The Canudos Crusade in Brazil 1896-1897

A charismatic religious leader named Antonio Conselheiro gathered followers during the early years of the Brazilian republic and in 1893 they formed a settlement named Canudos amidst rocky, desert-like terrain of the backlands (“os sertões” in Portuguese) of Bahia. The town attracted the pious and the poor, many of whom were dissatisfied with the new Republican government. Eventually over 20,000 people came to reside in Canudos. Estimates of the population of Canudos range as high as 30,000 people.

By some accounts, Canudos attracted the attention of the Rio de Janeiro government because it was thought to be fostering monarchism. Other accounts say that the egalitarian economic order of Canudos was seen as a threat by the young republic. In any case, it was a disagreement over a shipment of building materials that initiated the conflict. Local authorities claimed that Conselheiro had not paid for the materials, and in October 1896 they sent an expedition of soldiers to get payment. They had greatly underestimated the level of resistance they would meet, assuming that the sertanejos (backlanders) would be disorganized and poorly armed. The sertanejos met them on the road to Canudos, and a dozen Republican soldiers were killed in the ensuing battle; the remaining soldiers retreated.

A few months later, in January 1897, troops under federal command were sent to finish the job, but they were unsuccessful as well. The sertanejos reportedly employed guerrilla tactics and a scorched earth campaign. The third military expedition came one month later, this time with approximately 1500 soldiers and heavier artillery. This time the expedition made it to the outskirts of Canudos, where the troops began to bombard the town with cannonballs. However, when they tried to rush into the town on foot they became scattered and confused, and in its narrow streets they were attacked by men, women and children. Those who were able to, retreated to the camp, but at night they were ambushed. The combat at Canudos was made much more difficult than anticipated by the rough terrain and extreme heat. By the end of this expedition, over half of the 1500 soldiers had died.

The fourth and final military expedition arrived in July of 1897. Now more than 5,000 well-armed federal soldiers came, and it is said that on their path to Canudos they encountered the severed heads of hundreds of defeated soldiers as a warning. The fighting lasted three more months. Antonio Conselheiro died in September 1897, prior to the final battle, either of illness or hunger. The struggle ended in October with the massacre of the citizens of Canudos, among whom there were virtually no survivors. Rebels found alive had their throats cut, and the town was burned.

Canudos was erased in the same fashion that Indian villages had been and continued to be erased. Although the campaign's symbolic value as a defense of the republic faded as the reality became known, it remained a powerful warning to marginal folk throughout Brazil that they would not be permitted to challenge the hierarchical order of society. In this sense, Canudos was a step in creating mechanisms of social control in the post slavery era.

References

The Canudos Rebellion; Brazil - A Country Study.

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