80 



BRAZIL. 



and counseled him to give up the struggle. The 

 terms demanded by the rebel commander who 

 had supplanted Admiral de Mello, though the 

 latter was still the nominal chief of the insurgent 

 forces, were the unconditional resignation of 

 Marshal Peixoto,and a free vote throughout the 

 country as to the form of government and rep- 

 n-entation in the Congress. .Marshal Peixoto's 

 proposals were that neither a military nor a 

 naval man should be eligible as the next Presi- 

 dent, but that he must be a civilian; but Da 

 (Jama declared that no election would be accept- 

 able to the insurgents so long as Peixoto remained 

 in power. The European naval commanders had 

 tacitly allowed Da Gama to enforce arbitrary 

 orders relative to the movements of merchant 

 vessels. The senior German naval officer even 

 refused to protect his compatriots in case of 

 seizure or the deliberate firing on the German 

 flag. Three foreign sailors had been killed by 

 an unexpected fusillade. Admiral Benham told 

 the Brazilian admiral that he had no belligerent 

 rights whatever, and that American vessels were 

 not to be hampered in their movements or 

 searched for contraband, and that he would pro- 

 tect them in case of interference. Afterward he 

 made a formal demand in writing that all arbi- 

 trary orders relative to American ships must be 

 rescinded. Da Gama defied the American of- 

 ficer, being willing to incur anything rather 

 than forego the advantage that he had secured ; 

 for if he could not induce the United States 

 Government to grant him belligerent rights, 

 Kuropean Governments would not do so, lest all 

 the trade should fall into the hands of Ameri- 

 can merchants. Several times American and 

 other vessels were fired upon by the batteries on 

 Cobras Island. The naval commanders held a 

 conference on Jan. 25, at which the American 

 commander did not assist, and they decided that 

 nothing should be done. Admiral Benham gave 

 Admiral da Gama notice that he intended to 

 convoy American vessels that wanted to go to 

 the wharves on Jan. 29, and cleared the fleet, 

 : sting of, the cruisers " New York," " Charles- 

 ton." "Newark," "Detroit," and "San Fran- 

 cisco," for action. The matter was decided on 

 that day, when the "Detroit" convoyed the 

 bark " Amy " to the wharves, and, when Admiral 

 da Gama carried out his threat to fire on the 

 fir-4 American ship that approached the wharves, 



ut a shot into the " Trajano." Admiral da 

 jima had excused the blockade on the ground 

 of his difficulties and novel position, but after 

 the vigorous action taken by the American naval 

 representative there was no'more interruption of 

 commerce. 



Admiral da Gama was not confident of hold- 

 ing his own in the harbor for more than a few 

 weeks. Hi- Mipport came from t lie ( 'hnrchmen 

 and the Imperialists in Brazil and Europe, with 

 whom tin- 1-VdrraliMs of th,. South had nothing 

 in common except hostility to the I'eixoto rf.gime. 

 Gen. Gusennuixlo Saraiva and (Jen. Salgado ob- 

 tained Bucoesaee in the States south of Rio de 

 Janeiro; but even if they and their troops de- 

 sired to join the forces of Admiral da Gama. 

 they must first crush the garrisons in Sao Paulo, 

 and then march over pathless mountains. In 

 Rio Grande di Sul, whence the insurgent leaders 

 had drawn a large part of the fighting men hostile 



to the Government, the loyal troops of Gen. 

 Hippolito were able to raise the siege of Bage 

 and recapture Santa Anna, pursuing to the border 

 of Uruguay the routed insurgents, whose am- 

 munition and provisions were exhausted. The 

 Federalists soon afterward obtained fresh sup- 

 plies, captured Bage, and regained the military 

 supremacy. Gen. Isodoro Fernandez, the Cas- 

 tilhista commander, who died later from his 

 wounds, was made prisoner with his entire 

 brigade. The Opposition party continued to be 

 strong enough in this State to keep the Govern- 

 ment troops confined in the fortified places. The 

 insurgent troops that advanced into Santa Cata- 

 rina and Parana likewise gained ground, being 

 generally welcomed by the people, who, like the 

 inhabitants of Rio Grande, resented any form of 

 rule or interference emanating from the Rio 

 Janeiro authorities. The Government troops 

 were re-enforced in Parana, and succeeded in 

 dispersing some thousands who were collected 

 near the border of Rio Grande do Sul and cut- 

 ting off communications with the bands, num- 

 bering about 2,000, that were with Gen. Saraiva 

 in central Parana. Gen. Saraiva formed a junc- 

 tion with Admiral de Mello, and with the co- 

 operation of the sailors captured the port of 

 Paranagua after a sharp fight, obtaining a large 

 supply of rifles and cartridges and 6 Krupp 

 guns,'besides many recruits from the garrison, 

 whose commander. Gen. Lima, fled to Sao Paulo. 

 Curitiba, the capital of Parana, was also taken, 

 and after a provincial government had been 

 established there by Admiral de Mello the in- 

 surgent army advanced into southern Sao Paulo. 

 Disaffection was so rife among the Government 

 troops that the garrisons were changed, and im- 

 pressment, suppression of newspapers, and whole- 

 sale arrests were among the measures taken to 

 maintain the authority and prestige of the Cen- 

 tral Government. The foes of the Government 

 in Rio de Janeiro were likewise exasperated by 

 the harsh application of martial law, and sympa- 

 thizers with the rebellion were increased. The 

 Acting -Minister of War, Gen. Eneas Galvao, 

 resigned because he did not approve Peixoto's 

 treatment of political prisoners. Suspicion of 

 clandestine issues of paper money shook the 

 confidence of many solid people in Peixoto. 

 Admiral da Gama received some accessions to 

 his ranks from the country districts of Rio de 

 Janeiro and some re-enforcements and supplies 

 by sea, the " Aquidaban " having again forced 

 the entrance of the harbor, putting in and out 

 again under the fire of the forts. She was struck 

 several times by shot which failed to pierce her 

 armor, but her success in passing the batteries 

 led Peixoto to suspect the loyalty of Gen. 

 Macedo, commandant of the fort of Santa Cruz, 

 and to place him under arrest. 



No longer expecting the land forces to join 

 him, and believing that the arbitrary measures 

 of Peixoto had so angered the people that the 

 National Guard was ready to revolt, most of 

 the regulars having been drafted off to defend 

 S5o Paulo, Admiral da Gama determined to 

 make a bold stroke. Before dawn on Feb. 9 a 

 landing party of 500 men surprised Armacao, and 

 after heavy firing on both sides captured the 

 works. A force of 1,000 men, hastily summoned, 

 came to the rescue and were supported by a 



