Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of Caxias
Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of Caxias (pronounced [kaˈʃi.ɐs];[1] 25 August 1803 – 7 May 1880), nicknamed "the Peacemaker"[2] and "the Iron Duke",[3] was an army officer, politician and monarchist of the Empire of Brazil. Like his father and uncles, Caxias pursued a military career. In 1823 he fought as a young officer in the Brazilian War for Independence against Portugal, then spent three years in Brazil's southernmost province, Cisplatina, as the government unsuccessfully resisted that province's secession in the Cisplatine War. Though his own father and uncles renounced Emperor Dom Pedro I during the protests of 1831, Caxias remained loyal. Pedro I abdicated in favor of his young son Dom Pedro II, whom Caxias instructed in swordsmanship and horsemanship and eventually befriended.
"Duque de Caxias" redirects here. For the city, see Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro. For other uses, see Duque de Caxias (disambiguation).
The Duke of Caxias
Pedro II
Pedro II
Pedro Ferreira de Oliveira
Patrício José Correia da Câmara
Saturnino de Sousa e Oliveira Coutinho
Patrício José Correia da Câmara
Manuel Felizardo de Sousa e Melo
João Antônio de Miranda
25 August 1803
São Paulo Farm, (now Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro), State of Brazil, Portuguese America
7 May 1880 (aged 76)
Santa Mônica Farm, (now Valença, Rio de Janeiro), Empire of Brazil
Conservative (from 1843)
Politician
- The Peacemaker
- Iron Duke
Empire of Brazil
1821–1880
During Pedro II's minority the governing regency faced countless rebellions throughout the country. Again breaking with his father and other relatives sympathetic to the rebels, from 1839 to 1845 Caxias commanded loyalist forces suppressing such uprisings as the Balaiada, the Liberal rebellions of 1842 and the Ragamuffin War. In 1851, under his command, the Brazilian army prevailed against the Argentine Confederation in the Platine War; a decade later Caxias, as army marshal (the army's highest rank), led Brazilian forces to victory in the Paraguayan War. As a reward he was raised to the titled nobility, becoming successively a baron, count, and marquis, finally becoming the only person created duke during Pedro II's 58-year reign.
In the early 1840s Caxias became a member of the Reactionary Party, which evolved into the Party of Order and finally the Conservative Party. He was elected senator in 1846. The Emperor appointed him president of the Council of Ministers (prime minister) in 1856; he briefly held that office again in 1861, but fell when his party lost its parliamentary majority. Over the decades Caxias witnessed the growth and zenith of his party, then its slow decline as internal conflict divided it. In 1875, he headed a cabinet for the last time, and after years of failing health he died in May 1880.
In the years after his death and mainly following the downfall of the Brazilian monarchy, Caxias's reputation was initially overshadowed by that of Manuel Luís Osório, Marquis of Erval, but with time surpassed even Erval's renown. In 1925 his birthday was established as the Day of the Soldier, a day of honor for the Brazilian army. On 13 March 1962 he was officially designated the army's protector—its soldierly ideal and the most important figure in its tradition. Historians have regarded Caxias positively, several ranking him as the greatest of Brazil's military officers.
Early years[edit]
Birth[edit]
Luís Alves de Lima e Silva was born on 25 August 1803[4][5] on a farm called São Paulo (today within the city of Duque de Caxias) located in Rio de Janeiro, then a captaincy (later province) of the Portuguese colony of Brazil.[4][6] He was the first son and second of ten children[7] of Francisco de Lima e Silva and Mariana Cândido de Oliveira Belo.[8][9] His godparents were his paternal grandfather, José Joaquim de Lima da Silva,[A] and his maternal grandmother, Ana Quitéria Joaquina.[6] Luís Alves's early years were spent on the São Paulo farm owned by his maternal grandfather and namesake, Luís Alves de Freitas.[6] The young boy may have initially been schooled at home, as was common then. He may have been taught to read and write by his grandmother, Ana Quitéria.[12]
Luís Alves's grandfather, José Joaquim, was a Portuguese military officer who had emigrated in 1767 to Brazil.[13] He settled in the city of Rio de Janeiro, capital of both the Rio de Janeiro captaincy and of Brazil.[14] He had neither noble rank nor noble ancestry and lacked patrons in an environment in which advancement depended upon exchanges of favors and family connections.[15] Having fought against the Spaniards on Brazil's southern frontiers,[14] he secured a place for himself in Rio de Janeiro's upper class when he married a member of a local and influential family.[16]
The arrival of the Portuguese Royal Family in Rio de Janeiro in 1808 changed the lives of the Lima family.[17] 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.[18] By 1818, Luís Alves's 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 Nobleman of the Royal House).[19] His father, Francisco de Lima, and uncles were also granted honors.[20] Within two generations, the Lima family had risen from mere commoners to the ranks of Portugal's untitled nobility.[21]
Military education[edit]
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.[12][22] 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.[4][12] 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.[23]
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 School), which became Pedro II School in 1837.[12][24] On 4 May 1818, he was admitted into the Royal Military Academy.[25] The entire course (which ran from the first to seventh year) was mandatory for artillerymen and engineers but infantrymen were only required to take first- and fifth-year classes. Luís Alves took the first- and fifth-year classes in 1818 and 1819, respectively. Though he could have skipped the other years,[26] he chose to take second-year classes in 1820 and third-year classes in 1821.[27] The subjects he studied in the Royal Military Academy ranged from arithmetic, algebra and geometry to tactics, strategy, camping, fortification in campaign and terrain reconnaissance.[28] He was promoted to alferes (equivalent to a modern-day second lieutenant) on 12 October 1818, and to lieutenant (modern-day first lieutenant) on 4 November 1820.[25]
Though an accomplished student, Luís Alves was often reprimanded for bullying new students.[29] With time, he matured, eventually being regarded by his peers as a very reasonable[30] and honest person.[31] He had an ordinary appearance, with a round face,[32] brown hair, brown eyes[3][33] and average height.[3][33] Luís Alves's unremarkable features were compensated by his bearing. 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."[34]