The Monarchist Incursions of the Early Twentieth Century
Religion
Paiva
Couceiro
The
First Incursion of 1911
The
Second Incursion of 1912
Paiva Couceiro Again--1919
Paiva
Couceiro and Heroic Chaves
During
the period of political change in Portugal in 1910, when the Republic
was proclaimed, there was one man who stood out as a defender of the old
regime. He was a tall blond
officer, the lean type, who did everything he could to repress the
rebellion against the monarchy. Once
his cause was lost, he revoked every word of promise, abandoning the
army and leaving the country in 1911.
His
name was Henrique Paiva Couceiro.
In
Africa he had obtained great fame as a soldier and as an administrator.
In exile he became the caudillo of the emigrated royalists, who
with the discreet complacency of the government of Afonso XIII, in
Madrid, armed themselves and concentrated in Galicia.
Couceiro’s First Incursion (October 3, 1911).
In
1911 occurred the first attempt of penetration.
Led by Paiva Couceiro, about a thousand men, in groups of 60 to
70, lacking everything except for their faith in restoring the monarchy
left the town of Verín, 12 kilometers from the border, an marched
towards the border. Most of
the men were from Tras-os-Montes. They
were of diverse social classes and skills.
There were more than 100 priests in the group.
To arm the men there were only 400 ancient rifles, a few
Winchester rifles and Mauser pistols adapted to rifles, to which were
added a score of automatic pistols, daggers, and swords.
All in crossed the border after a long march in the mountainous
region between Bragança and Vinhais, near the present-day Montesinhos
National Park. The garrison
in Bragança stayed waiting for an attack that never came.
The royalists had changed plans and now marched on Vinhais, much
smaller, and with only eighty infantry, cavalry and border guard.
These forces left the small town and concentrated on a hill
nearby. Negotiations
were begun but the military commander refused to join or to surrender.
He gave Paiva Couceiro two hours to abandon Portuguese territory.
Meanwhile he sent messengers to Chaves and Bragança asking for
reinforcements. But when
day came and he saw the large group of rebels camped nearby, he knew
that he would have to retire and he did so.
Together with the soldiers only two Republicans the town mayor
came. The road open, the
monarchists conquered Vinhais. With
great emotion they hosted the white and blue flag of the monarchy and
proclaimed the end of the Republic.
Priests of neighboring villages and a band of villagers cheered
them on and used the Republican flag for target practice.
But
soon the Monarchists could see that no revolts had occurred to help
their cause. Most people
came to see, but without the happiness or fervor expected, perhaps only
out of curiosity. On the
nearby mountain the Republican troops remained and at any moment
reinforcements were expected to arrive from Chaves.
Soon
the Monarchists abandoned Vinhais heading for the border.
The Vinhais garrison had meanwhile retreated towards Chaves where
they met the troops coming in their support.
When they arrived in Vinhais the Monarchists had already left.
Crossing the rugged mountains north of Vinhais, and reduced to
about 600 men after desertions, the rebels made their way back into
Spain. The companies that
still remained formed nine groups, some staying near Xinzo de Limia and
Ourense, but the bulk of the column concentrating nearer the border in
Verín. They hid their
weapons and, grouped around Paiva Couceiro, they heard his words:
“I don’t want to say goodbye to anyone.
I hope, God willing, that it will be only a separation for a few
days.
These
were the few words of the commander, as was his habit, and he went away
slowly, but decidedly. He
would keep his word soon.
The
Second Incursion (July 8 1912)--Chaves defends the Republic
After
a hard winter in exile the refugees were eager to fight again.
In February Paiva Couceiro joined them in Galicia.
It was hoped that the towns in the north, now more than ever,
would come over to their side. They
now had more men and material. The
original plan was to cross the mountains of the Barroso, west of Chaves,
and link up with followers of a pro-monarchist priest in Cabeceiras de
Basto. We don’t know the
reasons that later would make the monarchist forces take the direction
of Chaves, but many authors consider that only reasons of the moment,
like the sudden departure of the regular troops, would have motivated
the final attack directed against Chaves.
The
army was divided into three groups.
One tried to capture the fortress of Valença do Minho across
from Spanish Tui. This
endeavor ended in resounding defeat and retreat back into Galicia.
The second group, of 200 men, was to enter Portugal via Vila
Verde da Raia and create a diversion for Couceiro’s larger plan.
The third group, the main column, commanded by Paiva Couceiro,
had about 450 mean, “a handful of people that fit into a heart.”
This
larger group crossed the border near a small village called Sendin,
north of Montalegre. 23
soldiers and some customs police defended the town.
Contacting Chaves of the danger, these men retreated to a nearby
hill south of the town. Chaves
was convinced that Couceiro would attack Montalegre and head south
towards Cabeceiras de Basto.
Nevertheless,
the rebels raised camp at dawn and moved east towards Chaves.
In Padornelos a few people came out to greet them and offer their
allegiance to the king and the holy Church.
Vilar Perdizes was the next village, where the priest knelt to
kiss Paiva Couceiro’s feet.
Meanwhile,
the military command in Chaves, Augusto
Ribeiro de Carvalho, not knowing
of Paiva Couceiro’s move across the north, had decided to send the
main part of his forces with machine guns towards Montalegre to stop the
rebels’ passage to the south. Another
group of 100 men was sent to the border to resist a possible incursion
from the small group of Royalists that were in Feces, across from Vila
Verde.
The
people of Chaves were apprehensive to see their best troops leave.
The atmosphere was a difficult one of rumors, suspicions and
strange incidents. All
communications with the rest of the country had been cut off, perhaps by
a Royalist sympathizer.
On
the morning of July 8 the rebels, marching in silence, broken only by
the steps of the hooves of the horses and the heavy sound of the two
artillery pieces, appeared just outside of Chaves.
No one had expected this attack, since the last news had the
rebels just outside of Montalegre.
They hadn’t even paid attention to the warnings brought from
the customs guards who had fled the northern villages.
It
was a very hot day when the first bullets rang out.
Chaves was under attack. Quickly,
lieutenant colonel Carvalho, hurried to call back the troops that he had
sent out a day earlier. But
the people of Chaves responded to the call to save the Republic.
One hundred fifty volunteers, trained briefly months earlier,
hurried to help the authorities. The
regular soldiers numbered around 100.
The battle was one of scattered firing with small arms and
casualties were light. The
rebels could not penetrate the defences, nor could the garrison venture
out to attack them.
Meanwhile,
the rebel group on the border, in Feces, had remained in its position,
until they could hear the sounds of gunfire coming from Chaves.
They crossed the border and managed to raise the Monarchist flag
over the customs house. The
small detachment of regular troops had meanwhile moved south to take up
a better position. This
group of rebels, nevertheless, never made it past the border.
In
Chaves the heat of the morning seemed to have put the two forces to
sleep. Then the monarchists
opened fire on the town with their two artillery pieces.
The military had never imagined that the royalists had heavy
artillery. Worse their own
guns had been taken to defend the road to Montalegre.
The rebels had found new courage and thought victory was in sight,
when in the afternoon the regular forces finally arrived in Chaves and
set up their artillery, on a hill called Alto da Forca, south of the
town, from which they could fire at will on the rebel forces.
The
Royalists could not respond with fire and their morale was at an end.
The total rout of the men of Paiva Couceiro had begun.
By the end of the afternoon shouts could be heard in the town
celebrating the victory. The
streets were full of people, now free of the nightmare, which cried and
laughed in each other’s arms.
Paiva
Couceiro’s column had disappeared.
In the fields remained only the groans of the wounded and around
thirty dead. Further away,
near the border, a rebel soldier, not hiding his tears and rage,
responded to someone who offered him a glass of wine:
“Why do I want wine? What
I only wanted was the Monarchy in Portugal.
After
the final dispersion of his men in Spain, Paiva Couceiro published a
manifesto explaining his reasons for the defeat and saying that his
struggle was over. But it
was not as later events would show.
Chaves
gained little from this heroic stance.
There were excursions from the south and much public homage.
In Lisbon a street was given the name “Defenders of Chaves”,
and Porto another street was given the name “Heroes of Chaves.”
For
a more lengthy description of the battle for Chaves see The
Paiva Couceiro Incursion of 1912
Paiva Couceiro again—this time victorious (1919)
After
the First World War, in which Portugal participated, there was a new
royalist revolt led by Paiva Couceiro, this time in 1919.
After the failures of the small expedition in 1911 and defeat at
the gates of Chaves in 1912, he had temporarily given up and come to
terms with the republicans, who allowed him to return to the country.
He
had not abandoned hope, however, and bided his time until he felt the
Portuguese had grown disillusioned with the republic.
Couceiro began his revolt in the north, as usual, and, having won
over various garrisons there, proclaimed the restored monarchy on
January 19, 1919. Other
soldiers went over to him, and the cities of Viana do Castelo, Braga,
Guimarães, Porto, Vila Real, and Lamego, raised the royal standard.
The western end of the River Vouga marked the frontier between
the Portuguese Republic of the south and the short-lived Portuguese
monarchy of the north. A
large part of the north of the country was under the control of a
Monarchy of the North junta, whose seat was in Porto and was presided
over by this indefatigable caudillo, who had been reborn from the ashes
to reach the heights of glory.
Following
Porto, all the north, from one day to another, appeared as monarchist.
In Viseu there were some who knelt before the royal flag; in
Braga, the soldiers of the eleventh cavalry threw the bust of the
Republic out of the window. The
winds of success were blowing towards the other side and only one part
of the province of Tras-os Montes remained faithful to the regime—isolated
like an authentic independent republic, attacked by the Monarchy of the
North and abandoned by the Republican government in Lisbon.
This town was Chaves. The
monarchists celebrated their situation.
“It is very good, since we have the monarchy proclaimed in all
the north, with the exception of Chaves, and that is not important.”
In Porto the populace pulled off the signs of the street that
said Heroes of Chaves, commemorating the events of 1912.
Once
again the name Ribeiro de Carvalho appears as a hope of the Republic,
this time the son of the defender of Chaves in 1912, now a major and
hero of Flanders in the First World War.
At loggerheads with the Republican regime he had left military
life and retired to his home on the Rua Direita.
The local monarchists were scheming to take over the local
government. Sought after by
a commission of local republicans, he assumed the military command of
the situation. He knew that
if Chaves went over to the Monarchy, then the entire north would follow
and the Republic would be in danger.
Therefore he put on his uniform and presented himself at the
barracks where he took over command.
Vila Real, which still had followers of the Republic, would have
to be defended. A
monarchist column brought by train to Regua on the Douro soon put an end
to any republican sympathies in that town.
For one month Chaves, Valpaços, Boticas, and Montalegre lived as
if they were part of a small independent Republic, isolated from the
rest of the country and with no help from the government.
To defend this area Ribeiro de Carvalho could count on about 400
men with rationed munitions.
Together there were of course many civilians, led by Antonio Granjo
, later to be minister in several governments and brutally
assassinated in 1921-- and a doctor Julio Martins, also a minister in
Lisbon.
The
civil war lasted for twenty days. Little
by little the government in Lisbon began to recover what was lost.
After several small battles between the rival forces, the
pro-royalists were forced to give up ground.
Soon Porto fell to the Republicans.
In Tras-os-Montes, the monarchist forces, numbering one thousand
five hundred men, had become trapped between Vila Pouca and Vila Real,
the same area that had defeated O’Reilly in 1762.
In Vila Pouca, in the middle of the winter of 1919 they found out
that Porto had surrendered. Once
again there was a disordered retreat towards the border.
This group which had been called “the Lightning Column” for
having taken Vila Real so quickly, now was only a dispersed and
disorganized band, bent on abandoning in their terror to escape all
their artillery, rifles and munitions, food, horses and mules.
Once again Paiva Couceiro had been defeated and once again he
managed to escape into exile. Over
a decade later, the Salazar regime permitted him to return to Portugal,
where he died of old age in 1944. He
was to be the last of the caudillos of the north.
Portugal moved into a period of political peace and Chaves once
more passed into the obscurity of being a backwater town in the
interior, in a region that people on the coast had always called
Tras-os-Montes, or Behind the Mountains.
Chaves
had helped to save the Republic and once again it had been a Ribeiro de
Carvalho who had commanded the troops.
The reward was small: the
maintenance of the liceum or secondary school would be the
responsibility of the government, and the railroad, which had stopped
ten kilometers south of Chaves, would be completed.
Chaves was asking very little for a town that had done so much
for the nation. Antonio
Granjo was the sponsor of these two “great” pretensions, going to
Lisbon and convincing the government to honor its promises.
On 15 March 1920 the government of the Republic conferred on
Chaves the degree of Officer of the Order of Tower and Sword, of Valor,
Loyalty, and Merit. As
for Ribeiro de Carvalho, he was promoted to general.
Antonio Granjo, deputy for Chaves, was nominated Minister of
Justice, together with Julio Martins who was nominated Minister of
Commerce.
The Salazar Period up to the Present