Occupation of Madeira by the Miguelite troops

As is well known, Miguel I, regent of the Kingdom (reino, i.e. mainland Portugal), dissolved the Cortes (Portuguese parliament) and convened the Three Estates on 3 May 1828, proclaiming himself absolute king. On the 12th of the same month news of these events reached Madeira, and the governor and captain-general José Lúcio Travassos Valdez at once prepared to resist and to remain loyal to the principles enshrined in the Constitutional Charter (Carta Constitucional) granted by Pedro IV.

On 25 June 1828 the Portuguese frigate Príncipe Real appeared off our harbour, bringing the new Miguelite (supporter of the absolutist King Miguel) governor, José Maria Monteiro, and a corregedor (royal district magistrate) for this judicial district (comarca), both armed with discretionary powers. On board the frigate was Vice-Admiral Prego, who was on his way to the Azores as governor and captain-general of those islands.

José Lúcio Travassos Valdez sent an emissary to the commander of the Miguelite warship, informing him of the state of feeling in this archipelago and of the resistance he would offer to the landing of the new governor, and at the same time ordering him to leave Madeiran waters immediately.

On the 27th the frigate disappeared, but on the 28th a corvette and a brig belonging to the usurping government appeared in our bay. From a communication made to the British consul, Henrique Veitch, it became known that the absolutists intended to maintain a blockade of the whole archipelago, against which the consul immediately protested in the name of his government.

The energetic and resolute stance of the governor and captain-general Travassos Valdez prevented the Miguelite forces from landing, and the squadron left Madeiran waters without achieving the aims of conquest that had driven its commander.

On 16 August 1828 the royalist squadron appeared once again off the bay of Funchal. It consisted of a carrack, two frigates, two corvettes, two brigs and two storeships. It was commanded by Vice-Admiral Henrique da Fonseca Prego and carried on board, besides the crews, about a thousand men under the command of Colonel José António de Azevedo Lemos.

At dawn on 22 August the squadron set course for the bay of Machico, and at 11 in the morning the brig Infante D. Sebastião opened fire on the Forte do Ancoradouro (Anchorage Fort) and then on the Amparo (‘protection’) battery. Both put up only a weak and short-lived resistance, their garrisons fleeing in disorder almost at the first shots fired by the enemy squadron. The Miguelite (supporter of the absolutist King Miguel) troops then landed ‘without the slightest resistance and in complete comfort’, according to the unimpeachable testimony of a contemporary of the events.

José Lúcio Travassos Valdês, who was undoubtedly a brave man with a gift for strategy, of which he gave such eloquent proof in the campaigns for liberty, had prepared the defence of Madeira. He had only weak means for it, however, not only because of the number and abilities of his officers but also because of the poorly disciplined, raw militiamen who made up the garrison of the archipelago. It is true that a few days earlier some officers, our compatriots, had arrived from England, but they came too late. Only their courage and military competence could be counted on, and that was not enough to organise a defence that had to be vigorous and perhaps prolonged, given the number and quality of the attackers. Travassos Valdês organised several centres of resistance from Machico to Funchal, especially at Seixo, Santa Cruz, Porto Novo and Palheiro do Ferreiro, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Schwalback. At Seixo there were 200 men commanded by Captain Brito, who was the first to flee as the enemy approached, and the whole military force stationed there followed his example. In view of these successive disasters, and recognising that the resistance he had prepared at Santa Cruz was useless, Schwalback decided to concentrate his forces in the Forte do Porto Novo, which was well armed with artillery. From there, commanding the steep slopes that the enemy would have to climb, he could inflict heavy losses on the royalist troops and even force them to retreat.

While Schwalback was organising at that excellent strategic point the means of resistance at his disposal, together with others arriving from Funchal, an explosion occurred in the ammunition. That officer and other men of the garrison were seriously wounded. The soldiers then abandoned the fort in headlong flight, and Schwalback was barely able to gather a few men to carry him to Funchal.

Travassos Valdês, leaving the city to reinforce the garrison of Porto Novo, met Schwalbach on the Caniço (‘reed’) road, wounded and heading for Funchal. He could then see that all was lost: any resistance was futile, and all that remained was to spare his soldiers’ lives and shield the population from reprisals by the Miguelite troops.

The governor and captain-general José Lúcio Travassos Valdês, who so distinguished himself in the struggles for liberty and also in politics under the name of Count of Bonfim, placed himself under the protection of England. He took refuge on board the warship corvette Alligator (see that entry, vol. I, p. 46) on the afternoon of 22 August, and a few days later sailed for London with other émigrés.

On the morning of 23 August the royalist troops left Santa Cruz for Funchal, meeting not the slightest resistance, and entered the city on the afternoon of the same day.

José Maria Monteiro (see that entry, vol. II, p. 390), the new Miguelite governor, landed on 24 August and took up his new post that same day.