Tenentes Revolt in Brazil 1924-1927

On July 24, 1924, on the anniversary of the Copacabana Revolt of 1922, cadets and young officers in São Paulo attempted to instigate a military coup. The rebellious tenentes (junior army officers, literally lieutenants) managed to hold São Paulo for eighteen days. However, by July 27th, as pro-government military planes began air strikes on São Paulo, the rebels considered a strategic withdrawal to the interior of Brazil. Under the direction of Juarez Tavora, as many as 3000 men retreated from São Paulo into the interior of Parana. After reaching the Iguacu Falls near the Argentine-Paraguay border, Tavara left the men encamped and went south to Rio Grande do Sul to help ignite a tenente uprising there.

By October 1924, forces under the leadership of Luis Carlos Prestes managed to instigate fighting in the chronic powder keg of Rio Grande do Sul. Failing to win significant support, Prestes with about 2000 men, eventually retreated toward Argentine border.

Early in November 1924, the Brazilian battleship São Paulo became involved in the unrest when her crew mutinied while lying at anchor off Rio de Janeiro. Some ineffectual firing took place but the mutinous ship failed to persuade any but an elderly torpedo-boat to hoist the Red Flag with her and eventually sailed, briefly engaging the harbor defenses as she did so. The intention was to liberate the lieutenants imprisoned in the prison ship Cuiaba at Ilha Grande after the Copacabana Revolt of 1922. Unsuccessful in this, the mutineers made for Montevideo, Uruguay, where they arrived on November 10, 1924; the mutineers fled and the ship re-hoisted her colors.

Meanwhile, after two months on the move, the Rio Grande do Sol rebels, led by Prestes, marched northward. In March/April of 1925, with roughly half the force he started with, he joined the remnants of the São Paulo rebels, encamped in Parana. At this point the revolutionaries numbered about 1500. Captain Prestes took command and his troops set out on a two-and-a-half-year, 15,000 mile, thirteen-state march that would become known as Prestes Column.

The goal of Prestes Column was to inspire others to rise up against the government. While they raised a lot of sympathy and focused attention on the situation in the interior, they did not find people there ready for revolt. The impoverished "backlanders" who were expected to side with the revolutionaries were unwilling. Occasional poor treatment of the backlanders by members of Prestes Column fueled their hostility. Mercenaries, the Cangaceiros, were enlisted in the effort to defeat Prestes Column and there were some bloody clashes.

Eventually, Prestes Column withdrew from the Northeast because of the resistance they encountered. They fought a total of fifty battles and skirmishes before going into exile. Prestes was never totally defeated. However, on February 26, 1927, the main body of men, numbering 620 at the time, crossed into Bolivia and laid down their arms. About a month later, the remnants of the rebel force, 66 men, crossed into Paraguay.

Once the revolt ended, the Brazilian press glorified Prestes Column. The tenente leaders, Siqueira Campos, Joao Alberto Lins de Barros, Djalma Dutra, Oswaldo Cordeiro do Farias and especially Luis Carlos Prestes became folk heroes. Some of the tenentes who had marched with Prestes returned to Brazil, and many of them joined the movement that eventually produced the revolution of 1930.

References

The Brazilians, 427-9; History of Brazil, 92-3; Brazil: Culture and Politics, 55; Brazil: Empire and Republic, 298; The Internal Enemy: Insurgency in Brazil; "Mina Gerais" Class Operational History; Synopsis of Brazilian History; Brazil - A Country Study.

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