Joaquim José Inácio, Viscount of Inhaúma (; 1 August 1808 – 8 March 1869), was a naval officer, politician and monarchist of the Empire of Brazil. He was born in the Kingdom of Portugal, and his family moved to Brazil two years later. After Brazilian independence in 1822, Inhaúma enlisted in the Brazilian navy. Early in his career during the latter half of the 1820s, he participated in the subduing of secessionist rebellions: first the Confederation of the Equator, and then the Cisplatine War, which precipitated a long international armed conflict with the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata.
Throughout the chaos that characterized the years when Emperor Pedro II was a minor, Inhaúma remained loyal to the government. He helped quell a military mutiny in 1831 and was involved in suppressing some of the other rebellions that erupted during that troubled period. He saw action in the Sabinada between 1837 and 1838, followed by the Ragamuffin War from 1840 until 1844. In 1849, after spending two years in Great Britain, Inhaúma was given command of the fleet that was instrumental in subduing the Praieira revolt, the last rebellion in imperial Brazil.
During the 1850s, Inhaúma held a series of bureaucratic positions. He entered politics in 1861 as a member of the Conservative Party. He became a cabinet member and was given the position of navy minister. Inhaúma also became the first person to hold the Ministry of Agriculture portfolio, albeit briefly. The first professional firefighter corps in Brazil was formed during his tenure as agriculture minister. In late 1866, Inhaúma was appointed commander-in-chief of the fleet engaged in the Paraguayan War. During the fighting, he achieved the rank of admiral, the highest in the Brazilian armada. He was also awarded a noble title, eventually being raised from baron to viscount. In 1868, he was elected to the national legislature's lower house, but never assumed office.
Although he successfully prosecuted his operations in the war against Paraguay, Inhaúma's leadership was encumbered by his hesitating and procrastinating behavior. While in command in the war zone, he became mentally exhausted and contracted an unknown disease. Seriously ill, Inhaúma returned to the national capital in early 1869 and died shortly thereafter. Although historical works have not given much coverage to Inhaúma, some historians regard him among the greatest of the Brazilian navy officers.
Early life
Birth and education Joaquim José Inácio was born in Lisbon, Kingdom of Portugal. Although the date on his birth certificate was 30 July 1808, his mother claimed that the correct birthdate was two days later, on 1 August. He personally affirmed that the later date was accurate, as did his younger brother, who was his biographer. Regardless, some biographers, including Joaquim Manuel de Macedo and Carlos Guilherme Haring, have persisted in citing the date mistakenly entered on the birth certificate.
Joaquim Inácio's parents were José Vitorino de Barros and Maria Isabel de Barros. In 1808, the Portuguese Royal family moved to Brazil, then the largest and wealthiest colony of Portugal. Two years later, on 10 July 1810, José de Barros arrived in the Brazilian capital, Rio de Janeiro. As a crew member of the frigate D. Carlota, he was charged with transporting what remained of the personal property of Prince Regent Dom João, later King Dom João VI to Brazil.See:
. José de Barros also brought his family on the voyage, including Joaquim Inácio, who was then one year and eight months old. Joaquim Inácio had an older sister named Maria and six younger siblings (who were born after the arrival in Brazil), among them Bento José de Carvalho and Antônio José Vitorino de Barros.
As was common at the time, Joaquim Inácio began his education at home and was later enrolled in Seminário de São José (Saint Joseph School) and after that, in Seminário São Joaquim (Saint Joachim School), which became Pedro II School in 1837. His teachers included Januário da Cunha Barbosa, who later became one of the leading figures in the Brazilian independence movement.See:
. Joaquim Inácio chose to follow his father, a naval officer who achieved the rank of second lieutenant, in his choice of a career. On 20 November 1822 at the age of 14, Joaquim Inácio was admitted as aspirante a guarda-marinha (aspiring midshipman or naval cadet) at the Navy Academy. On 11 December 1823, he graduated from the academy, majoring in mathematics, with the rank of guarda-marinha (midshipman). As he had in previous studies at other schools, Joaquim Inácio proved to be a brilliant student. Among his colleagues at the academy was Francisco Manuel Barroso da Silva (later Baron of Amazonas) whom he befriended.
Rebellions in north and south
When Prince Dom Pedro (later Emperor Dom Pedro I), son and heir of King João VI, led the movement for the independence of Brazil, Joaquim Inácio was one of several Portuguese-born residents who sided with the Brazilian cause and joined the armada (as the Brazilian Navy was called in the imperial era). On 16 January 1824, he began his service aboard Pedro I, a ship of the line and flagship of First Admiral Thomas Cochrane, Marquis of Maranhão. Joaquim Inácio did not fight in any battles, as the Portuguese enemy forces had surrendered by that time. His baptism of fire came a few months later with the advent of the Confederation of the Equator, a secessionist rebellion in Brazil's northeastern provinces. He was given the command of the cutter Independente and aided in the suppression of rebels in Rosário do Itapecuru, a village in the province of Maranhão. The rebellion was over by early 1825,See:
. and on 25 February Joaquim Inácio was promoted to second lieutenant.
In June 1825, Joaquim Inácio traveled to Brazil's far south to quell a secessionist rebellion in the province of Cisplatina. The insurgents were aided by the United Provinces of the River Plate (later Argentina), which led to the Cisplatine War. Joaquim Inácio served as first officer aboard the patache Pará, which was stationed in Colônia de Sacramento (present-day Colonia del Sacramento), the second most important town in Cisplatina. By late February 1826, Sacramento was besieged by enemy forces. Joaquim Inácio was sent ashore and placed in charge of the Santa Rita battery, composed of sailors and cannons from the Brazilian ships. He took an active part in successfully repelling enemy attacks upon Sacramento on 7 February, 26 February and 14 March.
On the night of 10 March 1826 and in the midst of the siege of Sacramento, Joaquim Inácio boarded a small, unarmed boat accompanied by a single army officer and passed unnoticed through a line of nineteen enemy ships under cover of darkness. He reached the main Brazilian fleet on the morning of the next day and requested assistance from Vice-Admiral Rodrigo José Ferreira Lobo, the commander-in-chief of the naval forces operating in the war. Joaquim Inácio returned to Sacramento two days later under heavy enemy fire along with three boats carrying supplies and arms. Although welcomed as a hero in the besieged town, he was passed over for a promotion. Disregard for this achievement was due to his lack of wealth and family connections, a burden which continued to thwart his career for years to come.See:
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Loss of Cisplatina
In February 1827, Joaquim Inácio was transferred to the crew of the corvette Duquesa de Goiás, in which he was to take part in the invasion of Carmen de Patagones, a village in the northeast of the United Provinces that served as a port for corsairs. The Duquesa de Goiás sank during the expedition, killing several crew members. Joaquim Inácio insisted on being the last officer to leave the vessel.See:
. He was next given the command of the schooner Constança. The invasion of Carmen was a complete failure, and the Brazilian land forces were defeated and taken prisoner. On 7 March, while Joaquim Inácio awaited news of the invasion, the Constança and another schooner were surrounded by enemy vessels. After a desperate battle, he was taken captive after refusing to surrender.See:
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The Brazilian prisoners were placed together aboard a brig bound for Buenos Aires, capital of the United Provinces. They suffered severe hardship, starving and almost naked. Under the leadership of Joaquim Inácio, the Brazilians staged an uprising, took control of the ship and made prisoners of their captors. The ship successfully eluded two corvettes and one schooner-brig that had pursued them, and sailed on to Montevideo, capital of Cisplatina, which they reached in safety on 29 August 1827.See:
. Despite Joaquim Inácio's daring rescue of Brazilian prisoners of war from both the invasion's land-based forces and from the two schooners, he was reprimanded by the commander-in-chief Vice-Admiral Rodrigo Pinto Guedes, Baron of Rio da Prata (who had replaced Rodrigo Lobo) for the loss of the Constança.
Joaquim Inácio returned to Rio de Janeiro in October, his tour of duty having lasted three years. He was then sent back to Cisplatina aboard the frigate Niterói and in December he became the first officer of the barque Grenfell. On 17 February 1828, he fought in the Battle of Quilmes. During the engagement, the Brazilian barque-brig (three-masted barque) Vinte e nove de agosto ran aground and was about to be boarded. Seeing this, Joaquim Inácio positioned the Grenfell near the threatened vessel and protected her until she could be freed by the rising tide. Both ships returned to the battle, which resulted in a Brazilian victory. Brazil's efforts in the war were ultimately in vain, as it eventually relinquished Cisplatina, which became the independent nation of Uruguay. In July 1829, Joaquim Inácio again returned to Rio de Janeiro, and on 17 October he was promoted to first lieutenant.See:
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Rebellions
Further uprisings
On 17 March 1831, Joaquim Inácio married Maria José de Mariz Sarmento. Her father was an officer in the Portuguese navy whose own father and paternal grandfather had also been military officers. Maria José de Mariz Sarmento belonged to the noble Portuguese family of Mariz and was a parent of Antônio de Mariz, one of the founders of Rio de Janeiro, as narrated in 1857 by José de Alencar in his novel The Guarani. Joaquim Inácio and Maria José had several children: Ana Elisa de Mariz e Barros, Joaquim José Inácio, Antônio Carlos de Mariz e Barros and Carlota Adelaide de Mariz e Barros. The couple also had a girl and a boy, named Constança and Manuel respectively, both of whom died in infancy.
A month and a half after Joaquim Inácio's marriage, Emperor Pedro I abdicated and sailed to Europe. Since the former emperor's son and heir Dom Pedro II was a minor, a regency was formed, and more than a decade of instability and turmoil ensued. On 6 October 1831, navy artillerymen, held under suspicion of plotting a mutiny, escaped the presiganga (prison ship) in which they had been confined. Joaquim Inácio commanded the schooner Jaguaripe which, along with other vessels, had been guarding the prison ship. Seeing that the artillerymen had set sail for Rio de Janeiro, Joaquim Inácio and a few men took a boat to warn the city. They encountered musket fire from the artillerymen, who then changed course for the nearby Ilha das Cobras (Island of the Snakes) in the face of strong opposition from the mainland. They were defeated the next day when three columns of men from the Volunteer Soldier-Officers Battalion and Permanent Municipal Guard Corps invaded the island.See:
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