Militão and The Guerreiros: Local Feuds, Long Memories, and Brazil's Struggle to Control the São Francisco River
Between 1842 and 1848, a violent conflict erupted on the banks of the São Francisco River in nordieastern Brazil. Militão Plácido de França Antunes and his faction declared war on the family of Captain Bernardo José Guerreiro. Both families were based in the river town of Pilão Arcado, but the fighting spread to the nearby town of Sento-Sé, and by 1848 violence had engulfed the entire region from Barra to Juazeiro (see Figures 1 and 2). Bands of armed men loyal to Militão roamed the streets and attacked the households of people they considered to be on the side of the Guerreiros. Many people were killed, and others fled the region altogether. The violence ended only after Militão's faction killed Guerreiro's last adult son on August 1, 1848. Although a family feud in the backlands was not unusual, this fight resonated with coastal lawmakers who, in Brazil's Second Empire, had been looking toward conquering the west and consolidating their own vast territory. The reports of wrenching violence in the backlands, unchecked by the rule of law, represented the deepest fears of the coastal elite and made the need to conquer the Brazilian interior even more urgent.