikely that Luís Alves was involved, but his uncle, Joaquim de Lima, was almost certainly part of the conspiracy and was chosen by the officers to replace Labatut. The campaign resumed, and the Portuguese withdrew from Salvador and set sail back to Portugal. On 2 July, the victorious Brazilians entered the city. The Emperor's Battalion returned to Rio de Janeiro, and Luís Alves was later promoted to captain on 22 January 1824.
, the capital of Cisplatina
(then Brazil's southernmost province), was the last to surrender. In 1825, secessionists in the province rebelled. The United Provinces of South America
(later Argentina
) attempted to annex Cisplatina. Brazil declared war, triggering the Cisplatine War. The Emperor's Battalion, to which Luís Alves was still attached, was sent to guard Montevideo, then besieged by rebel forces. Luís Alves fought in engagements against the insurgents during 1827 (7 February, 5 July, 7 July, 14 July, 5 August and 7 August).
The war came to a disastrous end in 1828, with Brazil relinquishing Cisplatina, which became the independent nation of Uruguay
. Nonetheless, Luís Alves was promoted to the rank of major on 2 December 1828 and made second-in-command of the Emperor's Battalion in early 1829. During his stay in Montevideo, he met María Ángela Furriol González Luna. How far their relationship progressed is unknown, but there may have been a failed engagement.
He returned to Rio de Janeiro and witnessed the increasing deterioration in Emperor Pedro I's political position. A growing opposition to Pedro I's policies eventually erupted into mass protests in the Field of Santana in downtown Rio de Janeiro on 6 April 1831. The situation grew more ominous when several military units, led by Luís Alves' father and uncles, joined the protests.
The Emperor considered appointing Luís Alves to command the Emperor's Battalion and asked him which side he would choose. According to historian Francisco Doratioto, Luís Alves answered that "between the love of his father and his duty to the crown, he would stay with the latter." Pedro I expressed gratitude for his loyalty, but instead ordered him to take the Emperor's Battalion to the Field of Santana and join the rebels, preferring abdication to civil war. Many decades later, Luís Alves would say in the Brazilian Senate: "I marched along with the Emperor's Batallion to the Field of Santana, out of devotion to competent orders [from Pedro I]. I was not a revolutionary. I esteemed the Abdication. I judged that it would be of advantage to Brazil, but I did not concur directly or indirectly with it."
reached the age of majority and the ability to rule in his own right. One of the regents chosen was Luís Alves' father, Francisco de Lima e Silva. The regency had little effective authority, resulting in nine years of chaos, during which the country was plagued by rebellions and coup attempts initiated by unruly political factions.
The army, "demoralized by the far from exemplary part it had played in the April Revolution [i.e. Pedro I's abdication]," said historian C. H. Haring, "became the ready tool of any popular agitator or demagogue, and often the source of riot and sedition." With no other option, the government severely reduced the size of the standing army and effectively replaced it with the newly created National Guard, a militia force. In October 1831, without troops to command, Luís Alves and other officers joined the Volunteer Soldier-Officers Battalion as soldiers. A year later, he was appointed commander of the Permanent Municipal Guard Corps, a police force in the city of Rio de Janeiro.
On 6 January 1833, at age 29, he married Ana Luísa de Loreto Carneiro Viana, the sixteen-year-old younger sister of an army officer friend, and a member of an aristocratic family of Rio de Janeiro. The union was contrary to the wishes of the bride's mother, who saw Luís Alves and his family as upstarts. Newspapers connected to political enemies of his family took advantage of this disagreement to level serious, but unfounded, accusations against him, including that he had kidnapped Ana Luísa. Despite the invective, their marriage was a happy one and three children resulted: Luísa de Loreto Viana de Lima, Ana de Loreto Viana de Lima and Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, born in 1833, 1836 and 1847, respectively.
In the late 1830s, Luís Alves was appointed instructor in swordsmanship
and horsemanship to the young Pedro II. Ties of duty had drawn the two men together, but a long-lasting friendship and personal devotion also developed. Pedro II said many years later that he regarded Luís Alves as "loyal and my friend". According to historian Heitor Lyra, Luís Alves was "one of the rare, sincere and profoundly convicted monarchists and friends of the King [i.e., the Emperor] and of the Dynasty [the House of Braganza
]. He placed his sword not only in service to a united and strong Brazil, but also to a worthy and respected Monarch".
After being promoted to colonel on 2 December 1839, Luís Alves was sent by the Reactionary cabinet to the province of Maranhão
to quell a rebellion which became known as the Balaiada
. He was appointed to the highest civilian and military positions in the province: presidente (president or governor) and comandante das armas (military commander), thus giving him authority over the National Guard and army (brought back to full strength by the Reactionary administration) units in the province, respectively.
Luís Alves arrived in São Luís
, Maranhão's capital, on 4 February 1840. After several battles and skirmishes, he defeated the rebels. For his achievement, Luís Alves was promoted on 18 July 1841 to brigadier (present-day brigadier general) and raised by Pedro II to the titled nobility as Barão de Caxias (Baron of Caxias). He was given the rare honor of choosing his title; he decided to commemorate his recapture of Caxias
, Maranhão's second richest town, which had fallen into rebel hands. Francisco de Lima wrote to his son with news of the Liberals' demand that Pedro II's majority be immediately declared. Meanwhile, Honório Hermeto Carneiro Leão
(later Marquis of Paraná, a distant cousin of Caxias' wife and a leader of the Reactionary Party) sent letters to Luís Alves attempting to undermine the influence Francisco de Lima had on him and to dissuade him from supporting the unconstitutional proposal to declare the Emperor of age.
Named as the province's vice-president and military commander, Caxias arrived in São Paulo on 21 May 1842. Once he defeated the rebels there, he was appointed as military commander of Minas Gerais and marched to that province. With the aid of National Guard units from Rio de Janeiro under its president, Honório, Caxias was once again successful, and by late August, the rebellion was crushed. Caxias was honored by Pedro II, who made him his aide-de-camp
on 23 July 1842. Two days later, Caxias was promoted to brevet
(acting) field marshal (present-day divisional general).
To distinguish itself from what the Reactionaries perceived as the "unruly" Liberals, sometime around 1843 (and certainly by 1844), the Reactionary Party became known as the Partido da Ordem (Party of Order) and its members as saquaremas. Caxias increasingly identified himself with the saquarema ideology: liberalism
, preservation of the authority of the state, and support for representative parliamentary monarchy. Although his move toward the saquarema camp was not clear at the time he accepted the appointment to put down the rebellion in Maranhão in 1839, his victory over the Liberal rebels in 1842 only further solidified his allegiance to the Party of Order.
. The 16-year-old Pedro II allowed Caxias to prove once more that he was unlike his father and uncles and gave him a short and direct order: "End this revolution, as you have ended the others." Caxias brought with him a fellow saquarema and a famous poet, Domingos Gonçalves de Magalhães (later Viscount of Araguaia), to serve as his secretary, as he had done previously in Maranhão.
Caxias had made a short trip to Rio Grande do Sul in 1839 to inspect the war effort against the Ragamuffins. Upon his return to the province in November 1842, he found that the rebels, severely weakened after years of struggle, had been forced to resort to guerrilla warfare
. When threatened, the rebels escaped to safety in nearby Uruguay (formerly Cisplatina). As he had done in Maranhão, São Paulo and Minas Gerais, Caxias planted spies within the enemy's ranks to gather information and to foment dissension. Historian Roderick J. Barman said that he "displayed military, organizational, and political talents essential to what is now termed 'counterinsurgency
'."
In early 1843, Honório became the head of the cabinet, and so long as the saquaremas remained in power, Caxias was secure in his position. A year later, Honório and the saquaremas resigned after he quarreled with Pedro II. The Liberals replaced the saquaremas in government, but Caxias was retained in his command. The War of the Ragamuffins took far longer to put down than had previous rebellions, but through careful negotiation and military victories, Caxias finally managed to pacify the province. The end of the armed conflict was declared on 1 March 1845. He was made a permanent field marshal on 25 March, and raised to the rank of count on 2 April. Caxias ran for a Senate seat, and being among the three candidates with the most votes, he was selected by the Emperor in late 1845 as the senator representing Rio Grande do Sul. He took his Senate seat on 11 May 1846.
In 1851, Don
Juan Manuel de Rosas
, dictator of the Argentine Confederation
, declared war on Brazil. Caxias was appointed commander-in-chief of the Brazilian land forces. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paulino Soares de Sousa (later Viscount of Uruguai), forged an anti-Rosas alliance between Brazil, Uruguay and rebel Argentine provinces. When Paulino asked who should be appointed as Brazil's representative among the allied forces, Caxias suggested Honório. Honório, who had been ostracized by his peers after his fall in 1844, was the saquarema closest to Caxias.
The army commanded by Caxias crossed into Uruguay in September 1851. The allies decided to divide their forces into two armies: a multinational force that included a single Brazilian division, and a second army composed entirely of Brazilians under Caxias. Against the wishes of Honório, Caxias chose Manuel Marques de Sousa
(later Count of Porto Alegre) to lead the former force.
Caxias met and befriended Manuel Marques, who had served under his command in the War of the Ragamuffins, during his trip to Rio Grande do Sul in 1839. The Brazilian division, led by Marques, along with Uruguayan and Argentine rebel troops, invaded Argentina. On 3 February 1852, in the Battle of Caseros
, the allies defeated an army led by Rosas, who fled to the United Kingdom, thus ending the war. Caxias spent 17 February aboard the frigate Dom Afonso (commanded by John Pascoe Grenfell
), taking stock of the port area of Buenos Aires
, the Argentine capital, selecting the best place to launch an amphibious attack
. His plan was aborted once the news of the victory at Caseros arrived. As a reward for his role in bringing about the victory, Caxias was promoted to lieutenant general
on 3 March, and raised to marquis on 26 June.
Around 1853 (and certainly by 1855), the old Party of Order had become more widely known as the Conservative Party. On 14 June 1855, the marquis accepted the portfolio of Minister of War and joined the "Conciliation Cabinet" headed by Honório (now Marquis of Paraná). Caxias and Paraná had also known each other since 1831 and had formed a deep friendship and strong bond based on trust and views in common. Paraná had been facing overwhelming opposition in parliament from members of his, and Caxias's, own party. Under the guise of correcting flaws in elections so that all parties would have legitimate access to representation in parliament, Paraná attempted to pass electoral reforms that would, in practice, allot cabinets even more influence to meddle in elections through coercion and patronage. The saquaremas understood the threat: it would undermine their own party (or in fact any party) by strengthening the executive branch to the detriment of the legislative.
In search of broader support, Paraná appointed as ministers politicians who had few, or no, links to the saquaremas. Caxias himself was a saquarema, but according to Needell, he "was first and foremost a military man. Personal fealty to the Empire came before any other. As so many did, he identified this loyalty with fealty to the Crown in abstraction and to Dom Pedro personally." He was a choice that could please all sides. Caxias, said Needell, "was not so much a political man as a man profoundly loyal to the Monarchy with which he ... had come to identify with the Conservative Party. Thus, Paraná may have appointed Caxias to reassure traditional Conservatives without endangering the more independent political position Paraná was taking."
. The second bloc comprised the conservador moderado (moderate Conservative) wing, composed mostly of younger politicians who owed their positions to electoral reform.
The moderate Conservatives were Conservatives in name only, and did not support the saquarema ideology and leadership. During the years following 1857, successive cabinets quickly collapsed, unable to muster a majority in the Chamber of Deputies, as the two Conservative wings undercut each other in a fight for dominance. The Emperor asked Caxias to head a new cabinet on 2 March 1861. Among his ministers were José Maria da Silva Paranhos (later Viscount of Rio Branco), whom Caxias had met and befriended during the Platine War while serving as secretary to Paraná.
Caxias tried to secure support from the traditional saquarema leadership. They attempted, however, to use him as a figurehead and to further their own agendas. He commented to Paranhos: "I see what you meant, with respect to the bizarre behavior of these gentlemen, who do not wish to govern the country, when they are invited to do so, because they prefer to govern the Government. They are completely mistaken about me, since I am not disposed to serve them as a hobbyhorse."
Lacking support in parliament, Caxias' cabinet resigned on 24 May 1862 after losing its majority in the Chamber of Deputies (the national legislature's lower house
). Pedro II asked members of the Liga Progressista (Progressive League)—a new party consisting of moderate Conservatives and Liberals—to form a new cabinet. Barely a month later, Caxias' only son died at age 14 of unknown causes. There was a small consolation at the end of 1862 when, on 2 December, he was made brevet marechal do exército (marshal of the army
), the highest rank in the Brazilian army.
to establish his country as a regional power. The Paraguayan army
invaded the Brazilian province of Mato Grosso
(currently the state of Mato Grosso do Sul
), triggering the Paraguayan War. Four months later, Paraguayan troops invaded Argentine
territory in preparation for an attack on the Brazilian province of Rio Grande do Sul
.
The situation in Rio Grande do Sul was chaotic, and the local military commanders were incapable of mounting an effective resistance to the Paraguayan army. Pedro II, aware of the danger, decided to go to the front in person to shore up operations. As the Emperor's military aide-de-camp
, Caxias followed his monarch into the combat zone. The marquis had warned the Progressive cabinet that Brazil was unprepared to intervene in Uruguay and even less prepared to resist a foreign invasion. His warnings were ignored, and he complained, with a bit of irony, to his friend João Maurício Vanderlei, Baron of Cotejipe, a former colleague in the Conciliation cabinet: "I am almost mad with the mistakes that I am seeing being made, but since I am a red [ultraconservative or traditional saquarema] I am not listened to, since everything is progress in our country."
The imperial party arrived in Rio Grande do Sul's capital, Porto Alegre
, in July 1865. From there, they traveled inland until they reached Uruguaiana
in September. This Brazilian town had been occupied by a Paraguayan army. By the time Caxias and his party arrived, the town was under siege by a combined force of Brazilian, Argentine and Uruguayan units. The Paraguayans surrendered without further bloodshed, freeing the Emperor and Caxias to return to the imperial capital.
both by land and along the Paraguay River
. The Progressive cabinet decided to create a unified command over Brazilian land forces operating in Paraguay, and it turned to the 63-year-old Caxias (made permanent marshal of the army on 13 January) as the new leader on 10 October 1866. He explained to his wife that the reason he had accepted the post was because the war "was an evil that has reached more or less all, from the Emperor to the most unfortunate slave."
Caxias arrived in Paraguay on 17 November, and assumed, for all practical purposes, supreme command of land and naval forces in the war, even though he had not explicitly been given authority over the navy. His first measure was to dismiss Vice-Admiral Joaquim Marques Lisboa (later the Marquis of Tamandaré and also a member of the Progressive League) and appoint fellow Conservative Vice-Admiral Joaquim José Inácio (later the Viscount of Inhaúma) to lead the navy.
From October 1866 until July 1867, all offensive operations were suspended. During this period, Caxias trained his soldiers, re-equipped the army with newer guns, improved the quality of the officer corps, and upgraded the health corps and overall hygiene of the troops, putting an end to epidemics. Alfredo d'Escragnolle Taunay (later the Viscount of Taunay), who fought in the war, remembered that Caxias was a "generous military chief, who forgave small errors, but was implacable with those who commited grave misdeeds, or, then, who betrayed his confidence."
With the Brazilian army ready for combat, Caxias sought to encircle Humaitá and force its capitulation by siege. To aid the operation, he used observation balloon
s to gather information of the enemy lines. The combined Brazilian–Argentine–Uruguayan army advanced through hostile territory to surround Humaitá. By 2 November, Humaitá was completely cut off from land reinforcement by Paraguayan forces. On 19 February 1868, Brazilian ironclads successfully made a passage up the Paraguay River under heavy fire, gaining full control of the river and thus isolating Humaitá from resupply by water.
Pressing his advantage, the marquis began organizing an assault on the new Paraguayan defenses which López had thrown up along the Pikysyry, south of Asunción
(Paraguay's capital). This stream afforded a strong defensive position which was anchored to the northwest by the Paraguay River and on the southeast by the swampy jungle of the Chaco region, both considered to be nearly impassible by a large force. Rather than making a frontal attack on López's line, Caxias had a road cut through the Chaco. The road was finished by early December, undetected by López, allowing the allied forces to outflank the Paraguayan lines and attack from the rear. In three successive battles (Ytororó, Avay
and Lomas Valentinas) which became known as Dezembrada (Deed of December), the combined allied forces completely annihilated the Paraguayan army. López himself barely managed to escape with a few followers, and on 1 January 1869, the Brazilians occupied Asunción
. According to historian Ronaldo Vainfas, "his perfomance ahead of the allied forces contributed in an unquestionable way to the final triumph over the enemy."
The marquis had to take great risks to win these victories. In the Ytororó engagement, which occurred on 5 December, the allied objective was to take a bridge over the Ytororó River. Several attempts were made to cross the bridge, but each was repelled by intense fire from the Paraguayan positions. In a final attempt, the Brazilian soldiers panicked and began to flee in disorder. Caxias, witnessing the unfolding disaster, unsheathed his sword and charged on horseback toward the bridge, followed by his staff. He passed through the fleeing troops, shouting "Hail to His Majesty", "Hail to Brazil" and finally, "Sigam-me os que forem brasileiros!" ("Those who are true Brazilians, follow me!") His display of courage stopped the retreat immediately; the units regrouped, and a vigorous attack led personally by Caxias overwhelmed the Paraguayan positions. Several men who were next to him during the attack were killed, as was his horse.
The marquis arrived unannounced in Rio de Janeiro in early February. He went directly home, to the surprise of his wife, who—like everyone else—was unaware that he had returned. Pedro II was greatly disappointed in Caxias, though he was also very aware that the marquis was the person most responsible for the great successes during the war and that these accomplishments had come at the cost of years of sacrifice and personal bravery. The Emperor called the marquis to the Imperial Palace, the Paço de São Cristóvão
, on 21 February 1869 for a reconciliation.
A few days later, Caxias was awarded the Order of Pedro I and was raised from marquis to duke, the highest rank of Brazilian nobility. This was a unique distinction during the 58-year-long reign of Pedro II. The Emperor also appointed him to the Council of State on October 1870. Nonetheless, this did not shelter Caxias from being subjected to attacks and accusations—some petty—in the parliament, including for having left his post without permission. The embittered duke wrote to his friend Manuel Luís Osório, Marquis of Erval
: "When I was young, my friend, I did not know how to explain why the elderly were selfish, but now that I am old, I see that they are like that because of the disappointments and ingratitudes they suffer during their lives. At least this is what happens to me".
The second crisis developed after the government came into conflict with two bishops who had ordered that Freemasons
be expelled from lay brother
hoods. The dispute grew out of proportion when both bishops were convicted and given prison sentences for disobeying the government's order to rescind their expulsions of Freemasons. As Catholicism was the state religion, the Emperor exercised, with the papacy's acquiescence, a great deal of control over church affairs—paying clerical salaries, appointing parish priests, nominating bishops, ratifying papal bulls, and overseeing seminaries. As a result of the furor over the handling of the affair, Rio Branco and his cabinet resigned, "disunited and weary after four years in office", according to historian Roderick J. Barman. Pedro II asked Caxias to form a new cabinet. The duke later gave a remarkable account of their meeting:
The elderly Caxias, nearly 72 and widowed since 1874, was in poor health and could only serve as a figurehead president of the government which was formed on 25 June 1875. Cotejipe was the de facto president. The Caxias-Cotejipe cabinet attempted to dissipate the discord created by the previous cabinet. Their measures included financial aid to coffee farmers, an amnesty for the convicted bishops, and, to please the pro-slavery Conservatives, the selection of new ministers and a call for elections. Caxias, who was a Freemason himself, but also a staunch Catholic and a deeply religious man, threatened to resign if the Emperor did not grant the amnesty, which Pedro II grudgingly issued in September 1875.
The new politicians who had begun to dominate the government had little memory of the times before Pedro II assumed control in 1840. Unlike their predecessors, they had no experience of the regency and the early years of Pedro II's reign, when external and internal dangers threatened the nation's existence. They had only known a stable administration and prosperity. The young politicians saw no reason to uphold and defend the imperial office as a unifying force beneficial to the nation. Times were changing fast, and Caxias was aware of the situation. He became increasingly nostalgic for the old times he had spent with his now-dead Conservative Party colleagues and held a pessimistic view of future political prospects. When Itaboraí—one of the last survivors of those Conservative leaders who had begun their careers during the 1830s—died in 1872, the duke wrote to a friend: "Who will replace him? I don't know, I cannot see ... The vacuum he left will not be filled, as it was not with Eusébio, Paraná
, Uruguai, Manuel Felizardo and many others who helped us sustain this little church [i.e., the monarchy, his 'second faith'], which collapsed or almost collapsed on 7 April 1831."
Confined to a wheelchair as his health slowly declined, the Duke of Caxias lived his remaining days at his Santa Mônica farm, in the countryside of Rio de Janeiro province. On 7 May 1880 at 11 p.m., he quietly died, attended by members of his family. A saddened Pedro II (who visited Caxias several times during his long illness) remarked about his "friend of almost a half century", that he had "known him, and esteemed him since 1832. He was 76, almost 77 years old. And so we remain in this world."
Caxias asked for a simple funeral, with no pomp, no honors, no invitations, and only six soldiers of good conduct to carry his coffin. His last wish was not entirely respected: Pedro II sent a carriage
used for funerals of members of the imperial family only, to be followed by sixteen servants of the imperial household, and one corporal and thirteen, not six, soldiers of good conduct to carry his remains. A huge procession was followed by a funeral (attended by Pedro II in person) and his body was laid to rest in the São Francisco de Paula cemetery in the city of Rio de Janeiro. On 25 August 1949, his remains, as well as those of his wife, were exhumed and reinterred in Rio de Janeiro's Duke of Caxias Pantheon.
. Caxias was barely remembered. His reputation slowly grew, and in 1923, the Ministry of the Army created an annual celebration in his honor. In 1925, his birthday officially became the "Day of the Soldier", which commemorates the Brazilian army. On 13 March 1962, Caxias became patrono (protector) of the army, making him the most important figure in its tradition. According to Adriana Barreto de Souza, Francisco Doratioto and Celso Castro, Caxias supplanted Osório because he was seen as a loyal and dutiful officer who could serve as a role model in a Brazilian republic plagued since its birth in 1889 by military insubordination, rebellions and coups.
The historiography is often positive toward Caxias and he is usually ranked as the greatest Brazilian military officer. To historian Nelson Werneck Sodré, he was "not only the greatest military commander of his continent [South America], in his time, but [also] a great politician". Moreover, Caxias was "—more than D. Pedro II—the Empire." Francisco Doratioto said that the duke "in Paraguay had doubts, pride, resentment, and made mistakes; in short, he was a real character ... Caxias, however, was able to rise above his limitations, imposed on himself great personal sacrifices and incorporated the responsibility of accomplishing the objective ... In this context, Caxias was, indeed, a hero; he carried with him, it is true, social and political prejudices of his time, but one can not demand from the past the observance of present-day values."
Roderick J. Barman affirmed that Caxias was not only "extremely powerful in the Conservative party", but also "the country's most distinguished" and "most successful soldier" who had "proved his capacity and his loyalty by defeating revolts against the regime". C. H. Haring said that he was "a brilliant army officer", also "Brazil's most famous military figure" and a man "who was genuinely loyal to the throne". Hélio Vianna regarded Caxias as "the greatest soldier of Brazil". To Thomas Whigham, the duke was "destined to occupy a lofty spot in Brazil's national mythology. He often had to act as a statesman as much as military man" and was "[s]hrewdly competent in both roles".
Dom (title)
Dom is a title of respect prefixed to the given name. It derives from Latin Dominus.It is used in English for certain Benedictine and Carthusian monks, and for members of certain communities of Canons Regular. Examples include Benedictine monks of the English Benedictine Congregation...
Pedro I, even though his own father and uncles deserted the monarch. Nonetheless, Pedro I abdicated in favor of his young son, Dom Pedro II
Pedro II of Brazil
Dom Pedro II , nicknamed "the Magnanimous", was the second and last ruler of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. Born in Rio de Janeiro, he was the seventh child of Emperor Dom Pedro I of Brazil and Empress Dona Maria Leopoldina and thus a member of the Brazilian branch of...
, to whom Caxias eventually became a friend and instructor in swordsmanship
Swordsmanship
Swordsmanship refers to the skills of a swordsman, a person versed in the art of the sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallsword fencing, but by extension it can also be applied to any martial art involving the use of a sword...
and horsemanship.
During Pedro II's childhood, the governing regency
Regency
Regency is the rule of a regent. It may also refer to:* Specific periods when a throne was vacant:** Regency in France, 1715–1723, a.k.a. Régence** British Regency, 1811–1820*The Hōjō Regency during the Kamakura shogunate in Japan.- Other:...
was faced with countless rebellions throughout the country. Once again, unlike his father and relatives who either joined or supported the rebellions, Caxias remained on the side of the lawful government. He commanded loyal forces that put down uprisings from 1839 to 1845, including the Balaiada
Balaiada
The Balaiada was a social revolt that occurred between 1838 and 1841 in the interior of the province of Maranhão, Brazil.-Background:During the imperial period, the Maranhão region, which exported cotton, suffered a grave economic crisis because of competition with the increasingly productive...
, the Liberal rebellions of 1842 and the War of the Ragamuffins. In 1851, he led the Brazilian army to victory in the Platine War
Platine War
The Platine War, also known as the War against Oribe and Rosas was fought between the Argentine Confederation and an alliance consisting of the Empire of Brazil, Uruguay and the Argentine provinces of Entre Ríos and Corrientes...
against the Argentine Confederation
Argentine Confederation
The Argentine Confederation is one of the official names of Argentina, according to the Argentine Constitution, Article 35...
. A decade later, he was promoted to the highest army rank: Marshal of the Army. He was given command over Brazilian forces in the Paraguayan War, in which he prevailed over the Paraguayans in a series of battles. As reward for his achievements, Caxias was raised to the titled nobility, becoming first a baron, then a count, a marquis and lastly a duke. He was the only person made a duke during the 58-year reign of Pedro II.
In the early 1840s, Caxias became a member of the Reactionary Party, which eventually evolved into the Party of Order, and finally into the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (Brazil)
The Conservative Party was a Brazilian political party of the imperial period, which was formed circa 1836 and ended with the proclamation of the Republic in 1889...
. He was elected senator in 1846. The Emperor appointed him president
Prime Minister of Brazil
During two periods in the political history of Brazil was a parliamentary system of Government put in place, with a prime minister heading the Cabinet....
(prime minister) of the Council of Ministers for the first time in 1856. He briefly filled the office again in 1861, but fell when his cabinet lost its majority in the parliament. Over the decades, Caxias witnessed the growth, zenith and slow decline of his party, which became divided and weakened by internal conflicts. In 1875, old and sick, he headed a cabinet for the last time. After years of failing health, he died on 7 May 1880.
For decades after his death and during the downfall of the Brazilian monarchy, Caxias' achievements were largely ignored. His reputation was slowly rehabilitated over time. In 1925, his birthday was selected as the official "Day of the Soldier", in which the nation honors the Brazilian army. On 13 March 1962, he was officially designated as the army's protector, and is held as both its paradigm and the most important figure in its tradition. Historians have regarded Caxias in a positive light, and he is usually ranked as the greatest Brazilian military officer.
Birth and childhood
Luís Alves de Lima e Silva was born on 25 August 1803 on a farm called São Paulo (today within the city of Duque de CaxiasDuque de Caxias
Duque de Caxias is a city in southeast Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, bordered by Rio de Janeiro to the south. Its population was 842,890 and its area is 465 km². Its current Mayor is José Camilo Zito...
) located in the captaincy of Rio de Janeiro. He was the first son and second of ten children of Francisco de Lima e Silva and Mariana Cândido de Oliveira Belo. His godparents were his paternal grandfather, José Joaquim de Lima da Silva, and his maternal grandmother, Ana Quitéria Joaquina.
Although he would eventually become one of the most important figures in Brazilian history
History of Brazil
The history of Brazil begins with the arrival of the first indigenous peoples, thousands of years ago by crossing the Bering land bridge into Alaska and then moving south....
, there is scant information regarding Luís Alves' life prior to age 36, at which point he was chosen to suppress the Balaiada
Balaiada
The Balaiada was a social revolt that occurred between 1838 and 1841 in the interior of the province of Maranhão, Brazil.-Background:During the imperial period, the Maranhão region, which exported cotton, suffered a grave economic crisis because of competition with the increasingly productive...
rebellion. It is known that his early years were spent on the São Paulo farm owned by his maternal grandfather and namesake, Luís Alves de Freitas. The young boy may have been initially schooled at home, as was common then. He also may have learned to read and write from his grandmother, Ana Quitéria.
The arrival of the Portuguese Royal Family
Transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil
The Transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil was an episode in the history of Portugal and the history of Brazil in which the Portuguese royal family and its court escaped from Lisbon on November 29, 1807 to Brazil, just days before Napoleonic forces captured the city on December 1...
in Rio de Janeiro in 1808 changed the lives of the Lima family. King Dom
Dom (title)
Dom is a title of respect prefixed to the given name. It derives from Latin Dominus.It is used in English for certain Benedictine and Carthusian monks, and for members of certain communities of Canons Regular. Examples include Benedictine monks of the English Benedictine Congregation...
João VI
John VI of Portugal
John VI John VI John VI (full name: João Maria José Francisco Xavier de Paula Luís António Domingos Rafael; (13 May 1767 – 10 March 1826) was King of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves (later changed to just King of Portugal and the Algarves, after Brazil was recognized...
embarked upon a series of wars of conquest which resulted in the expansion of Brazil's territory with the annexation of Cisplatina
Cisplatina
The Cisplatina Province was a Portuguese and later a Brazilian province in existence from 1815 to 1828...
to the south and of French Guiana
French Guiana
French Guiana is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department located on the northern Atlantic coast of South America. It has borders with two nations, Brazil to the east and south, and Suriname to the west...
to the north. By 1818, Luís Alves' relatives, who were military officers and had served in the wars, had been ennobled. His grandfather, José Joaquim, became a member of the Order of Christ
Order of Christ (Portugal)
The Military Order of Christ previously the Royal Order of the Knights of Our Lord Jesus Christ was the heritage of the Knights Templar in Portugal, after the suppression of the Templars in 1312...
and fidalgo cavaleiro da Casa Real (knight noble of the Royal House). His father, Francisco de Lima, and uncles were also granted honors. Within two generations, the Lima family had risen from mere commoners to join the ranks of Portugal's untitled nobility.
Military education
On 22 May 1808, Luís Alves was enlisted at the age of five as a cadet in the 1st Regiment of Infantry of Rio de Janeiro. Historian Adriana Barreto de Souza explained that this did "not mean that he began to serve as a child, the connection to the regiment was simply honorific", his perquisite as the son of a military officer. This infantry regiment was informally known as the "Lima [family] Regiment" because so many members of the family served in it, including his father and grandfather.In 1811, Luís Alves moved with his parents from his grandparents' farm to Rio de Janeiro and was enrolled at the Seminário São Joaquim (Saint Joachim's School). Seven years later, on 4 May 1818, he was admitted into the Royal Military Academy. On 12 October 1818 he was promoted to the rank of alferes (equivalent to a second lieutenant today), and to lieutenant (nowadays first lieutenant) on 4 November 1820. A young man of regular features, Luís Alves was of average height, and had a round face, brown hair and brown eyes. He was considered a very reasonable and honest person. Historian Thomas Whigham described him as someone who "learned the art of giving orders early in life. Immaculate in his dress, he was soft spoken, polite, and smoothly in control of himself. He seemed to radiate calm composure and authority."
In the Royal Military Academy, he took the infantry course. To graduate as an infantryman, he was supposed to take classes of the first and fifth year, which he did in 1818 and 1819, respectively. Although the entire course (which ran from the first to seventh year) was only mandatory for artillerymen and engineers, he opted to take classes of the second year in 1820 and the third year in 1821. He took classes in the Royal Military Academy that ranged from arithmetic, algebra and geometry to tactics
Military tactics
Military tactics, the science and art of organizing an army or an air force, are the techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating an enemy in battle. Changes in philosophy and technology over time have been reflected in changes to military tactics. In...
, strategy
Military strategy
Military strategy is a set of ideas implemented by military organizations to pursue desired strategic goals. Derived from the Greek strategos, strategy when it appeared in use during the 18th century, was seen in its narrow sense as the "art of the general", 'the art of arrangement' of troops...
, camping, fortification in campaign and terrain reconnaissance. Though an accomplished student, the young lieutenant was often reprimanded for bullying new students.
Independence of Brazil
Luís Alves would normally have begun his fourth year at the Royal Military Academy sometime in March 1822. Instead, he dropped out in December 1821 and enlisted in the 1st Fusilier Battalion. Prince Dom Pedro, son and heir of King João VI, had just embarked upon the struggle against Portugal that would lead to the independence of Brazil on 7 September 1822. The prince was later acclaimed Dom Pedro I, the first Brazilian emperor, on 12 October. Those Brazilian and Portuguese forces who remained loyal to Portugal refused to accept this outcome, which led to a war fought on several fronts across Brazil's provinces.On 18 January 1823, Pedro I created the "Emperor's Battalion", a handpicked elite infantry unit that included Luís Alves, who was named as adjutant
Adjutant
Adjutant is a military rank or appointment. In some armies, including most English-speaking ones, it is an officer who assists a more senior officer, while in other armies, especially Francophone ones, it is an NCO , normally corresponding roughly to a Staff Sergeant or Warrant Officer.An Adjutant...
to the company's commander, his uncle, Colonel José Joaquim de Lima e Silva. The Emperor's Battalion was sent to the province of Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
in the northeast on 28 January and placed, along with other troops, under the command of French Brigadier General Pierre Labatut
Pierre Labatut
Pierre Labatut, also known as Pedro Labatut was a French mercenary who fought in the Brazilian War of Independence.- Biography :...
. The Brazilian imperial forces besieged Bahia's capital, Salvador
Salvador, Bahia
Salvador is the largest city on the northeast coast of Brazil and the capital of the Northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia. Salvador is also known as Brazil's capital of happiness due to its easygoing population and countless popular outdoor parties, including its street carnival. The first...
, which was held by the Portuguese. During the siege, Luís Alves fought in at least three attacks (on 28 March, 3 May and 3 June) against Portuguese positions around Salvador, all successful. In the engagement on 28 March, he personally led a charge on an enemy bunker.
During the Bahia campaign, high ranking officers mutinied against Labatut, who was taken prisoner and sent back to Rio de Janeiro. It is unlikely that Luís Alves was involved, but his uncle, Joaquim de Lima, was almost certainly part of the conspiracy and was chosen by the officers to replace Labatut. The campaign resumed, and the Portuguese withdrew from Salvador and set sail back to Portugal. On 2 July, the victorious Brazilians entered the city. The Emperor's Battalion returned to Rio de Janeiro, and Luís Alves was later promoted to captain on 22 January 1824.
Cisplatine War and father's betrayal
The Portuguese garrison in MontevideoMontevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, the capital of Cisplatina
Cisplatina
The Cisplatina Province was a Portuguese and later a Brazilian province in existence from 1815 to 1828...
(then Brazil's southernmost province), was the last to surrender. In 1825, secessionists in the province rebelled. The United Provinces of South America
United Provinces of South America
The United Provinces of South America was the original name of the state that emerged from the May Revolution and the early developments of the Argentine War of Independence...
(later Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
) attempted to annex Cisplatina. Brazil declared war, triggering the Cisplatine War. The Emperor's Battalion, to which Luís Alves was still attached, was sent to guard Montevideo, then besieged by rebel forces. Luís Alves fought in engagements against the insurgents during 1827 (7 February, 5 July, 7 July, 14 July, 5 August and 7 August).
The war came to a disastrous end in 1828, with Brazil relinquishing Cisplatina, which became the independent nation of Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
. Nonetheless, Luís Alves was promoted to the rank of major on 2 December 1828 and made second-in-command of the Emperor's Battalion in early 1829. During his stay in Montevideo, he met María Ángela Furriol González Luna. How far their relationship progressed is unknown, but there may have been a failed engagement.
He returned to Rio de Janeiro and witnessed the increasing deterioration in Emperor Pedro I's political position. A growing opposition to Pedro I's policies eventually erupted into mass protests in the Field of Santana in downtown Rio de Janeiro on 6 April 1831. The situation grew more ominous when several military units, led by Luís Alves' father and uncles, joined the protests.
The Emperor considered appointing Luís Alves to command the Emperor's Battalion and asked him which side he would choose. According to historian Francisco Doratioto, Luís Alves answered that "between the love of his father and his duty to the crown, he would stay with the latter." Pedro I expressed gratitude for his loyalty, but instead ordered him to take the Emperor's Battalion to the Field of Santana and join the rebels, preferring abdication to civil war. Many decades later, Luís Alves would say in the Brazilian Senate: "I marched along with the Emperor's Batallion to the Field of Santana, out of devotion to competent orders [from Pedro I]. I was not a revolutionary. I esteemed the Abdication. I judged that it would be of advantage to Brazil, but I did not concur directly or indirectly with it."
Marriage
After Pedro I abdicated in the early hours of 7 April, a regency of three was elected to rule until the five-year-old son Dom Pedro IIPedro II of Brazil
Dom Pedro II , nicknamed "the Magnanimous", was the second and last ruler of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. Born in Rio de Janeiro, he was the seventh child of Emperor Dom Pedro I of Brazil and Empress Dona Maria Leopoldina and thus a member of the Brazilian branch of...
reached the age of majority and the ability to rule in his own right. One of the regents chosen was Luís Alves' father, Francisco de Lima e Silva. The regency had little effective authority, resulting in nine years of chaos, during which the country was plagued by rebellions and coup attempts initiated by unruly political factions.
The army, "demoralized by the far from exemplary part it had played in the April Revolution [i.e. Pedro I's abdication]," said historian C. H. Haring, "became the ready tool of any popular agitator or demagogue, and often the source of riot and sedition." With no other option, the government severely reduced the size of the standing army and effectively replaced it with the newly created National Guard, a militia force. In October 1831, without troops to command, Luís Alves and other officers joined the Volunteer Soldier-Officers Battalion as soldiers. A year later, he was appointed commander of the Permanent Municipal Guard Corps, a police force in the city of Rio de Janeiro.
On 6 January 1833, at age 29, he married Ana Luísa de Loreto Carneiro Viana, the sixteen-year-old younger sister of an army officer friend, and a member of an aristocratic family of Rio de Janeiro. The union was contrary to the wishes of the bride's mother, who saw Luís Alves and his family as upstarts. Newspapers connected to political enemies of his family took advantage of this disagreement to level serious, but unfounded, accusations against him, including that he had kidnapped Ana Luísa. Despite the invective, their marriage was a happy one and three children resulted: Luísa de Loreto Viana de Lima, Ana de Loreto Viana de Lima and Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, born in 1833, 1836 and 1847, respectively.
In the late 1830s, Luís Alves was appointed instructor in swordsmanship
Swordsmanship
Swordsmanship refers to the skills of a swordsman, a person versed in the art of the sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallsword fencing, but by extension it can also be applied to any martial art involving the use of a sword...
and horsemanship to the young Pedro II. Ties of duty had drawn the two men together, but a long-lasting friendship and personal devotion also developed. Pedro II said many years later that he regarded Luís Alves as "loyal and my friend". According to historian Heitor Lyra, Luís Alves was "one of the rare, sincere and profoundly convicted monarchists and friends of the King [i.e., the Emperor] and of the Dynasty [the House of Braganza
House of Braganza
The Most Serene House of Braganza , an important Portuguese noble family, ruled the Kingdom of Portugal and its colonial Empire, from 1640 to 1910...
]. He placed his sword not only in service to a united and strong Brazil, but also to a worthy and respected Monarch".
Balaiada
As the commander of the Permanent Municipal Guard Corps, Luís Alves managed to bring order to the streets of Rio de Janeiro, through his own skill and through partnership with the city's chief of police, Eusébio de Queirós. Luís Alves was promoted from major to lieutenant colonel on 12 September 1837. Eusébio was a member of the Partido Regressista (Reactionary Party), which had come to power that year. Bernardo Pereira de Vasconcelos, one of the leading Reactionaries and a government minister, attempted to attract Luís Alves to his party.After being promoted to colonel on 2 December 1839, Luís Alves was sent by the Reactionary cabinet to the province of Maranhão
Maranhão
Maranhão is a northeastern state of Brazil. To the north lies the Atlantic Ocean. Maranhão is neighbored by the states of Piauí, Tocantins and Pará. The people of Maranhão have a distinctive accent...
to quell a rebellion which became known as the Balaiada
Balaiada
The Balaiada was a social revolt that occurred between 1838 and 1841 in the interior of the province of Maranhão, Brazil.-Background:During the imperial period, the Maranhão region, which exported cotton, suffered a grave economic crisis because of competition with the increasingly productive...
. He was appointed to the highest civilian and military positions in the province: presidente (president or governor) and comandante das armas (military commander), thus giving him authority over the National Guard and army (brought back to full strength by the Reactionary administration) units in the province, respectively.
Luís Alves arrived in São Luís
São Luís, Maranhão
São Luís is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Maranhão. The city is located on Ilha de São Luís in the Baía de São Marcos , an extension of the Atlantic Ocean which forms the estuary of Pindaré, Mearim, Itapecuru and other rivers. Its coordinates are 2.53° south, 44.30° west...
, Maranhão's capital, on 4 February 1840. After several battles and skirmishes, he defeated the rebels. For his achievement, Luís Alves was promoted on 18 July 1841 to brigadier (present-day brigadier general) and raised by Pedro II to the titled nobility as Barão de Caxias (Baron of Caxias). He was given the rare honor of choosing his title; he decided to commemorate his recapture of Caxias
Caxias (Maranhão)
Caxias is a town and municipality in the state of Maranhão in the Northeast region of Brazil.-References:...
, Maranhão's second richest town, which had fallen into rebel hands. Francisco de Lima wrote to his son with news of the Liberals' demand that Pedro II's majority be immediately declared. Meanwhile, Honório Hermeto Carneiro Leão
Honório Carneiro Leão, Marquis of Paraná
Honório Hermeto Carneiro Leão, Marquis of Paraná was a Brazilian politician, diplomat, judge, monarchist and co-founder of the Brazilian Conservative Party during the period of the Empire of Brazil . Paraná was born to a family of humble means in São Carlos do Jacuí, in what was then the captaincy...
(later Marquis of Paraná, a distant cousin of Caxias' wife and a leader of the Reactionary Party) sent letters to Luís Alves attempting to undermine the influence Francisco de Lima had on him and to dissuade him from supporting the unconstitutional proposal to declare the Emperor of age.
Liberal rebellions of 1842
Upon his return from Maranhão, Caxias saw that the political climate had changed. Francisco de Lima's Liberal Party had successfully pushed through the premature declaration of the Emperor's majority on 23 July 1840. On May 1842, the Liberals rebelled in the provinces of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais in retaliation for the Emperor's decision—on the advice of a Council of State dominated by Reactionaries—to call for new elections, annulling the previous election tainted by widespread fraud by the Liberal Party.Named as the province's vice-president and military commander, Caxias arrived in São Paulo on 21 May 1842. Once he defeated the rebels there, he was appointed as military commander of Minas Gerais and marched to that province. With the aid of National Guard units from Rio de Janeiro under its president, Honório, Caxias was once again successful, and by late August, the rebellion was crushed. Caxias was honored by Pedro II, who made him his aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
on 23 July 1842. Two days later, Caxias was promoted to brevet
Brevet (military)
In many of the world's military establishments, brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank except when actually serving in that role. An officer so promoted may be referred to as being...
(acting) field marshal (present-day divisional general).
To distinguish itself from what the Reactionaries perceived as the "unruly" Liberals, sometime around 1843 (and certainly by 1844), the Reactionary Party became known as the Partido da Ordem (Party of Order) and its members as saquaremas. Caxias increasingly identified himself with the saquarema ideology: liberalism
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
, preservation of the authority of the state, and support for representative parliamentary monarchy. Although his move toward the saquarema camp was not clear at the time he accepted the appointment to put down the rebellion in Maranhão in 1839, his victory over the Liberal rebels in 1842 only further solidified his allegiance to the Party of Order.
War of the Ragamuffins
When the republican secessionist rebellion known as War of the Ragamuffins began in Rio Grande do Sul in 1835, one of Caxias' uncles joined the rebels. His father, Francisco de Lima, and possibly another uncle (the Minister of War at the time), also secretly supported the rebellion. On 28 September 1842, Caxias was appointed president and military commander of the province of Rio Grande do SulRio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil, and the state with the fifth highest Human Development Index in the country. In this state is located the southernmost city in the country, Chuí, on the border with Uruguay. In the region of Bento Gonçalves and Caxias do Sul, the largest wine...
. The 16-year-old Pedro II allowed Caxias to prove once more that he was unlike his father and uncles and gave him a short and direct order: "End this revolution, as you have ended the others." Caxias brought with him a fellow saquarema and a famous poet, Domingos Gonçalves de Magalhães (later Viscount of Araguaia), to serve as his secretary, as he had done previously in Maranhão.
Caxias had made a short trip to Rio Grande do Sul in 1839 to inspect the war effort against the Ragamuffins. Upon his return to the province in November 1842, he found that the rebels, severely weakened after years of struggle, had been forced to resort to guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
. When threatened, the rebels escaped to safety in nearby Uruguay (formerly Cisplatina). As he had done in Maranhão, São Paulo and Minas Gerais, Caxias planted spies within the enemy's ranks to gather information and to foment dissension. Historian Roderick J. Barman said that he "displayed military, organizational, and political talents essential to what is now termed 'counterinsurgency
Counter-insurgency
A counter-insurgency or counterinsurgency involves actions taken by the recognized government of a nation to contain or quell an insurgency taken up against it...
'."
In early 1843, Honório became the head of the cabinet, and so long as the saquaremas remained in power, Caxias was secure in his position. A year later, Honório and the saquaremas resigned after he quarreled with Pedro II. The Liberals replaced the saquaremas in government, but Caxias was retained in his command. The War of the Ragamuffins took far longer to put down than had previous rebellions, but through careful negotiation and military victories, Caxias finally managed to pacify the province. The end of the armed conflict was declared on 1 March 1845. He was made a permanent field marshal on 25 March, and raised to the rank of count on 2 April. Caxias ran for a Senate seat, and being among the three candidates with the most votes, he was selected by the Emperor in late 1845 as the senator representing Rio Grande do Sul. He took his Senate seat on 11 May 1846.
Platine War
After years in opposition in the parliament, in September 1848, the Party of Order was called upon by Pedro II to form a new cabinet. The saquarema cabinet was composed of men with whom Caxias had close relationships, among them Eusébio, who had helped him bring order to the streets of Rio de Janeiro in the late 1830s. Caxias was now a wealthy planter who owned several slaves and was very much a part of the landed aristocracy that formed the backbone of the Party of Order. With the help of his wealthy mother-in-law, he purchased his first piece of land, from which he created a coffee farm in 1838. He acquired more lands in 1849. Due to growing international demand, coffee had become the most valuable export commodity for Brazil.In 1851, Don
Don (honorific)
Don, from Latin dominus, is an honorific in Spanish , Portuguese , and Italian . The female equivalent is Doña , Dona , and Donna , abbreviated "Dª" or simply "D."-Usage:...
Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel de Rosas , was an argentine militar and politician, who was elected governor of the province of Buenos Aires in 1829 to 1835, and then of the Argentine Confederation from 1835 until 1852...
, dictator of the Argentine Confederation
Argentine Confederation
The Argentine Confederation is one of the official names of Argentina, according to the Argentine Constitution, Article 35...
, declared war on Brazil. Caxias was appointed commander-in-chief of the Brazilian land forces. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paulino Soares de Sousa (later Viscount of Uruguai), forged an anti-Rosas alliance between Brazil, Uruguay and rebel Argentine provinces. When Paulino asked who should be appointed as Brazil's representative among the allied forces, Caxias suggested Honório. Honório, who had been ostracized by his peers after his fall in 1844, was the saquarema closest to Caxias.
The army commanded by Caxias crossed into Uruguay in September 1851. The allies decided to divide their forces into two armies: a multinational force that included a single Brazilian division, and a second army composed entirely of Brazilians under Caxias. Against the wishes of Honório, Caxias chose Manuel Marques de Sousa
Manuel Marques de Sousa, Count of Porto Alegre
Manuel Marques de Sousa, the Count of Porto Alegre , was a Brazilian military officer, monarchist and politician.-Early years:...
(later Count of Porto Alegre) to lead the former force.
Caxias met and befriended Manuel Marques, who had served under his command in the War of the Ragamuffins, during his trip to Rio Grande do Sul in 1839. The Brazilian division, led by Marques, along with Uruguayan and Argentine rebel troops, invaded Argentina. On 3 February 1852, in the Battle of Caseros
Battle of Caseros
The Battle of Caseros was fought near the town of Caseros, more precisely between the present-day train stations of Caseros and Palomar in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, on 3 February 1852, between the Army of Buenos Aires commanded by Juan Manuel de Rosas...
, the allies defeated an army led by Rosas, who fled to the United Kingdom, thus ending the war. Caxias spent 17 February aboard the frigate Dom Afonso (commanded by John Pascoe Grenfell
John Pascoe Grenfell
Admiral John Pascoe Grenfell was an officer in the Brazilian Navy who spent most of his service in South America campaigns, most notably under the leadership of Lord Cochrane and Commodore Norton. He was the nephew of British politician Pascoe Grenfell and grandfather to General Sir John Grenfell...
), taking stock of the port area of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, the Argentine capital, selecting the best place to launch an amphibious attack
Amphibious warfare
Amphibious warfare is the use of naval firepower, logistics and strategy to project military power ashore. In previous eras it stood as the primary method of delivering troops to non-contiguous enemy-held terrain...
. His plan was aborted once the news of the victory at Caseros arrived. As a reward for his role in bringing about the victory, Caxias was promoted to lieutenant general
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
on 3 March, and raised to marquis on 26 June.
Conciliation Cabinet
Caxias's father died in December 1853. For years, father and son had clashed, taking opposite sides. The marquis ultimately prevailed, adhering closely to his grandfather José Joaquim de Lima's steadfast loyalty to the Crown and respect for the law. By the time of his death, Francisco de Lima, a senator in his own right, had long since lost his former influence and had not held any office of importance for years. Nevertheless, Caxias and Francisco de Lima maintained a loving and respectful relationship to the very end, as may be seen in the few surviving letters between them. His relationship with other family members, however, was marred by resentment, as he told his wife years later: "We are placed in the foreground of our society, causing even envy to your relatives and to my mine as well."Around 1853 (and certainly by 1855), the old Party of Order had become more widely known as the Conservative Party. On 14 June 1855, the marquis accepted the portfolio of Minister of War and joined the "Conciliation Cabinet" headed by Honório (now Marquis of Paraná). Caxias and Paraná had also known each other since 1831 and had formed a deep friendship and strong bond based on trust and views in common. Paraná had been facing overwhelming opposition in parliament from members of his, and Caxias's, own party. Under the guise of correcting flaws in elections so that all parties would have legitimate access to representation in parliament, Paraná attempted to pass electoral reforms that would, in practice, allot cabinets even more influence to meddle in elections through coercion and patronage. The saquaremas understood the threat: it would undermine their own party (or in fact any party) by strengthening the executive branch to the detriment of the legislative.
In search of broader support, Paraná appointed as ministers politicians who had few, or no, links to the saquaremas. Caxias himself was a saquarema, but according to Needell, he "was first and foremost a military man. Personal fealty to the Empire came before any other. As so many did, he identified this loyalty with fealty to the Crown in abstraction and to Dom Pedro personally." He was a choice that could please all sides. Caxias, said Needell, "was not so much a political man as a man profoundly loyal to the Monarchy with which he ... had come to identify with the Conservative Party. Thus, Paraná may have appointed Caxias to reassure traditional Conservatives without endangering the more independent political position Paraná was taking."
Failed presidencies of the Council of Ministers
Paraná eventually succeeded in passing electoral reform, which was called the Lei dos Círculos (Law of the Circles). As predicted, and feared, it gave greater powers to the president of the Council of Ministers to meddle in elections. Unexpectedly, Paraná fell ill and died on 3 September 1856. Caxias replaced him, but was reluctant to face the legislature, elected under the electoral reform, that was slated to convene the next year. He resigned, along with the other cabinet ministers, on 4 May 1857. The Law of the Circles and the controversy surrounding it split the Conservative Party down the middle: one faction was the saquarema ultraconservative (or tradionalist) wing, then called the vermelhos (reds) or puritanos (puritans), led by Eusébio, Uruguai and Joaquim Rodrigues Torres, Viscount of ItaboraíJoaquim Rodrigues Torres, Viscount of Itaboraí
Joaquim Rodrigues Torres, the Viscount of Itaboraí was a Brazilian politician and monarchist during the period of the Empire of Brazil ....
. The second bloc comprised the conservador moderado (moderate Conservative) wing, composed mostly of younger politicians who owed their positions to electoral reform.
The moderate Conservatives were Conservatives in name only, and did not support the saquarema ideology and leadership. During the years following 1857, successive cabinets quickly collapsed, unable to muster a majority in the Chamber of Deputies, as the two Conservative wings undercut each other in a fight for dominance. The Emperor asked Caxias to head a new cabinet on 2 March 1861. Among his ministers were José Maria da Silva Paranhos (later Viscount of Rio Branco), whom Caxias had met and befriended during the Platine War while serving as secretary to Paraná.
Caxias tried to secure support from the traditional saquarema leadership. They attempted, however, to use him as a figurehead and to further their own agendas. He commented to Paranhos: "I see what you meant, with respect to the bizarre behavior of these gentlemen, who do not wish to govern the country, when they are invited to do so, because they prefer to govern the Government. They are completely mistaken about me, since I am not disposed to serve them as a hobbyhorse."
Lacking support in parliament, Caxias' cabinet resigned on 24 May 1862 after losing its majority in the Chamber of Deputies (the national legislature's lower house
Lower house
A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house.Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide the lower house has come to wield more power...
). Pedro II asked members of the Liga Progressista (Progressive League)—a new party consisting of moderate Conservatives and Liberals—to form a new cabinet. Barely a month later, Caxias' only son died at age 14 of unknown causes. There was a small consolation at the end of 1862 when, on 2 December, he was made brevet marechal do exército (marshal of the army
Marshal (Brazil)
Marshal is the highest rank in both the Brazilian Army and the Brazilian Air Force, although the latter is titled Marechal-do-Ar . These ranks are equivalent to that of Admiral in the Navy...
), the highest rank in the Brazilian army.
Siege of Uruguaiana
In December 1864, the dictator of Paraguay, Francisco Solano López, took advantage of Brazil's military intervention in UruguayUruguayan War
The Uruguayan War , also known as the War against Aguirre, was fought between Uruguay and an alliance between the Empire of Brazil and Uruguayan Colorados....
to establish his country as a regional power. The Paraguayan army
Paraguayan army
The Paraguayan Army is an institution of the State of Paraguay, organized into three divisions and 9, and several commands and directions, went to war on two occasions, in the War of the Triple Alliance v Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay and Chaco War v Bolivia.- Mission :* Maintaining the sanctity...
invaded the Brazilian province of Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest in area, located in the western part of the country.Neighboring states are Rondônia, Amazonas, Pará, Tocantins, Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul. It also borders Bolivia to the southwest...
(currently the state of Mato Grosso do Sul
Mato Grosso do Sul
Mato Grosso do Sul is one of the states of Brazil.Neighboring Brazilian states are Mato Grosso, Goiás, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Paraná. It also borders the countries of Paraguay and Bolivia to the west. The economy of the state is largely based on agriculture and cattle-raising...
), triggering the Paraguayan War. Four months later, Paraguayan troops invaded Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
territory in preparation for an attack on the Brazilian province of Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil, and the state with the fifth highest Human Development Index in the country. In this state is located the southernmost city in the country, Chuí, on the border with Uruguay. In the region of Bento Gonçalves and Caxias do Sul, the largest wine...
.
The situation in Rio Grande do Sul was chaotic, and the local military commanders were incapable of mounting an effective resistance to the Paraguayan army. Pedro II, aware of the danger, decided to go to the front in person to shore up operations. As the Emperor's military aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
, Caxias followed his monarch into the combat zone. The marquis had warned the Progressive cabinet that Brazil was unprepared to intervene in Uruguay and even less prepared to resist a foreign invasion. His warnings were ignored, and he complained, with a bit of irony, to his friend João Maurício Vanderlei, Baron of Cotejipe, a former colleague in the Conciliation cabinet: "I am almost mad with the mistakes that I am seeing being made, but since I am a red [ultraconservative or traditional saquarema] I am not listened to, since everything is progress in our country."
The imperial party arrived in Rio Grande do Sul's capital, Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre is the tenth most populous municipality in Brazil, with 1,409,939 inhabitants, and the centre of Brazil's fourth largest metropolitan area . It is also the capital city of the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is the southernmost capital city of a Brazilian...
, in July 1865. From there, they traveled inland until they reached Uruguaiana
Uruguaiana
Uruguaiana is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is located on the left-hand shore of the Uruguay River that forms the border with Argentina. Opposite Uruguaiana, and joined to it by a road/railway bridge, lies the Argentine city of Paso de los Libres, Corrientes...
in September. This Brazilian town had been occupied by a Paraguayan army. By the time Caxias and his party arrived, the town was under siege by a combined force of Brazilian, Argentine and Uruguayan units. The Paraguayans surrendered without further bloodshed, freeing the Emperor and Caxias to return to the imperial capital.
Commander-in-Chief
The allies next invaded Paraguay in April 1866, but after initial success, their advance was blocked by fortifications at HumaitáHumaitá
Humaitá is a town on the Paraguay River in southern Paraguay. During the War of the Triple Alliance, it served as the main Paraguayan stronghold from 1866 until its fall in August 1868. During that time, it housed as many as 24,000 troops...
both by land and along the Paraguay River
Paraguay River
The Paraguay River is a major river in south central South America, running through Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina...
. The Progressive cabinet decided to create a unified command over Brazilian land forces operating in Paraguay, and it turned to the 63-year-old Caxias (made permanent marshal of the army on 13 January) as the new leader on 10 October 1866. He explained to his wife that the reason he had accepted the post was because the war "was an evil that has reached more or less all, from the Emperor to the most unfortunate slave."
Caxias arrived in Paraguay on 17 November, and assumed, for all practical purposes, supreme command of land and naval forces in the war, even though he had not explicitly been given authority over the navy. His first measure was to dismiss Vice-Admiral Joaquim Marques Lisboa (later the Marquis of Tamandaré and also a member of the Progressive League) and appoint fellow Conservative Vice-Admiral Joaquim José Inácio (later the Viscount of Inhaúma) to lead the navy.
From October 1866 until July 1867, all offensive operations were suspended. During this period, Caxias trained his soldiers, re-equipped the army with newer guns, improved the quality of the officer corps, and upgraded the health corps and overall hygiene of the troops, putting an end to epidemics. Alfredo d'Escragnolle Taunay (later the Viscount of Taunay), who fought in the war, remembered that Caxias was a "generous military chief, who forgave small errors, but was implacable with those who commited grave misdeeds, or, then, who betrayed his confidence."
With the Brazilian army ready for combat, Caxias sought to encircle Humaitá and force its capitulation by siege. To aid the operation, he used observation balloon
Observation balloon
Observation balloons are balloons that are employed as aerial platforms for intelligence gathering and artillery spotting. Their use began during the French Revolutionary Wars, reaching their zenith during World War I, and they continue in limited use today....
s to gather information of the enemy lines. The combined Brazilian–Argentine–Uruguayan army advanced through hostile territory to surround Humaitá. By 2 November, Humaitá was completely cut off from land reinforcement by Paraguayan forces. On 19 February 1868, Brazilian ironclads successfully made a passage up the Paraguay River under heavy fire, gaining full control of the river and thus isolating Humaitá from resupply by water.
Dezembrada
The relationship between the Marquis of Caxias, now the allied Commander-in-Chief, and the governing Progressives worsened until it became a political crisis that led to the cabinet's resignation. The Emperor called Conservatives, under Itaboraí's leadership, back into power on 16 July 1868, while the Progressive League was rechristened as the Liberal Party. Meanwhile, the allies occupied Humaitá on 25 July after López managed to engineer a successful withdrawal of all Paraguayan troops from its fortress.Pressing his advantage, the marquis began organizing an assault on the new Paraguayan defenses which López had thrown up along the Pikysyry, south of Asunción
Asunción
Asunción is the capital and largest city of Paraguay.The "Ciudad de Asunción" is an autonomous capital district not part of any department. The metropolitan area, called Gran Asunción, includes the cities of San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambaré, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, Ñemby, San...
(Paraguay's capital). This stream afforded a strong defensive position which was anchored to the northwest by the Paraguay River and on the southeast by the swampy jungle of the Chaco region, both considered to be nearly impassible by a large force. Rather than making a frontal attack on López's line, Caxias had a road cut through the Chaco. The road was finished by early December, undetected by López, allowing the allied forces to outflank the Paraguayan lines and attack from the rear. In three successive battles (Ytororó, Avay
Battle of Avay
The Battle of Avaí was fought by the stream of the same name in Paraguayan territory in December 1868 during the War of the Triple Alliance, between the forces the Triple Alliance and the Paraguay....
and Lomas Valentinas) which became known as Dezembrada (Deed of December), the combined allied forces completely annihilated the Paraguayan army. López himself barely managed to escape with a few followers, and on 1 January 1869, the Brazilians occupied Asunción
Asunción
Asunción is the capital and largest city of Paraguay.The "Ciudad de Asunción" is an autonomous capital district not part of any department. The metropolitan area, called Gran Asunción, includes the cities of San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambaré, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, Ñemby, San...
. According to historian Ronaldo Vainfas, "his perfomance ahead of the allied forces contributed in an unquestionable way to the final triumph over the enemy."
The marquis had to take great risks to win these victories. In the Ytororó engagement, which occurred on 5 December, the allied objective was to take a bridge over the Ytororó River. Several attempts were made to cross the bridge, but each was repelled by intense fire from the Paraguayan positions. In a final attempt, the Brazilian soldiers panicked and began to flee in disorder. Caxias, witnessing the unfolding disaster, unsheathed his sword and charged on horseback toward the bridge, followed by his staff. He passed through the fleeing troops, shouting "Hail to His Majesty", "Hail to Brazil" and finally, "Sigam-me os que forem brasileiros!" ("Those who are true Brazilians, follow me!") His display of courage stopped the retreat immediately; the units regrouped, and a vigorous attack led personally by Caxias overwhelmed the Paraguayan positions. Several men who were next to him during the attack were killed, as was his horse.
Aftermath
Caxias was growing old, and was ill and exhausted by the time he reached Asunción. As he did not feel up to the task of pursuing López into the Paraguayan hinterland, he asked to be either relieved of his post or given a short leave. Although his request was denied, he appointed a senior member of his staff as acting commander, and left for Brazil on 19 January 1869. The Emperor was angered that the marquis had left his post without permission, and especially that Caxias had declared the war to have been already won—even though López was still at large and regrouping his few remaining military assets. Caxias' ill-conceived decision seriously endangered the hard-won achievements of the past months, even as the objective of eliminating López as a threat remained tantalizingly within reach.The marquis arrived unannounced in Rio de Janeiro in early February. He went directly home, to the surprise of his wife, who—like everyone else—was unaware that he had returned. Pedro II was greatly disappointed in Caxias, though he was also very aware that the marquis was the person most responsible for the great successes during the war and that these accomplishments had come at the cost of years of sacrifice and personal bravery. The Emperor called the marquis to the Imperial Palace, the Paço de São Cristóvão
Paço de São Cristóvão
Paço de São Cristóvão is a palace located in the Quinta da Boa Vista park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the former residence of the Emperors of Brazil...
, on 21 February 1869 for a reconciliation.
A few days later, Caxias was awarded the Order of Pedro I and was raised from marquis to duke, the highest rank of Brazilian nobility. This was a unique distinction during the 58-year-long reign of Pedro II. The Emperor also appointed him to the Council of State on October 1870. Nonetheless, this did not shelter Caxias from being subjected to attacks and accusations—some petty—in the parliament, including for having left his post without permission. The embittered duke wrote to his friend Manuel Luís Osório, Marquis of Erval
Manuel Luís Osório, Marquis of Erval
Manuel Luís Osório, Marquis of Erval , was a Brazilian military officer, monarchist and politician.-References:* Carvalho, José Murilo de. D. Pedro II: ser ou não ser. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2007....
: "When I was young, my friend, I did not know how to explain why the elderly were selfish, but now that I am old, I see that they are like that because of the disappointments and ingratitudes they suffer during their lives. At least this is what happens to me".
Figurehead presidency
Paranhos, now Viscount of Rio Branco, led a cabinet which lasted from 1871 to 1875. Two serious crises arose that challenged its viability and undermined the foundations of the monarchy itself. The first resulted from the controversy over the Law of Free Birth, which Caxias voted in favor of. The law emancipated children born to slave women after its enactment. With half of its members supporting and the other half staunchly opposed, a serious rift was opened within the Conservative Party. The opponents represented the interests of powerful coffee farmers like Caxias himself, who had long been the main political, social, and economic supporters of the Conservative Party.The second crisis developed after the government came into conflict with two bishops who had ordered that Freemasons
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
be expelled from lay brother
Lay brother
In the most common usage, lay brothers are those members of Catholic religious orders, particularly of monastic orders, occupied primarily with manual labour and with the secular affairs of a monastery or friary, in contrast to the choir monks of the same monastery who are devoted mainly to the...
hoods. The dispute grew out of proportion when both bishops were convicted and given prison sentences for disobeying the government's order to rescind their expulsions of Freemasons. As Catholicism was the state religion, the Emperor exercised, with the papacy's acquiescence, a great deal of control over church affairs—paying clerical salaries, appointing parish priests, nominating bishops, ratifying papal bulls, and overseeing seminaries. As a result of the furor over the handling of the affair, Rio Branco and his cabinet resigned, "disunited and weary after four years in office", according to historian Roderick J. Barman. Pedro II asked Caxias to form a new cabinet. The duke later gave a remarkable account of their meeting:
The elderly Caxias, nearly 72 and widowed since 1874, was in poor health and could only serve as a figurehead president of the government which was formed on 25 June 1875. Cotejipe was the de facto president. The Caxias-Cotejipe cabinet attempted to dissipate the discord created by the previous cabinet. Their measures included financial aid to coffee farmers, an amnesty for the convicted bishops, and, to please the pro-slavery Conservatives, the selection of new ministers and a call for elections. Caxias, who was a Freemason himself, but also a staunch Catholic and a deeply religious man, threatened to resign if the Emperor did not grant the amnesty, which Pedro II grudgingly issued in September 1875.
Death
At the end of 1877, Pedro II paid a visit to Caxias and ascertained that he could no longer remain in office. The entire cabinet resigned on 1 January 1878. His health problems had become so troubling that he had been asking repeatedly to resign since early 1876. Caxias was not only afflicted by concerns over his declining health, but increasingly felt a sense of alienation. The duke no longer saw himself playing a relevant role in politics. He belonged to an older generation who perceived the Emperor (and consequently, the monarchy) as essential for holding the nation together.The new politicians who had begun to dominate the government had little memory of the times before Pedro II assumed control in 1840. Unlike their predecessors, they had no experience of the regency and the early years of Pedro II's reign, when external and internal dangers threatened the nation's existence. They had only known a stable administration and prosperity. The young politicians saw no reason to uphold and defend the imperial office as a unifying force beneficial to the nation. Times were changing fast, and Caxias was aware of the situation. He became increasingly nostalgic for the old times he had spent with his now-dead Conservative Party colleagues and held a pessimistic view of future political prospects. When Itaboraí—one of the last survivors of those Conservative leaders who had begun their careers during the 1830s—died in 1872, the duke wrote to a friend: "Who will replace him? I don't know, I cannot see ... The vacuum he left will not be filled, as it was not with Eusébio, Paraná
Honório Carneiro Leão, Marquis of Paraná
Honório Hermeto Carneiro Leão, Marquis of Paraná was a Brazilian politician, diplomat, judge, monarchist and co-founder of the Brazilian Conservative Party during the period of the Empire of Brazil . Paraná was born to a family of humble means in São Carlos do Jacuí, in what was then the captaincy...
, Uruguai, Manuel Felizardo and many others who helped us sustain this little church [i.e., the monarchy, his 'second faith'], which collapsed or almost collapsed on 7 April 1831."
Confined to a wheelchair as his health slowly declined, the Duke of Caxias lived his remaining days at his Santa Mônica farm, in the countryside of Rio de Janeiro province. On 7 May 1880 at 11 p.m., he quietly died, attended by members of his family. A saddened Pedro II (who visited Caxias several times during his long illness) remarked about his "friend of almost a half century", that he had "known him, and esteemed him since 1832. He was 76, almost 77 years old. And so we remain in this world."
Caxias asked for a simple funeral, with no pomp, no honors, no invitations, and only six soldiers of good conduct to carry his coffin. His last wish was not entirely respected: Pedro II sent a carriage
Carriage
A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light,...
used for funerals of members of the imperial family only, to be followed by sixteen servants of the imperial household, and one corporal and thirteen, not six, soldiers of good conduct to carry his remains. A huge procession was followed by a funeral (attended by Pedro II in person) and his body was laid to rest in the São Francisco de Paula cemetery in the city of Rio de Janeiro. On 25 August 1949, his remains, as well as those of his wife, were exhumed and reinterred in Rio de Janeiro's Duke of Caxias Pantheon.
Legacy
From his death in 1880 until the 1920s, the Duke of Caxias was not regarded as the most important military figure in Brazilian history. This honor belonged to Manuel Luís Osório, Marquis of ErvalManuel Luís Osório, Marquis of Erval
Manuel Luís Osório, Marquis of Erval , was a Brazilian military officer, monarchist and politician.-References:* Carvalho, José Murilo de. D. Pedro II: ser ou não ser. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2007....
. Caxias was barely remembered. His reputation slowly grew, and in 1923, the Ministry of the Army created an annual celebration in his honor. In 1925, his birthday officially became the "Day of the Soldier", which commemorates the Brazilian army. On 13 March 1962, Caxias became patrono (protector) of the army, making him the most important figure in its tradition. According to Adriana Barreto de Souza, Francisco Doratioto and Celso Castro, Caxias supplanted Osório because he was seen as a loyal and dutiful officer who could serve as a role model in a Brazilian republic plagued since its birth in 1889 by military insubordination, rebellions and coups.
The historiography is often positive toward Caxias and he is usually ranked as the greatest Brazilian military officer. To historian Nelson Werneck Sodré, he was "not only the greatest military commander of his continent [South America], in his time, but [also] a great politician". Moreover, Caxias was "—more than D. Pedro II—the Empire." Francisco Doratioto said that the duke "in Paraguay had doubts, pride, resentment, and made mistakes; in short, he was a real character ... Caxias, however, was able to rise above his limitations, imposed on himself great personal sacrifices and incorporated the responsibility of accomplishing the objective ... In this context, Caxias was, indeed, a hero; he carried with him, it is true, social and political prejudices of his time, but one can not demand from the past the observance of present-day values."
Roderick J. Barman affirmed that Caxias was not only "extremely powerful in the Conservative party", but also "the country's most distinguished" and "most successful soldier" who had "proved his capacity and his loyalty by defeating revolts against the regime". C. H. Haring said that he was "a brilliant army officer", also "Brazil's most famous military figure" and a man "who was genuinely loyal to the throne". Hélio Vianna regarded Caxias as "the greatest soldier of Brazil". To Thomas Whigham, the duke was "destined to occupy a lofty spot in Brazil's national mythology. He often had to act as a statesman as much as military man" and was "[s]hrewdly competent in both roles".
Titles and honors
Titles of nobility
- Baron (without GreatnessGrandeeGrandee is the word used to render in English the Iberic high aristocratic title Grande , used by the Spanish nobility; Portuguese nobility, and Brazilian nobility....
) on 18 July 1841. - Count on 25 March 1845.
- Marquis on 26 June 1852.
- Duke on 23 March 1869.
Other titles
- Member of the Brazilian Council of StatePrivy councilA privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
. - Member of the Brazilian Historic and Geographic InstituteBrazilian Historic and Geographic InstituteThe Brazilian Historic and Geographic Institute , founded October 21, 1838, is the oldest and traditional authority to promote research and preservation of historical and geographical, cultural and social sciences in Brazil....
. - Emperor's war counselor.
- Emperor's aide-de-campAide-de-campAn aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
. - Emperor's veador (gentleman usherGentleman UsherGentleman Usher is a title for some officers of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. See List of Gentlemen Ushers for a list of office-holders.-Historical:...
).
Honors
- Grand Cross of the Brazilian Order of the Southern CrossOrder of the Southern CrossThe National Order of the Southern Cross is a Brazilian order of chivalry founded by Emperor Pedro I on 1 December 1822. This order was intended to commemorate the independence of Brazil and the coronation of Pedro I...
. - Grand Cross of the Brazilian Order of the RoseOrder of the RoseThe Imperial Order of the Rose is an Brazilian order of chivalry, instituted by Emperor Pedro I of Brazil on 17 October 1829 to commemorate his marriage to Amélie of Leuchtenberg....
. - Grand Cross of the Brazilian Order of Pedro IOrder of Pedro IThe Imperial Order of Dom Pedro I is an Brazilian order of chivalry instituted by Emperor Pedro I of Brazil on 16 April 1826.On 22 March 1890, the order was cancelled as national order by the interim government of United States of Brazil....
. - Grand Cross of the Brazilian Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz.
- Grand Cross of the Portuguese Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila ViçosaOrder of the Immaculate Conception of Vila ViçosaThe Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa is an dynastic order of knighthood of the House of Braganza, the former Portuguese Royal Family...
.
Military honors
- Medal (oval) of the Independence War (Bahia).
- Medal of the army in the Oriental State of Uruguay in 1852.
- Commemorative medal of the surrender of the division of the army of Paraguay that occupied the village of Uruguaiana.
- Medal (oval) of bravery "to the bravest ones" (1867).
- Medal awarded to the army, armada and to civil servants in operations in the Paraguayan War (1870).