The Portuguese Army in Late-Eighteenth-Century Brazil: A Colonial Elite or a Metropolitan Force?

Abstract

The regular army in colonial Brazil was simultaneously a tool of imperial policy (seen as a way to impose metropolitan will) and an institution that, like many others, integrated in its ranks, and in senior positions, settlers, sometimes disgruntled settlers. This article deals with this apparent ambiguity. It examines the prosopography of officers who served in late-eighteenth-century colonial Brazil, considering their origin, social standing, military experience and even political leanings. Its findings reveal an institution that, in spite of its imperial function and the looming internal tensions, seemed to have contributed to the cohesiveness of the Empire.