Revolt of the Lash

Led by João Cândido Felisberto, these men managed to take control of both dreadnoughts, one brand-new cruiser, and an older coastal-defense ship, giving them firepower that dwarfed the rest of the navy.

While the executive branch of the government plotted to retake or sink the rebelling warships, they were hampered by personnel distrust and equipment problems; historians have since cast doubt on their chances of successfully accomplishing either.

[3] By the turn of the twentieth century, an antiquated Brazilian naval fleet with just forty-five percent of its authorized personnel (in 1896) and only two modern armored warships could be faced by Argentine and Chilean navies filled with ships ordered in the last decade.

[6] Prominent Brazilian politicians, most notably Pinheiro Machado and the Baron of Rio Branco, moved to have the country recognized as an international power, as they believed that the short-term windfall would continue.

These ships would be named Minas Geraes and São Paulo, and would be accompanied by two smaller cruisers, Bahia and Rio Grande do Sul, and ten destroyers of the Pará class.

A quote from the Baron of Rio Branco, the esteemed politician and professional diplomat, shows one of the sources of tension: "For the recruitment of marines and enlisted men, we bring aboard the dregs of our urban centers, the most worthless lumpen, without preparation of any sort.

"[10][D] Racial differences in the Brazilian Navy would have been immediately apparent to an observer at the time: the officers in charge of the ship were nearly all white, while the crews were heavily black or, to a lesser extent, mixed-race.

The conspirators were motivated by the treatment of enlisted men in the Brazilian Navy, extending beyond the lash to even their substandard food, which led to not-uncommon outbreaks of beriberi.

"[21] The revolt started shortly after the brutal 250 lashes given to Marcelino Rodrigues Menezes, a regular Afro-Brazilian enlisted sailor, for bringing two bottles of cachaça on board the ship.

[F] A later Brazilian government observer, former navy captain José Carlos de Carvalho, told the president of Brazil that Menezes' back looked like "a mullet sliced open for salting.

[29] The crews of the smaller minelayer República, the training ship Benjamin Constant, and the torpedo boats Tamoio and Tymbira all revolted as well, but they made up only two percent of the overall mutineers.

[31] By the end of the evening, key warships that remained in government hands included Bahia's sister Rio Grande do Sul, the aging cruiser Almirante Barroso, and the new destroyers of the Pará class.

Reform the immoral and shameful code under which we serve, end the use of the whip, the bôlo [the beating of the hand with a ferule] and other similar punishments, raise our pay according to the plan of Dep.

José Carlos de Carvalho, educate those seamen who lack the competence to wear our proud uniform, and put a limit on our daily service and see that it is respected.

Marinheiros[34]During the same morning, the rebel ships fired on several army forts located around Guanabara Bay, along with the naval arsenal and bases on Ilha das Cobras and Villegagnon Island, Niterói, and the presidential palace.

Contemporary observers were surprised to note that the crewmen, despite lacking white officers, had complete control of their warships and were able to stay in good formation as they circled around the bay.

The rebels favored firing over the city or around government-controlled military targets rather than outright destruction, something that Zachary Morgan believes was motivated by either humanitarian concerns or (at the very least) pragmatism—by limiting the actual damage, they could gain support among legislators, the press, and general population.

Carvalho, a federal deputy and former naval captain, talked with the crew on all four ships and reported to Congress that the rebels were well led and organized—and their main armament was fully functional.

It is also verified, by the laments of the revolting men, that the meals offered in the sailors mess halls are pernicious, prepared with adulterated and rotten produce, not suitable for dogs.

Barbosa used the navy officials' rhetoric against them in arguing for a diplomatic solution, noting that if the new dreadnoughts were as unsinkable as they claimed, the remaining warships in government hands would certainly not be able to force a military victory.

These arguments won Barbosa much support in the Senate, so much that the body began working on an amnesty that would absolve the mutineers of all criminal charges once the ships were turned back over to the government.

Zachary Morgan writes that "naval leaders believed that only a military confrontation with the rebels would restore their lost honor," and that any such action would have to take place before an amnesty was approved.

The rebels returned on 26 November after a short period of consternation—additional demands, such as an increase in salary, had yet to be proposed in Congress, much less passed—with their ships in formation, Minas Geraes leading São Paulo, with Bahia and Deodoro to each side.

The revolt and consequent state of the navy, which was essentially unable to operate for fear of another rebellion, caused many leading Brazilians, including the president, prominent politicians like Barbosa and the Baron of Rio Branco, and the editor of the most respected newspaper in Brazil, Jornal do Commercio, to question the use of the new ships and support their sale to a foreign country.

Haggard, was ecstatic at Rio Branco's about-face, saying "This is indeed a wonderful surrender on the part of the man who was answerable for the purchase and who looked upon them as the most cherished offspring of his policy.

"[45] Rui Barbosa was emphatic in his opposition to the ships in a speech given shortly before the vote on the amnesty bill: Let me, in conclusion, point out two profound lessons of the bitter situation in which we find ourselves.

As historian Zachary Morgan put it, "for the elite, the intention of the naval renovation itself was to fix their institution, propelling Brazil to the front of a South American arms race, and to make their navy competitive with that of any Western nation.

These rapid changes raised tensions between officers and their charges, and over thirty sailors were arrested in early December and accused of planning a new rebellion—which led to that feared second rebellion.

[52][I] The government acted quickly and put down both rebellions, but they caused the Brazilian Congress to declare that Rio de Janeiro was in a state of siege, thereby giving President Fonseca a suite of tools to combat the unrest.

"Rather than starting over by raising the level of sailors and officers to that of their technically advanced warships," Morgan writes, "the ships that offered the promise of modernity to the Brazilian nation were allowed to deteriorate—as did the navy alongside them.