THE ENEMY STILL HELD IN CHECK—NECESSITY OF
RETREAT—PREPARATION—COMMENCEMENT—PROGRESS—RESULT
—ARRIVAL AT THE TOWN OF LAGES.
In the meantime, strong in my position, and having now a band of
seventy-three, I fought the enemy with advantage. As the Imperialists
were destitute of infantry, they had little desire to engage with troops
of that arm. Notwithstanding the advantageous ground possessed by us,
however, it was necessary to seek a more secure cover, to prevent the
victorious enemy from bringing together all their forces, and to avoid
giving time for the courage of the defenders to cool. I observed a
cappon, or island of trees, which was in sight, at about the distance of
a mile, and undertook a retreat in that direction. The enemy manœuvred
to interrupt us, and every few moments charged with the advantage of the
ground. In such circumstances it proved highly important that my
officers were armed with carbines; and, as they were all good soldiers,
they repelled the enemy's charges with unshaken firmness. Thus the
remains of our conquered party reached the cappon, where the enemy
offered us no further molestation; while we penetrated a little distance
into the wood, chose a cleared spot, and collecting together, with our
arms ready, waited for night. The enemy were heard calling out to us
"Surrender! Surrender!" We kept silence and returned no answer.
Night at length came on; and I made preparations for departure. A few
wounded men, who were of our number, presented the greatest difficulty.
Among them was Major Peixotto, who had received a ball in his foot. Near
ten o'clock in the evening, when the wounded had been accommodated in
the best manner possible, the march was commenced, by proceeding along
the skirts of the cappon, which we left on the right, endeavoring to
find the borders of the Matto, or forest. That forest, perhaps the
largest in the world, extends from the alluvial regions of the Plata to
those of the Amazon, crowning the crest of the Serra de Espinasso, which
forms the backbone of Brazil, over an extent of thirty-four degrees of
latitude. The number of degrees of longitude which it embraces we are
unable to give. In the midst of that immense wilderness are situated the
three departments of Cima da Serra, Vaccaria and Lages, which are
surrounded by the forests. The scene of our dangerous operations was now
Caritibani, in the last named department, a place which derived its name
from Caritiba, a place in the province of Santa Caterina, (St.
Catharine,) from which the inhabitants came.
In order to reach the forest, the troops moved along the side of the
_cappon_, intending to take the course towards Lages, to find the corps
of Aranha, from which they were unfortunately separated. One of those
things occurred on their issuing from the wood, which prove how far man
is the child of circumstances, and what effect may be produced by a
panic, even on the most intrepid soldiers. The Republicans were marching
in silence; and, as may be supposed, prepared for action, in case the
enemy should appear in an attitude of opposing them. A horse, which
happened to be in that part of the wood, on hearing the little noise
made by the cautious soldiers in their march, took to flight, and ran
away. One voice was heard to exclaim: "The enemy!" and, in a moment, all
those seventy-three men, who had so lately most valiantly fought five
hundred, rushed at once into the thickest of the forest; and, so far did
they become separated and scattered, in that moment of fear, that it
would have taken many hours to collect them again; and, as it was
impossible for us to wait long enough, several were left behind and
lost. The others pursued their way with me; and when daybreak appeared,
we found ourselves on the long wished-for border of the forest, and
issuing in the direction of Lages. The next day the enemy approached,
but did not reach us. The day of battle was terrible, for its labors,
dangers and troubles; but we fought, and that idea overpowered every
other; but in the forest, where meat, the accustomed food, was in fact
wanting, and where no other kind could be obtained, we remained four
days without finding anything to eat except the roots of plants. The
fatigue we endured was indescribable, in following a retreat where there
were no paths, and where nature incomparably prolific and robust, had
reared up colossal pines in the immense woods, and the gigantic taquara,
(a kind of cane,) which formed insuperable barriers in many places. Many
of the company were discouraged, some deserted, and it was a great task,
first to collect them, and then to convince them that it was better to
accompany the corps than to desert it, though they might absent
themselves, if they preferred it, as they should be free to do as they
pleased. This manner of proceeding with them proved perfectly
successful. From that moment there was no more desertion; and the hope
of safety began to arise in the hearts of the troops.
On the fifth day after the battle we reached the entrance of the
Piccada, (a narrow path cut through the forest,) where we found a house
and made a halt, killing two oxen. We made two prisoners in the house,
who belonged to the enemy, and who had fought us. We then continued our
way to Lages, which we reached after a day's march through the rain.
The town of Lages, which had made such rejoicing on our arrival as
conquerors, had changed its flag on hearing of our disasters; and some
of the boldest of the inhabitants had established the imperial system.
On our approach they fled; and, as most of them were merchants, numbers
left their stores filled with everything necessary to restore the needy
soldiers; and thus their condition was greatly improved. Terceira wrote
to Aranha, in the mean time, ordering him to concentrate again; as he
had notice at that time of the arrival of Lieutenant Colonel Tartinho,
who had been sent by Bento Manuel in pursuit of the forces of Mello.
------------------------------------------------------------------------