Armed Forces of the Empire of Brazil The Armed Forces of the Empire of Brazil were the overall unified military forces of the Empire of Brazil . The Brazilian military was first formed by Emperor Dom Pedro I to defend the new nation against the Portuguese Empire in the Brazilian War of Independence . The Army and Armada ( as the Navy was called ) were commissioned in 1822 with the objective of defeating and expelling the Portuguese troops from Brazilian soil . From the time of its inception , the military played a decisive role in the history of the Empire of Brazil . A sense of national unity and identity was forged out of the victorious Paraguayan War . The Emperor was commander - in - chief of the military , with the Ministries of War and Navy as the main organs by which military policy was carried out . Organization . The Brazilian Armed Forces were subordinated to the Emperor , its Commander - in - Chief . He was aided by the Ministers of War and Navy in regard to matters concerning the Army and the Armada , respectively . Traditionally , the Ministers of War and Navy were civilians but there were some exceptions . The model chosen was the British parliamentary or Anglo - American system , in which " the country ' s Armed Forces observed unrestricted obedience to the civilian government while maintaining distance from political decisions and decisions referring to borders ' security " . The military personnel were allowed to run and serve in political offices while staying on active duty . However , they did not represent the Army or the Armada but instead the population of the city or province where elected . Dom Pedro I chose nine military personnel as Senators and five ( out of 14 ) to the State Council . During the Regency , two were chosen to the Senate and none to the State Council as there was no Council at the time . Dom Pedro II chose four military personnel to become Senators during the 1840s , two in 1850s and three until the end of his reign . He also chose seven military personnel to be State Counselors during the 1840s and 1850s and three after that . Recruitment . The recruitment for the Armed forces of the Empire of Brazil , generally considered the imposition of a strong state on a recalcitrant society , was shaped by a complex network of patron - client relationships between the State , the members of the plantation class , and the free poor . These well - established ( and in general legitime ) relationships survived the challenges of recruitment in times of war and prevented reformers from establishing a system of conscription that was regular and fair . Armada . Early years , 1822 – 31 . The National Armada ( later known as the Brazilian Navy ) , informally known as Imperial Armada , appeared with the independence of the country . The Armada was formed almost entirely by ships , staff , organizations and doctrines proceeding from the transference of the Portuguese Royal Family in 1808 . Some of its members were native - born Brazilians , who under Portugal had been forbidden to serve . Other members were Portuguese who adhered to the cause of separation and foreign mercenaries . Some establishments created by King João VI of Portugal were used and incorporated such as the Department of Navy , Headquarters of the Navy , the Intendancy and Accounting Department , the Arsenal ( Shipyard ) of the Navy , the Academy of Navy Guards , the Naval Hospital , the Auditorship , the Supreme Military Council , the powder plant , and others . The Brazilian - born Captain Luís da Cunha Moreira was chosen as the first minister of the Navy on 28 October 1822 . Britisher Lord Thomas Alexander Cochrane was nominated the commander of the Brazilian Armada and received the rank of " First Admiral " . At that time , the fleet was composed of one ship of the line , four frigate s , and smaller ships for a total of 38 warships . The Secretary of Treasury Martim Francisco Ribeiro de Andrada created a national subscription to generate capital in order to increase the size of the fleet . Contributions were sent from all over Brazil . Even the Emperor Dom Pedro I acquired a merchant brig at his own expense ( that was renamed " Caboclo " ) and donated it to the State . The navy fought in the north and also south of Brazil where it had a decisive role in the independence of the country . After the suppression of the revolt in Pernambuco in 1824 and prior to the Cisplatine War , the navy increased significantly in size and strength . Starting with 38 ships in 1822 , eventually the navy had 96 modern warships of various types with over 690 cannons . The Armada blocked the estuary of the Rio de la Plata hindering the contact of the United Provinces ( as Argentina was called back then ) with the Cisplatine rebels and the outside world . Several battles had occurred between Brazilian and Argentine ships until the defeat of an Argentine flotilla composed of two corvettes , five brigs and one barquentine near the Island of Santiago in 1827 . When Pedro I abdicated in 1831 , he left a powerful navy made up of two ships of the line and ten frigate s in addition to corvettes , steamships , and other ships for a total of at least 80 warships in peace time . Quelling rebellions , 1831 – 49 . During the 58 - year reign of Dom Pedro II the Brazilian Navy achieved its greatest strength in relation to navies around the world . The Arsenal , Navy department , and the Naval Jail were improved and the Imperial Mariner Corps ( formed then by volunteers ) was created . Steam navigation was definitively adopted . Brazil quickly modernized the fleet acquiring ships from foreign sources while also constructing others locally . Brazil ' s Navy substituted the old smoothbore cannons for new ones with rifled barrels , which were more accurate and had longer ranges . Improvements were also made in the Arsenals ( shipyards ) and naval bases , which were equipped with new workshops . Ships were constructed in the Arsenal of the Navy in Rio de Janeiro , Salvador , Recife , Santos , Niterói and Pelotas . The Armada also successfully fought against all revolts that occurred during the Regency ( where it made blockades and transported the Army troops ) including : Cabanagem , Ragamuffin War , Sabinada , Balaiada , amongst others . When Emperor Pedro II was declared of legal age and assumed his constitutional prerogatives in 1840 , the Armada had over 90 warships : six frigates , seven corvettes , two barque - schooners , six brigs , eight brig - schooners , 16 gunboats , 12 schooners , seven armed brigantine - schooners , six steam barques , three transport ships , two armed luggers , two cutters and thirteen larger boats . During the 1850s the State Secretary , the Accounting Department of the Navy , the Headquarters of the Navy and the Naval Academy were reorganized and improved . New ships were purchased and the ports administrations were better equipped . The Imperial Mariner Corps was definitively regularized and the Marine Corps was created , taking the place of the Naval Artillery . The Service of Assistance for Invalids was also established , along with several schools for sailors and craftsmen . Platine Wars , 1849 – 70 . The conflicts in the Platine region did not cease after the war of 1825 . The anarchy caused by the despotic Rosas and his desire to subdue Bolívia , Uruguay and Paraguay forced Brazil to intercede . The Brazilian Government sent a naval force of 17 warships ( a ship of the line , 10 corvettes and six steamships ) commanded by the veteran John Pascoe Grenfell . The Brazilian fleet succeeded in passing through the Argentine line of defence in Toneleros under heavy attack and transported the troops to the theater of operations . The Brazilian Armada had a total of 59 vessels of various types in 1851 : 36 armed sailing ships , 10 armed steamships , seven unarmed sailing ships and six sailing transports . More than a decade later the Armada was once again modernized and its fleet of old sailing ships was converted to a fleet of 40 steamships armed with more than 250 cannons . In 1864 the navy fought in the Uruguayan War and immediately afterwards in the Paraguayan War where it annihilated the Paraguayan navy in the Battle of Riachuelo . The navy was further augmented with the acquisition of 20 ironclad s and six fluvial monitors . At least 9 , 177 navy personnel fought in the five years ' conflict . Brazilian naval constructors such as Napoleão Level , Trajano de Carvalho and João Cândido Brasil planned new concepts for warships that allowed the country ' s Arsenals to retain their competitiveness with other nations . All damage suffered by ships was repaired and various improvements were made to the ships . In 1870 , Brazil had 94 modern warships and had the fifth most powerful navy in the world . Final years , 1870 – 89 . During the 1870s , the Brazilian Government strengthened the navy as the possibility of a war against Argentina over Paraguay ' s future became quite real . Thus , it acquired a gunboat and a corvette in 1873 ; an ironclad and a monitor in 1874 ; and immediately afterwards two cruiser s and another monitor . The improvement of the Armada continued during the 1880s . The Arsenals of the Navy in the provinces of Rio de Janeiro , Bahia , Pernambuco , Pará and Mato Grosso continued to build dozens of warships . Also , four torpedo boats were purchased . On 30 November 1883 , the Practical School of Torpedoes was created along with a workshop devoted to constructing and repairing torpedoes and electric devices in the Arsenal of Navy of Rio de Janeiro . This Arsenal constructed four steam gunboat s and one schooner , all with iron and steel hulls ( the first of these categories constructed in the country ) . The Imperial Armada reached its apex with the incorporation of the ironclad battleship s " Riachuelo " and " Aquidabã " ( both equipped with torpedo launchers ) in 1884 and 1885 , respectively . Both ships ( considered state - of - the - art by experts from Europe ) allowed the Brazilian Armada to retain its position as one of the most powerful naval forces . By 1889 , the navy had 60 warships and was the fifth or sixth most powerful navy in the world . In the last cabinet of the monarchic regime , the Minister of the Navy , Admiral José da Costa Azevedo ( the Baron of Ladário ) , left the reorganization and modernization of the navy unfinished . The coup that ended the monarchy in Brazil in 1889 was not well accepted by the personnel of the Armada . Imperial Mariners were attacked when they tried to support the imprisoned Emperor in the City Palace . The Marquis of Tamandaré begged Pedro II to allow him to fight back the coup ; however , the Emperor refused to allow any bloodshed . Tamandaré would later be imprisoned by order of the dictator Floriano Peixoto under the accusation of financing the monarchist military in the Federalist Revolution . The Baron of Ladário remained in contact with the exiled Imperial Family , hoping to restore the monarchy , but ended up ostracized by the republican government . Admiral Saldanha da Gama led the Revolt of the Armada with the objective of restoring the Empire and allied himself with other monarchists who were fighting in the Federalist Revolution . However , all the attempts at restoration were violently crushed . High ranking Monarchist officers were imprisoned , banished or executed by firing squad without due process of law and their subordinates also suffered harsh punishments . Army . Early years , 1822 – 31 . The National Army , or Imperial Army during the monarchy , was divided into two branches : the 1st Line , which was the Army itself ; and the 2nd Line , which was formed by the Militia s and Orderlies inherited from the colonial times . When the Portuguese military in the provinces of the Bahia , Maranhão , Pará and Cisplatine refused to join the Independence cause , Emperor Pedro I reorganized the troops at his disposal for the imminent conflict . Most of the personnel stationed in the country remained loyal to the monarch , who made use of troops , equipment and forts for the war operations . The terrestrial force efficiently fought in the north and the south of Brazil , defeating the loyal troops of Portugal . In 1824 the Army of the 1st Line included 24 , 000 men , who were disciplined , trained and equipped just as well as European equivalents . At the end of the war of Independence , the Brazilian Armed Forces were already well organized and equipped . This occurred mainly because Pedro I heavily supported the Army . In the same year a battalion was sent to Pernambuco where it successfully quelled the revolt of the Confederation of the Equator . Army officers ' training was completed in the Military Academy ( now Academia Militar de Agulhas Negras , also the only engineering school in Brazil up to 1874 ) , although it was not obligatory for personnel to study there to advance in the profession . Personnel from the infantry and cavalry branches only needed to study the disciplines of the 1st year ( arithmetic , algebra , geometry , trigonometry and technical drawing ) and 5th year ( tactical , strategy , camping , fortification in campaign , terrain reconnaissance and chemistry ) . Engineers and artillerymen were obliged to study the complete course , which resulted in their branches being considered the most prestigious . However , if they preferred , infantrymen and cavalrymen were allowed to study the disciplines of the 2nd year ( algebra , geometry , analytical geometry , differential and integral calculus , descriptive geometry and technical drawing ) ; 3rd year ( mechanics , ballistics and technical drawing ) ; 4th year ( spherical trigonometry , physics , astronomy , geodesy , geography and technical drawing ) ; 6th year ( regular and irregular fortification , attacking and defending strongholds , civil architecture , roads , ports , canals , mineralogy and technical drawing ) ; and 7th year ( artillery , mines and natural history ) . The Empire declared war against the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata ( now Argentina ) in 1825 because that nation was aiding the secessionist revolt of the Brazilian province of Cisplatine . The Argentine and the Cisplatine secessionist troops made use of guerrilla tactics that prevented the much stronger Brazilian Army ( 1st Line with 27 , 242 men and 2nd Line with 95 , 000 ) from delivering an overwhelming blow against its enemies . By the end of the conflict more than 8 , 000 Brazilians had died and the esteem associated with a career in the military declined . In the aftermath , the military blamed the Emperor for not being able to convince the Parliament to allow more financial aid to purchase equipment , munitions and provisions , while the liberals , on the other hand , considered the monarch responsible for the high costs of the conflict . Quelling rebellions , 1831 – 49 . Pedro I ' s abdication resulted in the reduction of the size of the Army contingent . The liberals were against the Army for ideological and economic reasons . Their objective was to prevent any possibility of return to Brazil by Pedro I , so they weakened one of the institutions most connected to the former Emperor . Some battalions were dissolved while others were transferred to distant provinces . Most of the soldiers were discharged ; enlistment was suspended and the promotion of any officer was forbidden . On 30 August 1831 , the liberal regency reduced the Army to fewer than 10 , 000 men . Later reductions left only 6 , 000 soldiers . The battalions formed by mercenaries were also disbanded . With the intention of assisting the smaller Army , the Government created the National Guard on 18 August 1831 . The new institution would substitute for the old Militias and Orderlies that were extinguished at the same time . The National Guard was composed of all male Brazilians who had an annual income superior to Rs200 $ 000 ( the same value as an elector ) . The majority of the male population had to meet certain conditions to be part of the National Guard : someone who worked as a craftsman or clerk satisfied the minimum requirements . Even the “ ingenuous ” ( free children of slaves or ex - slaves ) were allowed to enlist in the force . The Guard ' s members were not remunerated and , except for weapons which the Government supplied , the members had to pay all expenses related to uniforms and equipment . However , the Guard ' s members had little if any military skill and they were completely inadequate for the wars of the Industrial Age . The Guard did not have permanent troops nor barracks for lodging troops . In war times the National Guard was incorporated into the Army of 1st Line and it was , for all effects , a reserve force of the Imperial Army . The results of the Liberal ' s policy towards the Army were soon felt . The Government was incapable of fighting the rebellions that occurred in the country during the second half of the 1830s . The election of the conservative Pedro de Araújo Lima for the office of regent in 1837 completely changed the situation . The Conservative Party restored the Army , reorganized and reequipped its ranks , and increased its size to 18 , 000 men . The Imperial Army achieved several victories over the provincial revolts , including : Cabanagem , Sabinada , Ragamuffin War , among others . At the beginning of the 1840s a new reorganization of the Army gave it more cohesion and made it more capable . Platine Wars , 1849 – 70 . In 1845 the Military College ( originally known as the Military Academy ) was divided into two - halves : one half retained the name " Military College " and the other half became the Central College . A new reform ( Decree nº 585 ) on 6 September 1850 , considerably improved the quality of the officers of the Imperial Army . From then on , progression in a soldier ' s military career would occur through antiquity , merit and academic resume , beyond a clear preference for the personnel who completed the Military College over the ones who did not . On 20 September 1851 , the conservative cabinet created a branch of the Military College in Porto Alegre . The Porto Alegre college location provided courses in infantry and cavalry , including disciplines taken from the 1st and 5th years of study . The National Guard was reorganized in the same month and became subordinate directly to the Minister of Justice , instead of to the locally elected Judges of Peace . In 1851 the Imperial Army was composed of more than 37 , 000 men and participated in the Platine War , in which it defeated the Argentine Confederation with the contribution of Uruguayan troops and Argentine rebels . The Uruguayan War ( which was followed by the Paraguayan War ) revealed the complete neglect subjected on the Imperial Army after 1852 . The Army did not have enough equipment , ammunition , uniforms or transportation . With only 18 , 000 men in 1864 it was necessary to search for reserve forces to collaborate with the war effort . In 1864 the National Guard enrollment was 440 , 000 men . In spite of the impressive numbers , the Guard ' s military potential was considerably reduced by their lack of training and equipment and the resistance by most Guard members to deployment to the theater of operations . From then on the National Guard would be gradually put aside in favor of the Army . The Fatherland Volunteer Corps was created on 7 January 1865 . The Corps received volunteer and conscripted Brazilians . The nomination of the Marquis of Caxias as the commander of the Imperial Army in the middle of 1866 put an end to the anarchy . In 1865 18 , 000 men were deployed in enemy territory . This number grew to 67 , 365 in 1866 ; 71 , 039 in 1867 ; and finally 82 , 271 in 1869 . The Marquis of Caxias reorganized the troops who received uniforms , equipment and weapons equal in quality to those of the Prussian Army . The health service of the Armed Forces was inferior to American Civil War health care , but was superior to Crimean War health programs . The armed conflict lasted for more than five years and cost the lives of 50 , 000 Brazilians . However , the Empire attained victory and maintained its supremacy over the rest of South America . The Imperial Army mobilized 154 , 996 men for the war , divided into the following categories : 10 , 025 Army personnel who were in Uruguay in 1864 ; 2 , 047 in the province of Mato Grosso ; 55 , 985 Fatherland Volunteers ; 60 , 009 National Guardsmen ; 8 , 570 ex - slaves ; and an additional 18 , 000 National Guardsmen who remained in Brazil to defend their homeland . Final years , 1870 – 89 . In 1873 , the role of the National Guard was restricted when it was decided that the Guard would no longer act as a police force . As a result the National Guard effectively became a reserve force of the Army . However , its definitive dissolution did not occur until 1918 . In 1874 the Polytechnical College of Rio de Janeiro was created from the Military School . The new college focused on the provision of civil engineering courses . For the 1873 – 74 fiscal year , the Government allocated about 27 percent of the budget for the Army and the Armada . A new generation of turbulent and undisciplined military personnel began to appear at the beginning of the 1880s , because the old monarchist officers , such as Luis Alves de Lima e Silva ( Duke of Caxias ) , Polidoro da Fonseca Quintanilha Jordão ( Viscount of Santa Teresa ) , Antonio de Sampaio , Manuel Marques de Sousa ( Count of Porto Alegre ) and Manuel Luis Osório ( Marquis of Herval ) were dead . In an Army with only 13 , 000 men , 7 , 526 were sent to jail in 1884 for bad behavior . The cadets in the Military College learned about Positivism and discussed politics while completely ignoring military matters . These men advocated the establishment of a military dictatorship . In 1882 , Army military officers murdered a journalist in broad day light when he criticized the behavior of the Army . The murder went unpunished . The republicans stimulated the undisciplined behavior of these personnel during 1887 and 1888 by alleging a lack of attention and consideration on the part of the Government towards the Army . On 15 November 1889 , the monarchy was overthrown by Army troops led by Field Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca who became the leader of the first Brazilian dictatorship . Marshal Câmara ( Viscount of Pelotas ) , affirmed that about 20 percent of the Imperial Army supported the coup . In the following days several battalions of the Army , which were spread across the country , fought against republican forces with the intention of stopping the coup . In Desterro ( now Florianópolis ) , the 25th Infantry Battalion attacked the Republican Club on 17 November 1889 . A month later on 18 December , in Rio de Janeiro , the 2nd Artillery Regiment tried to restore the monarchy . In 1893 , Monarchist soldiers participated in the Federalist Revolution with the intention of restoring the Empire . The Monarchists who did not die in battle were imprisoned , deported or murdered .