page_title: 5 October 1910 revolution
section_title: The fighting
hierarchical_section_title: 5 October 1910 revolution / The uprising / The fighting
caption_attribution_description: English: The Brazilian battleship São Paulo on trials, 1910. This photo has also been identified as Minas Geraes in Norman Friedman, Battleship Design and Development (New York: Mayflower Books, 1978), 21.
context_page_description: The 5 October 1910 revolution was the overthrow of the centuries-old Portuguese Monarchy and its replacement by the First Portuguese Republic. It was the result of a coup d'état organized by the Portuguese Republican Party.
  By 1910, the Kingdom of Portugal was in deep crisis: British pressure on Portugal's colonies, the royal family's expenses, the assassination of the King and his heir in 1908, changing religious and social views, instability of the two political parties, the dictatorship of João Franco, and the regime's apparent inability to adapt to modern times all led to widespread resentment against the Monarchy. The proponents of the republic, particularly the Republican Party, found ways to take advantage of the situation. The Republican Party presented itself as the only one that had a programme that was capable of returning to the country its lost status and place Portugal on the way of progress.
  After a reluctance of the military to combat the nearly two thousand soldiers and sailors that rebelled between 3 and 4 October 1910, the Republic was proclaimed at 9 o'clock a.m of the next day from the balcony of the Lisbon City Hall in Lisbon.
context_section_description: The fact that some units of the monarchical side sympathised with the republicans, combined with the abandonment by the rebels of the original plan of action, opting instead for entrenchment in Rotunda and Alcântara, led to a situation of impasse throughout 4 October, with all manner of rumours about victories and defeats spreading through the city.
  As soon as news of the concentration of rebels in Rotunda were received, the military command of the city organised a detachment to break them up. The column, under the command of Colonel Alfredo Albuquerque, was formed by units that had been removed from the protection of the Palace of Necessidades: 2nd Infantry, 2nd Cavalry and the mobile battery of Queluz. The latter included the colonial war hero Henrique Mitchell de Paiva Couceiro. The column advanced until near the prison, where it assumed combat positions. However, before these were completed, the column was attacked by rebels. The attack was repelled but resulted in a few wounded men, several dead pack animals and the scattering of about half the infantry. Paiva Couceiro responded with cannons and the infantry that remained during 45 minutes, ordering an attack that was carried out by around 30 soldiers, but which was beaten with some casualties. Continuing the gunfire, he ordered a new attack, but only 20 soldiers followed the order. Thinking that he had found the right time to assault the barracks of Artillery 1, Paiva Couceiro requested reinforcement to the division's command. However, he received the perplexing order to retreat.
  Meanwhile, a column had been formed with the intention to attack simultaneously the rebels in Rotunda, a plan that was never carried out because of the order to retreat. The column reached Rossio in the evening without having joined combat. This inaction was not caused by the incompetence of its commander, General António Carvalhal, as would become clear the next day, when he was named chief of the Military Division for the republican government: he had changed sides.
  Reinforcements from other parts of the country, expected by the government throughout 4 October, never arrived. Only the units already mentioned and called for the preventive measures received orders to advance. Since the beginning of the revolution, members of the Carbonária had disconnected the telegraph lines, thus cutting communication with units outside Lisbon. In addition, the rebels had cut off the railway tracks, which meant that even if the troops followed the orders to advance on Lisbon, they would never arrive on time. Reinforcements from the Setúbal peninsula were also unlikely to arrive, since the Tagus river was controlled by rebel ships.
  Towards the end of the day the situation was difficult for the monarchical forces: the rebel ships were docked beside the Terreiro do Paço Square and the cruiser São Rafael opened fire on the ministries buildings in the bewildered sight of the Brazilian diplomatic corps aboard battleship São Paulo, whose passenger list included the elected president Hermes da Fonseca. 
  This attack undermined the morale of the pro-government forces in Rossio.
caption: While in transit through Lisboa, the Brazilian president Hermes da Fonseca witnessed the revolution from the Brazilian battleship São Paulo (pictured).
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