106 



BRAZIL. 



that they would protect them when flying their 

 flags. The insurgents accepted this decision 

 with bad grace, and ventured to seize no more 

 lighters except one flying the Argentinian flag, 

 as there was no Argentinian warship in the 

 harbor. The fort at Villegagnon continued to 

 engage the other forts and the shore batteries. 

 The squadron frequently bombarded Nictheroy, 

 and almost destroyed the town, but were unable 

 to effect a landing there. The loss ofthe li Ja- 

 vari," whose heavy guns had done most of the 

 damage in the previous bombardments, was 

 partly repaired by putting in good order the 

 "Almirante Tamandare." 



Rebellion broke out in the State of Pernam- 

 buco in the middle of November. The insur- 

 gents, led by Jose Mariano, seized two vessels 

 that were destined for Peixoto, whereupon mar- 

 tial law was proclaimed. The movement was 

 checked by the arrest of Mariano and some of 

 his followers. The general elections for Congress 

 had been postponed by order of Vice- President 

 Peixoto, under the state of siege from Oct. 30 

 to Dec. 30, and the state of siege was prolonged 

 by Congress till Dec. 25. While Admiral Mello 

 had not retracted his public declaration of ad- 

 herence to republican institutions, though he 

 was accused by the Government party of in- 

 triguing with the Imperialists for the restoration 

 of the dynasty, probably in the person of Prince 

 Pierre de Alcantara, eldest son of the Princess 

 Isabel and the Comte d'Eu, Admiral da Gama 

 issued an ambiguous proclamation that could be 

 interpreted as imperialistic. 



The insurgents in Rio Grande do Sul who be- 

 sieged Bage, which was still held by the Govern- 

 ment, gained a decisive victory at last, on Nov. 

 28, over Gen. Isidore Fernandez, who surrendered 

 with 700 men after losing 300 killed, while the 

 Federals lost 80. Gen. Tavares had surrounded 

 the Castilhistas, judging, after capturing an am- 

 munition train, that they must be short of am- 

 munition. The fighting lasted two days, and 

 the Federal general only surrendered when his 

 men had no bullets left. When the first of Pei- 

 xoto's new vessels reached Brazil Mello's ships 

 were guarding the entrances to the harbors of 

 Rio and Santos, and inside the bay of Rio de 

 Janeiro Admiral da Gama was planting heavy 

 guns on the isle of Cobras, and Peixoto was 

 strengthening the batteries back of Rio. 



Commodore Oscar F. Stanton, commanding the 

 South Atlantic squadron, arrived in Rio harbor 

 with United States men-of-war in the latter part 

 of October. Having been ordered to maintain 

 an impartial attitude toward the contending 

 forces, he not only saluted the Brazilian flag on 

 land, but gave the customary naval salute to the 

 Brazilian flag flying over Admiral Mello's ship. 

 The Brazilian minister at Washington com- 

 plained of this ceremony as involving a recogni- 

 tion of belligerent rights, and Admiral Stanton, 

 after acknowledging his act by telegraph, was 

 recalled, and Rear-Admiral A. E. K. Benham 

 was sent later to take command of the squadron. 

 The rebels kept up their intermittent bombard- 

 ments, notifying foreign vessels to remain out- 

 side of the line of danger, even when there was 

 no firing for weeks. The result was that vessels 

 carrying American goods remained month after 

 month in the bay without being able to discharge 



their cargoes. Admiral Benham finally con- 

 cluded that this was an unjustifiable interrup- 

 tion of commerce, and told the master of an 

 American vessel that he would have protection 

 in landing his cargo in lighters flying the Amer- 

 ican flag. The Brazilian admiral forbade the 

 landing, and attacked the lighter as it ap- 

 proached the quay, upon which Admiral Benham 

 fired a warning blank shot, and when it was an- 

 swered by a shell, which went wide, a small shot 

 was sent through the stern of the Brazilian ship, 

 whereupon the Brazilian commander struck his 

 flag. After that American merchantmen un- 

 loaded and took on cargoes without interruption. 



Except at Desterro, the rebels were unable to 

 gain a firm foothold on land. They placed a 

 force in the field in Santa Catharina, which was 

 beaten, as well as a body of Federalists from the 

 south which endeavored to form a junction with 

 it. In Rio Grande do Sul, the successes of the 

 Federalists were checked when Peixoto was able 

 to re-enforce his garrisons there. The rebels suf- 

 fered a serious loss in Rio harbor by the blowing 

 up of their powder magazine on the island of 

 Gobernadores, which was struck by a shell from 

 Fort Santa Cruz, and two English officers who 

 chanced to be on the island were killed by 

 the explosion. This island was afterward occu- 

 pied by the Government troops, but they could 

 not hold it long. Mocangue island was also 

 taken. On December 10, and again on Dec. 14, a 

 brisk cannonade of rapid-fire guns from Admiral 

 da Gama's island batteries and from steam 

 launches killed many people in Rio. An attempt 

 by Peixoto's men to capture Fort Villegagnon 

 by surprise was unsuccessful, and the landing 

 force was repelled with a loss of 20 men. The 

 rebels were no more successful in an attempt to 

 recapture the Armaao magazine in armed tug- 

 "boats. On Dec. 10 the rebels captured the " Para- 

 hyba " as she was leaving Rio harbor with a 

 cargo of flour and meat. The firing between the 

 forts and the ships became more frequent toward 

 the end of December, and the guns on both sides 

 were better served than they had been at the 

 outbreak of hostilities. Banking and other busi- 

 ness was practically suspended, and most of the 

 population sought safety in places out of range. 

 The rebels were persistent in their efforts to ob- 

 tain possession of Nictheroy, where the Govern- 

 ment batteries kept up a continual duel with 

 their fort on Cobras island. The vessels pur- 

 chased for the Government in New York were 

 useless, because after the American crews left no 

 trained men could be obtained. 



Admiral da Gama became the real head of the 

 rebellion after the departure, on Nov. 80, of 

 Admiral Mello, who was wounded and long in- 

 capacitated by a splinter from a shell that struck 

 the "Aquidaban '.' as she ran past the forts at the 

 entrance of Rio harbor. While Mello was sup- 

 posed to be a Republican, the Government and 

 the monarchical party as well presumed that the 

 aim of Admiral da Gama was to restore the Im- 

 perial Government. The American Government 

 was informed by the governments of France and 

 Great Britain that they would not intervene in 

 any way between the contending parties in 

 Brazil, and Admiral da Gama, when he made a 

 fresh appeal for recognition as a belligerent, re- 

 ceived a refusal from the foreign ministers. 



