The Division of Royal Volunteers ( pt, Divisão de Voluntários Reais or ''Voluntários Reais do Príncipe'', later ''Divisão de Voluntários Reais do Rei'' following the prince's ascent to kingship) was a detachment of the

Portuguese military The Portuguese Armed Forces ( pt, Forças Armadas) are the military of Portugal. They include the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the other unified bodies and the three service branches: Portuguese Navy, Portuguese Army and Portuguese Air ...

, formed in 1815 and deployed to Rio de Janeiro on 30 March 1816. The unit was commanded by Carlos Frederico Lecor, Viscount of Laguna. The unit was formed on order of then-Prince

Dom João VI , house = Braganza , father = Peter III of Portugal , mother = Maria I of Portugal , birth_date = , birth_place = Queluz Palace, Queluz, Portugal , death_date = , death_place = Bemposta Palace, Lisbon, Portugal , ...

, to consist of 5,000 men, and invaded the Banda Oriental (in modern Uruguay), as part of the Portuguese conquest of the Banda Oriental. The unit occupied the city of

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

on 20 January 1817.

References

Military units and formations of Brazil Military units and formations of Portugal Military units and formations established in 1815 History of Montevideo 1817 in Uruguay 1815 establishments in Portugal {{Brazil-hist-stub