Some conspirators prematurely started the revolt before the scheduled date (26 December), compromising the campaign plan, which was quickly dismantled by the loyalist army and state forces.

The Santa Maria rebels, led by the Etchegoyen brothers, did not overcome loyalist resistance of the Military Brigade of Rio Grande do Sul, even though they had artillery and greater numbers.

The Seival rebels joined warlord Zeca Neto, coming from Uruguay, who led a war of movement until his defeat near São Sepé, on 25 December.

Júlio Barrios' campaign, from the extreme west of the state to the Santana do Livramento region, ended, as did Zeca Neto's, with his return to exile at the beginning of January.

Parallel to these movements, Leonel Rocha entered Brazil through the Contestado region in November, seeking to cut the São Paulo-Rio Grande Railway, but his three-month long journey also ended in defeat.

The information reached the Ministry of War and resulted in orders for the region to "have the devices destroyed, occupy the camp with a trusted detachment and subject the officers to investigation, sending those who were compromised as prisoners to Rio".

[10] The troops were already exhausted, and the command hoped to negotiate an amnesty with Washington Luís, Bernardes' successor as president of Brazil, who would take office on 15 November.

The Column's emissaries (Lourenço Moreira Lima and Djalma Soares Dutra) arrived the day before in Paso de los Libres, Argentina, where Lopes lived.

[11] Another veteran, Honório Lemes, did not fight after his defeat in 1925,[11] but his nephew Alfredo supported the life in exile of the sailors of the battleship São Paulo who revolted in 1924 and took part in the new uprisings.

Led by sergeant Walter Corrêa da Silva, the rebels went to Ponte Seca, where they briefly fought against police and civilian forces during the early hours of the morning.

Lieutenant Vicente Mário de Castro, involved in the conspiracy in another local unit (the 1st Battery of the 6th Horse Artillery Group), advised them to withdraw to Caçapava.

Colonel Enéas Pompílio Pires, brigade commander, requested aerial reconnaissance, which was not possible; Of the Group's 30 planes, the only ones capable of flying were the four from the 1st Bombardment Squadron, from Alegrete, one of which had been sent to Porto Alegre.

[32] At 05:30 or 05:45 the first cannon shots were fired, seeking to ward off an armed column that was approaching the 7th RI in drill order — in reality, they were students from Ginásio Santa Maria, candidates for reservists of Tiro de Guerra No.

When he opened the window, soldiers from the 5th RAM and civilians on horseback pointed their weapons at him, and lieutenant Alcides Etchegoyen ordered him to retreat, as this would not guarantee his life.

[b] The brigadiers occupied the banks, the Municipal Quartermaster's Office, the National Telegraph and the Railway Station and established a line of trenches towards the north–south, dividing the city in half.

[55] 66 buildings were damaged by artillery, including several residences, the Clube Caixeiral, Colégio Elementar, Agência Ford, Ginásio Santa Maria and Seminário São José, the latter two, with students at the time of the bombing.

Captain Felipe's house, owned by Dr. Mario Guimarães, received two shells, which completely destroyed its roof, ruining part of the front; the Charity Hospital, in front of which a force from the Brigade was entrenched, received a large number of projectiles; the house occupied by the traveling salesman Mr. Antônio Basso, suffered horribly, being shattered by thousands of projectiles, with a shell piercing a wall, exploding in the room and rendering all the furniture in it useless, leaving the building almost completely destroyed; Mr. Maximiliano Danezi's house was hit by many projectiles; the one owned by Mr. Homero Beltrão received a shell that caused extensive damage.Shootings and bombing paralyzed life in the city.

[53] The state government continued to mobilize volunteers and on 23 November created four provisional corps in Santa Maria, Cachoeira, Rio Pardo and Palmeira, with 261 men.

[53] A mixed detachment of the army and Military Brigade, led by major Luiz Carlos de Moraes, was tasked with pursuing the Santa Maria rebels.

The 522 irregulars of the Patriot Corps, in the major's opinion, were "poorly organized, without uniforms and equipment, but with a lot of enthusiasm, which was transmitted to them by the personality of their leader", the quartermaster of Alegrete, Oswaldo Aranha.

This rancher armed and equipped 70 supporters and family members on his own and sent cowboys to establish contact with the Santa Maria rebels, which they achieved on 23 November.

He joined his forces with those of Laurindo Ramos and sent a note to major Moraes: "he had reached the rebels in full disbandment and thought the revolt was over; it was a simple police case, not involving military operations".

[67] On the night of 24 November, the rebels, comprising a total of 400 civilians and soldiers, positioned themselves on a rocky elevation above the Seival floodplain, with excellent control of the terrain.

[73] Zeca Neto came from Uruguay and took command of the column, with which he traveled around the Serras do Sudeste, Central Depression and Campanha, distracting and tiring the loyalists and giving time for new revolts.

[79] Crossing the border in the municipality of Bagé, Zeca Neto joined the Seival rebels on the Camaquã River, in the region between Guaritas and Santana da Boa Vista.

According to the plan, drawn up by Fernando Távora, the general commander would be Júlio Barrios, supported by his chief of staff, Stênio Caio de Albuquerque Lima.

[92] In the campaign plan, the attack on the São Paulo-Rio Grande Railway would begin with an incursion by warlords Leonel Rocha and Fidêncio de Mello, coming from Argentina.

Leonel Rocha, acting in an undisciplined manner, crossed the Peperi-Guaçu river earlier[a] and, consequently, only two of the veterans (Simas Enéias and Deusdit Augusto de Loyola) joined the column.

[98][99] The rebels finally reached the railway, attacking the Mallet and Paulo Frontin stations, but under pursuit, they returned to Santa Catarina, via Canoinhas,[99] on 1 December.

From the Military Brigade's point of view, "with these operations, the unpatriotic revolutionary movement that, in July 1924, had broke out in the capital of the great Bandeirante State [São Paulo] came to a complete end".