Luís da Silva Mouzinho de Albuquerque (June 16, 1792 in Lisbon – December 27, 1846 in Torres Vedras; Portuguese pronunciation: [luˈiʒ ðɐ ˈsilvɐ moˈziɲu ðɨ alβuˈkɛɾkɨ]) was a Portuguese military officer, engineer, poet, scientist and politician, who distinguished himself during the Liberal Wars and in the conflicts that marked Portugal's history in the first half of the 19th century.
His mother was the daughter of Luís da Silva de Ataíde, a senior-guard of the Leiria pine forest and Lord of Casa do Terreiro.
His father intended him to follow an ecclesiastical career and, after his family moved to Leiria, Mouzinho started his theological studies, attending Latin classes organised by Bishop Manuel de Aguiar.
Realising that he did not have the necessary means to make a suitable marriage for her, he decided to abandon his studies and dedicated himself to agriculture, with assistance from relatives, the Tudela Castilho family, who lived in Fundão.
Mouzinho's father-in-law introduced him to Pedro de Sousa Holstein, the 1st Marquis of Palmela and minister, who appointed him Superintendent of the National Mint (Casa da Moeda).
Soon after, he was nominated a member of the Weights and Measures Commission and in 1825 was ordered by the government to study and analyze the mineral waters of São Miguel Island in the Azores.
He remained in France as a "liberal émigré" and soon as it was possible he departed for Brazil where, together with Joaquim António de Aguiar, the Count of Óbidos and the Count of Sabugal, he asked Peter I of Brazil (formerly Peter IV of Portugal, and Michael’s brother) to support the cause of his daughter, Princess Maria da Glória of Portugal, and the Constitutional Charter.
He occupied the post of secretary to António Severim de Noronha, who was at that time Count of Vila Flor and later became Duke of Terceira, with whom he established a relationship of political loyalty that would last until his death.
To take charge of his post, Mouzinho left from Terceira on board the frigate D. Maria II, as part of an expedition led by Admiral George Rose Sartorius intended to force the surrender of Funchal.
Installed in Porto Santo, Mouzinho was in an awkward situation, where he was neither able to conquer Madeira nor suffer an attack from the major island.
Calm and order were present in Porto Santo during the occupation, due to the discipline of Mouzinho de Albuquerque's troops and the excellent control of him and his officers.
He took with him 104 volunteers who had escaped Madeira to enlist in the constitutional army and in Terceira they joined forces that were being prepared for a major attack on continental Portugal.
Along with the forces whom he returned to join, Mouzinho took part in the Mindelo Landing and the Siege of Porto, where he served brilliantly as a military officer and statesman.
Being a supporter of António Severim de Noronha, future Duke of Terceira, to whom he was devoted and for whom he held the utmost respect, Mouzinho advised him to start a campaign from the south (Algarve) and accompanied him, becoming part of his general staff until the end of the civil war.
In 1834, following the Concession of Evoramonte, Mouzinho de Albuquerque returned to Madeira to occupy the position he had previously been appointed to two years earlier, not as captain-general, a post liberalism had abolished, but as prefect of the new-born Prefecture of Funchal.
His administration in Madeira, characterized by a "great impartiality and justice", resulted in numerous improvements, namely in education, with the creation of schools, and in public assistance and with the construction of roads.
When the reaction to Septemberism started in 1837, Mouzinho de Albuquerque, loyal to his friend the Duke of Terceira, took part in the so-called Revolt of the Marshals.
He wrote several texts, including a technical guide to the building of masonry bridges, intended for engineers of his time and offered for publication to the Royal Academy of Sciences.
He also presented several reports and plans on the constructions of the service over which he presided, namely the Fort of Porto, the canal in Azambuja and the restoration of the Monastery of Batalha, concerning which he published an interesting technical work.
The restorers did not want that, and after being insulted by the cabralists, Mouzinho resigned on February 24, 15 days after the government took office, being replaced by Costa Cabral.
With the palace coup d'état known as the Ambush on October 6 of that year, the government was dismissed summarily, which provoked the generalized revolt of the enemies of cabralism and led to the constitution of the Porto Junta.
With civil war unleashed, he was active in the Patuleia, allied with the Marquess of Sá da Bandeira and the Count of Lavradio.
At that time, he was a colonel and accompanied the division commanded by General José Travassos Valdez, 1st Count of Bonfim when he occupied Torres Vedras.