Pierre Labatut (18 November 1776 – 4 September 1849), also known as Pedro Labatut, was a French-born Brazilian mercenary and general who fought in the Colombian and Brazilian wars of independence.
Early life
He was born in
Cannes
Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...
on 18 November 1776, to Antoine Labatut and his wife Geneviève Allègre. On 26 October 1807, Labatut's ship was captured by the 40-gun British
frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...
Corfu
Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...
. He was imprisoned and later delivered to Maltese authorities on 25 December 1807, and in March 1808 he was transported to England on board of the
troopship
A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable to land troops directly on shore, typic ...
''Constantine''. On 22 August 1810, he appeared before Douzy, the vice-consul of France in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, and came to request financial assistance to return to France and join its military corps.
Military career
In Colombia
After being nominated
general-in-chief
General-in-chief has been a military rank or title in various armed forces around the world.
France
In France, general-in-chief () was first an informal title for the lieutenant-general commanding over other lieutenant-generals, or even for some ...
Francisco de Miranda
Sebastián Francisco de Miranda y RodrÃguez de Espinoza (28 March 1750 – 14 July 1816), commonly known as Francisco de Miranda (), was a Venezuelan military leader and revolutionary who fought in the American Revolutionary War, the French R ...
started looking for French and British mercenaries, and recruited Pierre Labatut. In September 1812, Labatut took command of the militias of Cartagena. He was later nominated governor of
Santa Marta
Santa Marta (), officially the Distrito TurÃstico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta (), is a port List of cities in Colombia, city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena Department and the fou ...
, however, the population rebelled against him and he was forced to abandon the city. Consequently he was fired of the command and exiled to the
Antilles
The Antilles is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east.
The Antillean islands are divided into two smaller groupings: the Greater An ...
, staying there for three or four years. He did not leave empty-handed, the government of New Grenada awarded him for his services rendered a monthly
pension
A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...
for life of 100 '' pesos'' strong, which was served to him until 1815. He returned to France, where he tried in vain to return to duty, passed through
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
in February 1816,
Haiti
Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...
from September to December, and then he went to Brazil.
In Brazil
Labatut arrived in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
in 1821. On 3 July 1822, he accepted the service offered by Prince Regent
Pedro
Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter.
The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meanin ...
, and he was given the rank of '' general de brigada'', because of the shortage of officers in the newly organized army. On 9 July, he was nominated commander-in-chief of the relief troops to the patriots of
Bahia
Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...
raised against the Portuguese Brigadier Madeira de Melo, and then receive of Emperor Pedro I full powers for this expedition. On 8 November 1822, in Pirajá, the first major battle of the war took place. The soldiers of General Madeira de Melo were completely beaten and fled in disorder. On 22 January 1823, Labatut was nominated military governor of Bahia. From 15 to 20 February, he pursued the Portuguese forces in the city's suburbs and, on 3 May, he launched his troops to attack the city. General Madeira then decides to leave Bahia. His garrison boarded the squadron assembled there to guarantee the withdrawal of the troops.
Victim of
calumny
Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...
, Labatut was frustrated with the final victory of his rivals and accusers. One of them, Colonel Lima e Silva, made his "glorious and solemn" entry into liberated Bahia on 2 July 1823, while Labatut, arrested, waited to go to the
council of war
A council of war Later, his military career at the head of the Brazilian army experienced ups and downs due to the strong and lasting enmity with Emperor Pedro I's Minister of War. He was expelled from the army in February 1829, and returned to France on 11 April 1831, four days after Pedro I's abdication. He obtained permission to go to Europe, from 17 June 1833 until the final of September 1834. Returning to Brazil, he was reinstated there with his former rank of ''general de brigada'', and he also received Brazilian citizenship on this same occasion. After having carried out several actions, he was promoted on 2 December 1839 to '' marechal de campo''. He fought in the
Ragamuffin War
The Ragamuffin War, also known as the Ragamuffin Revolution or Heroic Decade, was a republican uprising that began in southern Brazil, in the province (current state) of Rio Grande do Sul in 1835. The rebels were led by Generals Bento Gonçalv ...
Passo Fundo
Passo Fundo is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the north of the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is named after its river. It's the tenth largest city in the state with an estimated population of 204,722 inhabitants ...
, but was wiped out in September 1840. Labatut left active service in 1842, and died in Salvador on 4 September 1849, in the street Rua dos Barris. The street was later renamed in his honor to Rua General Labatut.