Bravos do Mindelo (the Heroes of Mindelo)

Many Madeirans fought for the cause of liberty in the long and bloody civil war that ended with the Convention of Évora Monte, signed on 26 May 1834. Of these worthy men, many of whom were part of the expedition of 7,500 men with which Dom Pedro landed on the beaches of Mindelo on 8 July 1832, only the following names have come down to us: Dom Jorge da Câmara Leme (see that entry). He rose to the rank of lieutenant and died in Funchal on 8 July 1889.

Henrique João Fernandes. He was a native of Machico and was killed in the action of 25 July 1833 on the Porto lines, while on campaign.

Cristóvão Lomelino de Carvalho. He was a native of Machico and was killed in the action of 5 September 1833 on the Lisbon lines.

José António de Almada (see that entry). He was made a knight of the Order of the Tower and Sword for distinguishing himself at the battle of Asseiceira, in which he was wounded. He was a native of Machico and died in Funchal on 2 May 1885.

Cândido de Freitas Cabeça. He distinguished himself in many engagements and died, at no great age, in Funchal, his native town.

Francisco de Freitas Broegas. He won renown for his bravery in many engagements, but died poor in the city of Funchal, where he worked as a bailiff (oficial de diligências). Januário dos Ramos. After returning from Portugal, he was a customs house guard and an employee of the Municipal Slaughterhouse (Matadouro Municipal). He died around 1888.

Tertuliano Toribio de Freitas. He was condemned by the special judicial commission (alçada) that came to Madeira in 1828, and later rendered good service in the campaigns for liberty. He nevertheless died poor, the victim of most ungrateful neglect.

Manuel (?) Camacho. He appears to have been a native of Santo António, and died in that parish (freguesia) around 1880.

Luís Vicente da Silva. He was a customs house guard and died around 1880.

Atanásio Herculano Nunes. He was an employee of the Funchal customs house (Alfândega do Funchal) and died in Santa Cruz (‘Holy Cross’) in September 1887.

António Xavier da Costa. He was also a customs house employee, and died around 1879. Nicolau Anastácio de Bettencourt (see that entry). He was civil governor in Angra, Ponta Delgada, Portalegre and Aveiro, and died on 7 March 1874 in Angra, where he had lived for most of his life.

Jacinto Augusto Camacho (see that entry). He rose to the rank of brigadier general and, while a colonel, was acting commander of the Military Division (Divisão Militar, a territorial army command) of Madeira. He died in Porto on 7 June 1885. José Camacho. He was killed on the Lisbon lines.

Roberto Joaquim Cuibém. He fled to England and went on from there to the Azores. He attained the highest rank in the army, and died in Funchal around 1870.

Luís Albino Gonçalves. He reached the rank of colonel surgeon in the army without any formal medical training, and rendered good service during the cholera epidemic of 1856. He died in Funchal in March 1882.

Joaquim António de Carvalho. He commanded the corps of auxiliary artillerymen of Madeira.

Joaquim Pedro Castelo Branco. He later became harbour master of Funchal, rising to the rank of rear admiral. He died on 17 June 1884, and we believe that his only service to the cause of liberty was as a naval officer.

João Correia. He later became a second lieutenant in the 5th Infantry Regiment (Infantaria n.º 5).

José Bettencourt de Abreu. He reached the rank of second lieutenant in the Liberating Army.

António José de Meneses. He reached the rank of cavalry major.

António Teixeira Dória. He served only as a naval officer.

António Aluísio Jérvis de Atouguia (see Atouguia), later Viscount of Atouguia. He rose to the rank of brevet brigadier of engineers and died in Lisbon on 17 May 1861.

Francisco Venâncio de Mendonça. He held the post of clerk of the Council (escrivão da Câmara) of Machico and died in Funchal in 1856.

Bertoldo Francisco Gomes. He later became a lieutenant of artillery in Funchal and died in May 1855. Paulo Manuel Ferreira Ferro. He was a native of Fajã da Ovelha (‘the ewe’s flat’) and died in Funchal at the end of 1894.

Francisco Correia Herédia (see that entry). He died in Lisbon in 1880.

Francisco Alexandrino da Costa Lira. He reached the rank of brigade sergeant and later became a wealthy landowner. He died in Funchal on 21 January 1877, aged 72.

Júlio Berenguer. He died in Funchal after 1880.

José de Freitas Teixeira Espínola de Castelo Branco. He reached the rank of field marshal. Francisco António Rodrigues da Silva. He fought at the battle of Asseiceira and in many other engagements, and was made a knight of the Order of the Tower and Sword. He held the post (lugar) of bailiff (oficial de diligências) of the Municipal Administration (Administração do Concelho, the government's local civil office), and on 29 January 1839 he was appointed keeper of the Angústias (‘sorrows’) cemetery. João de Azevedo. He was a native of Seixal (‘pebble shore’) and served aboard the war brig Vinte e três de Julho throughout the siege of Porto, taking part in the action off Cape St Vincent. He was awarded the insignia of the Tower and Sword and, after his discharge from military service, held the post of keeper of the União market and of the Praça Académica.

Sebastião de Abreu. He was a customs guard and died on 15 September 1855.

António Francisco da Câmara Leme Homem de Vasconcelos, holder of the entail (morgado), who left Madeira for England and from there went to the island of Terceira, where he joined the expedition commanded by Dom Pedro. He died in Porto at no great age and was the father of the Count of Canavial.

Of the thirty-four Liberals whose names are given above, we believe that only the first seventeen or eighteen took part in the expedition of 7,500 brave men with which Dom Pedro landed on the beaches of Mindelo on 8 July 1832. As for the rest, we have no proof that they joined that expedition, although we know that they too were devoted soldiers of liberty, for which they fought throughout the whole campaign or a large part of it. About a hundred Madeirans landed with Dom Pedro in Portugal, and many of them, perhaps most, lost their lives on the battlefield.

On 4 April 1832 the island of Porto Santo (‘holy harbour’) was occupied by a force of 60 men under the command of Captain Bento José de Oliveira, which had come from the Azores in the war brig Conde de Vila Flôr and the schooner Terceira. On the 7th the frigate D. Maria II put in at the same island, carrying on board Admiral George Rose Sartorius, General Luís da Silva Mousinho de Albuquerque, the dean of Funchal Cathedral (the Sé) (Sé do Funchal), Januário Vicente Camacho, and other Constitutionalists.

The occupation lasted until 25 May, when the force embarked for the Azores, accompanied by 104 volunteers who had fled from Madeira to Porto Santo in order to join the troops that Dom Pedro was organising to fight the harsh tyranny of Miguel I.

The annals of the Municipality of Machico record that these volunteers included José de Almada, Lomelino de Carvalho, Henrique Fernandes and Venâncio de Mendonça. It may also be presumed that the Madeirans Cândido Cabeça, Broegas, Ramos, Toríbio de Freitas, J. and M. Camacho, Luís V. da Silva, Atanásio Nunes and Xavier da Costa belonged to this group of Liberals, although the newspapers and official documents we have consulted give no information on the matter.