Brazilian Civil War 1893-1895

Floriano Peixoto, known as the "Iron Marshal" (marechal de ferro ), dismissed all the state governors who had supported ousted president Deodoro da Fonseca, provoking violence in many parts of the country. One of the bloodiest of these struggles was the civil war that exploded in Rio Grande do Sul in 1893 and soon spread into Santa Catarina and Paraná, pitting former monarchist liberals against republicans. Rebels gained control of much of southern Brazil but failed to capture the capital of Rio Grande do Sul. Although the power struggles that produced the fighting in Rio Grande do Sul during 1893-95 were local in origin, Peixoto made them national by siding with republican Governor Julio de Castilhos. The fighting in the south was savage, including the execution of prisoners and suspected sympathizers

Concurrently, on September 6, 1893, the fleet in Guanabara Bay at Rio de Janeiro challenged the Brazilian president. Admiral Custodio Jose de Mello, commanding Brazilian naval vessels in the harbor of Rio de Janeiro, demanded the resignation of President Peixoto. On refusal, Mello shelled the city. Mediation by foreign ministers prevented further destruction. Mello joined forces with the insurgents in the south, led by Gumercindo Saraiva.

Peixoto's diplomat in Washington, Salvador de Mendonça, with the help of New York businessman Charles Flint, was able to assemble a squadron of ships with American crews. The United States government, interested in Brazilian commerce and in the republic's survival, permitted this mercenary effort to occur and sent several cruisers to provide a barely concealed escort. This was the first documented American intervention in Brazil's internal affairs, and significantly it was organized privately. The mercenary squadron proved decisive in ending the standoff in Guanabara Bay. Admiral Saldanha de Gama, now commanding the rebellious squadron in Rio Harbor, abandoned his ships to take refuge with his men on board two Portuguese warships, which transported them to Montevideo, Uruguay.

Meanwhile, Mello and Saravia fell out. The rebel army was dispersed. Mello, after an unsuccessful attack on the town of Rio Grande do Sul, steamed to Buenos Aires and surrendered to Argentine authorities (April 16, 1894). Peixoto's fierce defense of the Brazilian republic made him the darling of the Jacobins and from then on a symbol of Brazilian nationalism. In November 1894, because of his ill health and the military's disunity, Peixoto turned the government over to a spokesman for the agrarian coffee elite, São Paulo native Prudente José de Morais Barros, also known as Prudente de Morais, the first civilian president (1894-98). Prudente de Morais attempted to negotiate an end to the war in the south and granted amnesty to the rebels and the expelled officers.

Admiral de Gama returned from Montevideo sometime later and was killed in July 1895 while fighting with the rebels in the Rio Grande do Sul. Guerrilla activity continued in the province of Rio Grande do Sol until as late as August 1895, when it stopped suddenly upon Peixoto's death.

References

Dictionary of Wars, 68-9; Military History, 1001; Brazil - A Country Study.

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