Luís Vaz Pereira Pinto Guedes

Luís Vaz Pereira Pinto Guedes
File:D. Luís Vaz Pereira Pinto Guedes, 2.º Visconde de Monte Alegre.png Luís Vaz Pereira Pinto Guedes, 2nd Viscount of Montalegre
Born	(1770-08-18)18 August 1770 Vila Real, Kingdom of Portugal
Died	Kingdom of Portugal
Allegiance	Kingdom of Portugal
Service/branch	Portuguese Army
Years of service	1784–1834
Rank	Brigadier
Battles/wars	Peninsular War Liberal Wars Battle of Ponte Ferreira Battle of Asseiceira
Awards	Cross for the Peninsular War Comendador of the Order of Christ Comendador of the Order of the Tower and Sword

Luís Vaz Pereira Pinto Guedes, 2nd Viscount of Montalegre (10 August 1770 – 10 May 1841), was a Portuguese nobleman and military officer who distinguished himself in the Peninsular War and the Portuguese Civil War.

Biography

He was born in Vila Real, , the son of Miguel António Vaz Guedes Pereira Pinto (1702–1762) and became a member of the Royal Household ("moço-fidalgo") by a decree of December 20, 1778.

He took his place as a cadet in the Chaves Cavalry Regiment on 6 April 1784 and was promoted to ensign on 16 November 1792. Leaving military service when Junot entered Portugal, he took an active part in the 1808 rebellion against the French, and in October of that year he was promoted to captain, serving as adjutant to General Manuel Pinto de Morais Bacelar, 1st Viscount of Monte Alegre. Viscount of Monte Alegre) and remained at his side throughout the war on the peninsula, and even later in the government of Beira, until that general's death, when he was already a lieutenant colonel and was placed in the 2nd cavalry regiment, to which he was promoted to colonel in 1820. Later, he was given the rank of brigadier in 1823.

In July 1826, when Minister Charles Stuart arrived in Portugal with the Constitutional Charter that Pedro IV had granted, and the Miguelist party decided to oppose the establishment of the liberal regime in Portugal, it was he who raised the first cry of revolt in the name of Dom Miguel.

On the night of the 26th to the 27th, the Viscount raised the 21st infantry regiment in Bragança, arrested the bishop, the military governor and all the officers who refuse to join the movement, but it didn't progress and the rebels had to go to Spain, where they were received with the most benevolent hospitality. Soon Magessi was rebelling in the Alentejo, Luís Vaz Pereira Pinto Guedes raised the 11th Infantry in garrison in Almeida, and the Marquis of Chaves, also raising a few ranks in Trás-os-Montes, swelled the ranks of the Miguelist party, which was being organised with the protection of Ferdinand VII. At the end of November, the rebels crossed the border again through Bragança, where after fierce fighting they forced General Valdez (later Count of Bonfim) to capitulate, and gaining new strength, they sustained the fight against with the liberals, which only ended the following year, with Luís Vaz Pereira Pinto Guedes and the other Miguelist leaders returning with the troops to Spain.

He was involved in several battles that took place during the time, namely the landing at Mindelo, the siege of Porto and, as commander of his faction, the Battle of Ponte Ferreira and the Battle of Asseiceira. After the civil war ended, he was cashiered from the army in 1834. He wrote memoirs justifying his actions, and died in Lisbon aged 70.

Private life

Luís Vaz Pereira Pinto Guedes was the 4th son of Miguel António Vaz Guedes Pereira Pinto (1702–1762), nobleman of the Royal House, lord of the Morgado do Arco (Vila Real), and of the Morgadios of S. Miguel and Montebelo, in Fundão, and his wife Francisca Margarida Leocádia Pereira Pinto de Magalhães (they married on 10th October 1756), daughter of José Caetano Teixeira de Magalhães e Lacerda and Filipa Antónia Teresa Bernarda Pereira Pinto.

Luís Vaz Pereira Pinto Guedes was married with Maria Inês Cândida Pinto Bacelar, Viscountess of Montalegre, daughter of Manuel Pinto de Morais Bacelar, 1st Viscount of Monte Alegre, and Joana Delfina van Zeller Teixeira de Andrade Pinto. The couple had two daughters and two sons.

Luís Vaz Pereira Pinto Guedes was the younger brother of José Vaz Pereira Pinto Guedes. Other members of his family, such as his brother-in-law and cousin, Bento de Queiroz Pereira Pinto Serpe e Melo, and his nephew, Miguel Vaz Guedes de Ataíde Azevedo e Brito, were also military men, both fighting in the Peninsular War and the latter taking part in the anti-liberal revolt led by the Manuel da Silveira Pinto da Fonseca Teixeira, which took place in Vila Real on 23 February 1823.

Works

• Memória e Exposição Autentica da Conduta Civil e Militar de Luiz Vaz Pereira Pinto Guedes, Visconde de Monte Alegre desde 1821 até 1823 (1823)