BOWMAN, ALEXANDER H. 



BRAZIL. 



121 



The regular army consists of 1,500 men; the 

 fleet of 3 vessels armed with 24 cannon. The 

 receipts amounted to about 1,976,000, and 

 the expenditures to 1,739,000 piastres. The 

 imports in 1853 were valued at 6,897,925 francs. 

 The movement of shipping of the port of Cobija 

 during the year 1853 (arrivals and clearances), 

 amounted to 126 vessels, of 20,745 tons, of 

 which 70 vessels, with 10,450 tons, were Eng- 

 lish. The merchant navy consists of 38 vessels 

 of 7,000 tons. 



On December 28th Gen. Melgarejo rose at 

 Oochabamba against the Government of Presi- 

 dent Jose Maria de Acha. In February, 1865, 

 the troops of President Acha were totally de- 

 feated at Ocaza, near Potosi, and almost the 

 whole country recognized Gen. Melgarejo as 

 Provisional President. On March 22d ex- 

 President Belzu arrived at La Paz, the capital 

 of the republic, and, during the absence of Mel- 

 garejo, caused himself to be proclaimed Presi- 

 dent. Melgarejo, however, soon took the city 

 by storm, and Belzu was killed by one of his 

 own soldiers. A new rising against the rule 

 of Melgarejo began on May 25th, under the 

 leadership of Castro Arquedas. At the date of 

 the last advices from La Paz (November 16, 

 1865), this movement had not been suppressed. 

 Gen. Melgarejo at that time was at La Paz, at 

 the head of 2,500 men, and preparing to march 

 against the revolutionists. 



BOWMAN, ALEXANDER H., Lieutenant- 

 Colonel Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army, was 

 born at Wilkesbarre, Pa., May 15, 1803, and 

 died there November 11, 1865. He was the son 

 of Captain Samuel Bowman, an officer of dis- 

 tinction in the Massachusetts line during the 

 Revolutionary War. He entered as a cadet 

 into the U. S. Military Academy, July 1, 1821. 



In June, 1825, he graduated third in his 

 class, which numbered thirty-seven, and of 

 which Maj.-Gen. Charles F. Smith, Professor 

 A. D. Bache, Gen. Robert Anderson, and others 

 alike distinguished, were members. Cadet Bow- 

 man was promoted second lieutenant in the 

 Corps of Engineers, July 1, 1825, and after a 

 few months service as an Assistant Professor of 

 Ethics, at West Point, he was ordered (1826) 

 to the Southern coast as an assistant engineer 

 on the defences and improvements of the har- 

 bors, in that quarter. 



For twelve years he was employed at New 

 Orleans, Mobile, Pensacola, and other points 

 on the Gulf, on these duties. In 1834 he was 

 ordered to superintend the construction of a 

 military road from Memphis, Tenn., into Ar- 

 kansas, and further charged with improving 

 the navigation of the Cumberland and Tennes- 

 see Rivers, until 1838. He was promoted a 

 first lieutenant of engineers, January 21, 1835, 

 and captain of engineers, July 7, 1838. Im- 

 mediately following the latter event, Captain 

 Bowman was ordered to assume charge of the 

 defences and improvement of the harbor of 

 Charleston, South Carolina; and for nearly 

 thirteen years he was thus employed, his oper- 



ations extending to the harbors of Georgetown, 

 South Carolina, Pensacola, Florida, and the 

 improvement of the Savannah River. 



In 1852, after a brief service at West Point, 

 he was ordered to Washington as chief engi- 

 neer, under the Treasury Department, for lo- 

 cating and constructing buildings designed for 

 custom-houses, post-offices, marine hospitals, 

 &c. For eight years he was thus employed, 

 having been, meantime, promoted major of en- 

 gineers, January 5, 1857. 



Immediately preceding the outbreak of the 

 war, on March 1, 1861, Major Bowman was 

 appointed the Superintendent of the United 

 States Military Academy, with the local rank 

 of Colonel of Engineers, which position he con- 

 tinued to hold until July 8, 1864, receiving 

 on March 3, 1863, his regular promotion as a 

 lieutenant-colonel in the corps of engineers. 



While in the performance of his duties as a 

 member of a board of engineers to improve 

 and preserve the New England sea-coast de- 

 fences, and after forty years of uninterrupted 

 service, he was conveyed from Boston to hia 

 home in Wilkesbarre, where he died as above 

 stated, aged sixty-two. 



BRAZIL. An empire in South America. 

 The reigning emperor is Pedro II., born Dec. 

 2, 1825, ascended the throne in consequence of 

 the abdication of his father, April 7, 1831 ; 

 under guardianship assumed the reins of gov- 

 ernment on July 23, 1840. Heir apparent to 

 the throne is Princess Isabel, born July 29, 

 1846, and married on Oct. 15, 1864, to Louis 

 Philip, Count d'Eu, oldest son of the Duke de 

 Nemours. The General Legislative Assembly 

 consists of two houses, the Senate and the Con- 

 gress. The Senators are chosen for life at 

 electoral meetings, expressly convened, each of 

 which has to nominate three candidates, leav- 

 ing the choice between them to the sovereign 

 or his ministers. The members of the House 

 of Congress are chosen by indirect election for 

 the term of four years. The property qualifi- 

 cation of a Senator is 800 milreis, of a member 

 of the House of Congress 400 milreis, and of, 

 an elector 200 milreis. All inscribed voters 

 are bound to vote under a penalty. The annual 

 session of the legislative assembly commences 

 on May 3, and ordinarily extends over four 

 months. 



The ministry is divided into seven depart- 

 ments. A new ministry was formed on May 

 11, 1865, being composed of the following mem- 

 bers : Interior, Marquis d'Olonda, President 

 of the Council ; Justice, Jose Thorn. Nabuco 

 de Arango; Exterior, Jose Antonio Saradra 

 (appointed June, 1865); War, Angelo Moniz 

 da Silva Ferraz ; Finances, Jose Pedro Dias de 

 Carvalho; Navy, Dr. Francisco de Paula da 

 Silveira Lobo (appointed June 1865); Public 

 Works, Commerce and Agriculture, Dr. Ant. 

 Fr. de Paula e Souza. 



American Minister at Rio de Janeiro, J. Wat- 

 son Webb (accredited Oct. 21, 1861); Brazilian 

 Minister at Washington, J. M. N. d'Azambuja, 



