Álvaro Xavier da Fonseca Coutinho e Póvoas ( Guarda 7 September 1773 – Guarda 29 November 1852), was a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

military and noble, who served on the

Miguelist In the history of Portugal, a Miguelist (in Portuguese ''Miguelista'') was a supporter of the legitimacy of the king Miguel I of Portugal. The name is also given to those who supported absolutism as form of government, in opposition to the libe ...

side in Portugal's

Liberal Wars The Liberal Wars (), also known as the Portuguese Civil War (), the War of the Two Brothers () or Miguelite War (), was a war between liberal constitutionalists and conservative absolutists in Portugal over royal succession that lasted from 18 ...

. Born in an aristocratic family, he joined the Portuguese Legion in 1808, but defected one year later to the Portuguese-British army. He fought against the French as Lieutenant colonel, and ended the war in 1815 as Brigadier general. In 1828, at the outbreak of the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

between Dom Miguel and his elder brother, the former

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Dom

Pedro I of Brazil Don (honorific), Dom Pedro I (English: Peter I; 12 October 1798 – 24 September 1834), nicknamed "the Liberator", was the founder and List of monarchs of Brazil, first ruler of the Empire of Brazil. As King Dom Pedro IV, he List of ...

, he joined the Miguelite, Absolutist camp.
He suppressed a Liberal uprising in Porto in 1828 and distinguished himself at the

Siege of Porto The siege of Porto is considered the period between July 1832 and August 1833 in which the troops of Dom Pedro remained besieged by the forces of Dom Miguel I of Portugal. The resistance of the city of Porto and the troops of Dom Pedro made t ...

in 1832, where he won the Battle of Souto Redondo. On 20 December 1833, he became a supreme commander of the Miguelite army, but when he lost the

Battle of Almoster A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

on 18 February 1834, he was relieved of command and replaced by general

José António Azevedo e Lemos José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

. After the war ended, he was dismissed from the army in 1834 and retreated from public life in his native Guarda. Aged 73, he took up arms once more during the

Patuleia The Patuleia, Guerra da Patuleia, or Little Civil War was a civil war in Portugal, so called to distinguish it from the 'great' civil war between Dom Pedro and Dom Miguel that ended in 1834. The Patuleia occurred after the Revolution of Maria ...

in 1846–1847. He died in 1852.

Sources

Arqnet Póvoas (Álvaro Xavier da Fonseca Coutinho).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Póvoas, Álvaro Xavier da Fonseca Coutinho e 1773 births 1852 deaths Portuguese soldiers Portuguese nobility Military personnel of the Liberal Wars 18th-century Portuguese people 19th-century Portuguese people People from Guarda, Portugal Portuguese military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars