José da Silva Pais (25 October 1679 in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

– 14 November 1760 in Lisbon) 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 ...

soldier,

military engineer Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics b ...

and colonial administrator in the Portuguese

colony of Brazil Colonial Brazil ( pt, Brasil Colonial) comprises the period from 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to a kingdom in union with Portugal as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Dur ...

. He was involved in diverse situations in the disputed territories between the Portuguese and Spanish in the territory that today is the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

region in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. He organized the support for the

Sacramento Colony , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = Basilica del Sanctísimo Sacramento.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = Basílica del Santísimo Sacramento , pushpin_map = Uruguay , subdivisio ...

during the

Spanish–Portuguese War (1735–1737) The Spanish-Portuguese War between 1735-1737 was fought over the Banda Oriental, roughly present-day Uruguay. At that time, this part of South-America was sparsely populated and was on the border between Portuguese Colonial Brazil and the Spanis ...

, and went head-to-head with his Spanish rival, Don Pedro de Ceballos Cortez y Calderón. For the purpose of maintaining the southern territory in the hands of Portugal, Pais founded the city of

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

in 1737 and projected and built the Fort ''Jesus Maria e José''. That area was the object of the Spanish incursions commanded by Pedro de Ceballos, who invaded it twice. On

Santa Catarina Island Santa Catarina Island ( pt, Ilha de Santa Catarina) is an island in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, located off the southern coast. It is home to the state capital, Florianópolis. Location Santa Catarina Island is approximately 54 km ...

, when it was in Spanish hands under the authority of Pedro de Ceballos, the Brigadier General Pais invaded and took the island for Portugal, placing himself as governor. He remained governor of the captaincy of Santa Catarina from 1739 until 1745. He planned the construction of forts which would constitute the defense of Santa Catarina Island: in the north, ''Fortaleza de São José da Ponta Grossa'', ''Fortaleza de Santa Cruz de Anhatomirim'', and ''Fortaleza de Santo António de Ratones''; and in the south: ''Fortaleza de Nossa Senhora da Conceição de Araçatuba''.

External links

*
Uruguaiana website
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pais, Jose da Silva 1679 births 1760 deaths People from Lisbon Portuguese colonization of the Americas Portuguese colonial governors and administrators 17th-century Portuguese military personnel Portuguese city founders 18th-century Portuguese military personnel Brazilian city founders

Further reading

External links