Patriotic Battalions

In Brazil's military history, Patriotic Battalions (Portuguese: batalhões patrióticos) were irregular paramilitary forces, usually made up of civilian volunteers, mobilized in times of crisis.

[5] Patriotic battalions of radical republicans, the "Jacobins", proliferated in Rio de Janeiro during the government of Floriano Peixoto (1891–1894).

[2] The federal government resorted to colonels' battalions during its persecution of the Prestes Column, distributing a large number of modern weapons.

[10][11] Other irregular forces during this period included the "provisional corps" that assisted the police in Rio Grande do Sul, bandit troops, as in the cangaço, and foreign immigrant battalions in the 1924 São Paulo Revolt.

[2] The gradual strengthening of the army, expanding thanks to conscription (the Sortition Law), and political centralization after the 1930 Revolution led to the weakening of these colonels.