(BRAZIL) Correspondence with a British admiral regarding the

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(BRAZIL.) Correspondence with a British admiral regarding the bloody Cabanagem revolts in Pará. 12 letters addressed to Rear Admiral Graham Eden Hamond or copies forwarded to his attention, in one folder; minor wear. Various places, March 1835 to January 1836

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"The rebels' party murdered every white person that came in their way."

The 1835 Cabanagem revolt in the northern Brazilian province of Pará attempted to establish independence from Brazil and Portugal; an estimated 40,000 combatants and civilians lost their lives. The Rear Admiral Graham Eden Hamond (1779-1862) was then commander of the Royal Navy's South American Station, and the best hope for the protection of British citizens caught up in the revolt. Offered here are:

4 letters from consul Edward Watts in Pernambuco. Watts reports on political conditions in the province, noting on 7 March "an unceasing oscillation for supremacy which disturbs publick tranquility and very materially deranges the operations of British and other foreign trade at this port" and praising the "moral effect produced by the occasional appearance of a British pennant at this port." A week later he discusses the Cabanagem revolt, a "bloody tragedy" in which "the insurgents assassinated the president of that province. . . . Several others have fallen victims to the savage fury of the populace and soldiers," stirring up separatists in Pernambuco. He encloses a plea signed by 12 British merchants in Pernambuco: "Apprehensive as we are that a violent explosion may soon take place in Pernambuco" they plead for "the urgent necessity of the immediate appearance of a British vessel of war."

Two contemporary copies of reports from the province of Maranhão are dated 31 August and 10 September 1835, describing "the dreadful account of the attack of the city and the capture of the greatest part of it by the rebels . . . chiefly or altogether people of colour. . . . Most or all of the English houses in Pará have been plundered. That of Mssrs. Campbell & Co. was defended for thirty-six hours by the sailors of H.M. Sloop racehorse, but after several of these sailors were killed it was abandoned to the rebels and plundered of everything. . . . It appears the rebels' party murdered every white person that came in their way."

Finally, Admiralty official Sir John Barrow (best known as a patron of polar exploration) wrote to Hamond on 18 January 1836, on learning "the ports of the revolted province of Para to be in a state of blockade, I am commanded by their Lordships to acquaint you that they approve of what you have done." Two copies of this official message are present here, both signed by Barrow.