caption death_place death_date birth_place allegiance signature_size image_size signature_alt birth_date alt rank signature image article_title name
the duke of caxias at age 75 , 1878 santa of brazil mônica farm , rio de janeiro , empire 7 may 1880 são , rio de janeiro , brazil -lrb- portuguese colony -rrb- paulo farm -lrb- present-day duque de caxias -rrb- empire of brazil empire of brazil 200 200 cursive signature 25 august 1803 half-length a military tunic with medals , chain of office and photographic sash portrait of an older man dressed in army marshal caxias signature.png luís alves de lima e silva.jpg luís caxias
 alves de lima e silva , duke of the duke of caxias
luís alves de lima e silva , duke of article_title_10:caxias

luís alves de lima e silva , duke of caxias -lrb- 25 august 1803 -- 7 may 1880 -rrb- , nicknamed `` the peacemaker '' and `` iron duke '' , was an army officer , politician and monarchist of the empire of brazil .
like his father and uncles , caxias pursued a military career .
in 1823 he fought as a young officer in the brazilian war for independence against portugal , then spent three years in brazil 's southernmost province , cisplatina , as the government unsuccessfully resisted that province 's secession in the cisplatine war .
though his own father and uncles renounced emperor dom pedro i during the protests of 1831 , caxias remained loyal .
pedro i abdicated in favor of his young son dom pedro ii , whom caxias instructed in swordsmanship and horsemanship and eventually befriended .
during pedro ii 's minority the governing regency faced countless rebellions throughout the country .
again breaking with his father and other relatives sympathetic to the rebels , from 1839 to 1845 caxias commanded loyalist forces suppressing such uprisings as the balaiada , the liberal rebellions of 1842 and the ragamuffin war .
in 1851 , under his command , the brazilian army prevailed against the argentine confederation in the platine war ; a decade later caxias , as army marshal -lrb- the army 's highest rank -rrb- , led brazilian forces to victory in the paraguayan war .
as a reward he was raised to the titled nobility , becoming successively a baron , count , and marquis , finally becoming the only person created duke during pedro ii 's 58-year reign .
in the early 1840s caxias became a member of the reactionary party , which evolved into the party of order and finally the conservative party .
he was elected senator in 1846 .
the emperor appointed him president of the council of ministers -lrb- prime minister -rrb- in 1856 ; he briefly held that office again in 1861 , but fell when his party lost its parliamentary majority .
over the decades caxias witnessed the growth and zenith of his party , then its slow decline as internal conflict divided it .
in 1875 he headed a cabinet for the last time , and after years of failing health he died in may 1880 .
in the years after his death and mainly following the downfall of the brazilian monarchy , caxias ' reputation was initially overshadowed by that of manuel luís osório , marquis of erval , but with time surpassed even erval 's renown .
in 1925 his birthday was established as the day of the soldier , a day of honor for the brazilian army .
on 13 march 1962 he was officially designated the army 's protectorits soldierly ideal and the most important figure in its tradition .
historians have regarded caxias positively , several ranking him as the greatest of brazil 's military officers .
