Carlos Frederico Lecor , Viscount of Laguna Carlos Frederico Lecor ( Lisbon , October 6 , 1764 – Rio de Janeiro , August 2 , 1836 ) was a Portuguese general and politician . He was the first Baron of Laguna , in Portugal , and later ascended to Viscount of Laguna , in Brazil . He was most notably the only non - British General to have commanded one of the Anglo - Portuguese divisions of Wellington ' s Peninsular Army ( the seventh , in late 1813 ) , as well as having commanded the Portuguese forces who invaded the Banda Oriental del Uruguay ( Eastern Bank of Uruguay ) in 1816 . His last name is sometimes written as Lecór or Le Cor . The latter is very common in English sources of the 19th century . Most Spanish sources give him as Carlos Federico Lecor . Early life and military career ( 1764 – 1807 ) . Son of Louis Pierre Lecor , a French émigré , and Quitéria Maria Krusse , Carlos Frederico Lecor was born in the Parish of Santos - o - Velho , in Lisbon . He had French ascendency by his father , and German , Dutch and Spanish ascendency by his mother . He was born into merchant families , and , as the older son of five , was destined to pursue a commercial career . Instead , having moved to Faro in the decade of 1770 , he would eventually enlist in the Portuguese Army , as a " Pé de Castelo " ( Castle Guard ) in 1793 , as a gunner , at the unusual age of 29 . Having been placed at the Fortress of Santo António da Barra , in Tavira , he rose to the rank of Sargeant . He was then made an adjutant to the military commander of Portimão , presumably at officer level . In 1794 , he became first lieutenant in the Artillery Regiment of Algarve , as second in command to the ninth company of gunners . In 1795 and 1796 , he was part of the artillery complement of the " Nau " Príncipe da Beira , the flagship of a fleet escorting commercial ships to Salvador , in Brazil . Upon returning to Lisbon , he was promoted to Captain in the Light Troops Legion , an experimental unit of the Portuguese Army , eventually becoming the aide - de - camp to General Marquis of Alorna . In this capacity he was promoted to Major ( 1802 ) and Lieutenant - Colonel ( 1805 ) . Peninsular War ( 1807 – 1814 ) . On the occasion of the first French Invasion of Portugal , in November 1807 , Carlos Frederico Lecor is credited with having spotted the invading army , commanded by Junot , north of Abrantes , and having personally informed the Prince - Regent , future King John VI . As Lecor didn ' t want to serve in the " Légion Portugaise " , formed out of the remnants of the dismantled Portuguese Army to serve Napoleon , he fled to Plymouth , England , hoping to embark to Brazil , but on hearing the news of the Portuguese uprisings of June 1808 , he participates in the creation of the Loyal Lusitanian Legion , a military unit created by the Portuguese exiles in England . He then returns to Portugal , with colonel Robert Wilson . Despite being originally made responsible for the recruitment of a second battalion of the Legion , he is made colonel of the 23rd Infantry Regiment , in Almeida , in December 1808 . Between 1809 and 1813 , Lecor acts as commander of several units in the Portuguese Army , mainly brigade - level , and as military commander of the Beira Baixa region , based in Castelo Branco . He is promoted to Brigadier General on May 8 , 1811 . For a brief period in 1811 , he commands the Portuguese Brigade of the Allied 7th Division . He participates in the Bussaco campaign , as well as the Lines of Torres Vedras , under general Rowland Hill . On the eve of the Vitoria Campaign , in 1813 , Lecor is placed again at the command of the Portuguese Brigade ( later numbered sixth ) of the seventh Division of the Anglo - Portuguese Army , under the command of Lord Dalhousie . He is promoted to Major General ( Marechal de Campo ) on June 4 , 1813 . He then goes on to fight in the Battle of Sorauren , as brigade commander and the Battle of Nivelle , as acting commander of the 7th Division . He is then placed as the commander of the Portuguese Division , where he is till the end of the war , participating at the Battle of the Nive , on its last day , also called the Battle of St . Pierre . Service in Brazil and Uruguay ( 1815 – 1829 ) . Having returned to Portugal , in mid - 1814 , after the conclusion of the Peninsular War , Lecor is appointed military governor of the Alentejo for a brief period of time . In June , 1815 , he is promoted to Lieutenant General and appointed commander of the Prince ' s Royal Voluntary Division ( " Divisão de Voluntário Reais do Príncipe " ) a unit to be sent for service in Brazil , made up mostly of peninsular veterans . In 1816 he led the successful Portuguese conquest of the Banda Oriental against the Liga Federal of José Gervasio Artigas , who had liberated the Banda Oriental ( present - day Uruguay ) from Spanish rule the year before . < br > He personally ruled the newly conquered Cisplatina Province , until the Cisplatine War of 1825 – 1828 . During this war , he succeeded in defending Montevideo against an Argentine - Uruguayan siege , but when Uruguay became independent in the peace treaty , he had to return to Brazil .