Émile Mallet | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1801-06-10)10 June 1801 |
| Died | 2 January 1886(1886-01-02) (aged 84) |
| Resting place | Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil |
| Parents |
|
| Awards | |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Brazil |
| Branch/service | Imperial Brazilian Army Guarda Nacional [pt] |
| Years of service | 1822–1831 1837–1845 1851–1885 |
| Rank |  Marshal |
| Commands |
|
| Battles/wars | |
Émile Louis Mallet, Baron of Itapevi (10 June 1801 – 2 January 1886), was aFrench-BrazilianMarshal. He is the patron ofartillery in theBrazilian Army, theDay of the Artillery being celebrated on his birthday.
Émile Mallet was born inDunkirk, France, in 1801, to Jean Antoine Mallet and Julie-Marie-Joseph Mallet. Jean Antoine had come to the Americas as a young man, becoming a landowner in theFrench West Indies. In 1804, he lost his holdings inHispaniola due to theHaitian Revolution; with the French wars with the United Kingdom, he lost investments he had in merchant ships.[2]
A man of great physical bearing, at 2.01 m tall and weighing 120 kg, Émile Mallet came to Brazil with his family at age 17 in 1818, initially living inRio de Janeiro. In the city, he was invited to join theImperial Brazilian Army by EmperorPedro I;[3] he enrolled into theImperial Royal Military Academy in 1823, where he joined the Artillery officer course.[4] Previously, while in France, Mallet had concluded one year of studies in mathematics in the prestigiousSaint-Cyr military academy, but he dropped out to accompany his family.[5]
As a Second Lieutenant, Mallet commanded a battery ofhorse artillery in theCisplatine War (the 1st Battery, 1st Mounted Artillery Corps), which lasted between 1825 and 1828. His first action was in theBattle of Ituzaingó, where he was promoted to captain, having commanded other gun crews after their officers were wounded.[4][6] After the war's end, he married Joaquina Castorina de Medeiros Mallet inBagé in Southern Brazil; she was the daughter of a wealthy landowner, and a close relative ofManuel Luís Osório, a friend and companion to Mallet and, in the future, also a Marshal in the Army.
Mallet was dismissed from service in 1831, due to not being natively Brazilian, and took up farming in Bagé. In 1837, however, as theRagamuffin War raged, he was called back to service under GeneralAntônio Elzeário de Miranda e Brito [pt], as commander of a horse-drawn gun battery.[4] He was later in charge of important fortifications inRio Grande,[7] and, afterwards, as Major of the National Guard, Chief of Staff forBento Manuel Ribeiro. After peace was made with the signing of the Treaty of Ponche Verde in March 1845, Mallet went back to a rural life.
He rejoined the Army permanently in 1851, during thePlatine War, when he was summoned by the thenCount of Caxias to participate in the Campaign;[7] he would remain in the Army until theUruguayan War and theParaguayan War started, fighting in both conflicts to their conclusion. In the conflict versus Uruguay, he commanded all the artillery in the keySiege of Paysandu.[8] In the last conflict, initially in command of the 1st Horse Artillery Regiment, he had a key role in the victories ofPaso de Patria,Estero Bellaco andTuyutí.
Specifically in Tuyutí, the largest field battle in South American history, his guns were called "revolver cannons",[7] both for their accuracy and firing speed. Mallet had ordered a deep trench to be stealthily dug in front of his cannons, impeding both infantry and cavalry charges against his position. He is famously quoted as having said "Eles que venham! Por aqui não passam!" [They may come! Through here they shan't pass!] as the battle started.[9] Thanks to his performance in the battle, he was promoted to Colonel. Afterwards, as commander of the 1st Artillery Brigade, he continued to support allied forces in maneuvers such as thePassage of Humaitá and thePikysyry maneuver, and battles such asAngostura,Ytororó,Avay,Lomas Valentinas,Piribebuy andCampo Grande.[4] In Piribebuy, the killing of prisoners after the battle only stopped due to his orders.[10]
During the final phase of the conflict, theCampaign of the Hills, Mallet was commander-in-chief for the Army's artillery, and promoted to Brigadier. After the war's end, he commanded troops in the border with Uruguay, and then was, briefly, commander of arms inPernambuco,[11] once again being sent to the southern border. In 1884 he was still promoted to Lieutenant General, and, in 1885, to Marshal;[12] he had been ennobled as Baron of Itapevi in 1878.[4] He died in 1886, in Rio de Janeiro, at 84 years old. His body lies in a mausoleum which is maintained by the "Mallet Regiment", as the3rd Self-Propelled Campaign Artillery Group [pt] is called, inSanta Maria inRio Grande do Sul.
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In March 1932 the Army created the Mallet Medal, which is granted to the officer cadets in the Agulhas Negras Military Academy who excel in the firing drills in the artillery officer course.
InParaná, the city ofMallet owes its name to him; he is also mentioned in the city's hymn. InCuritiba, the state's capital, there is a Marechal Mallet street.
InSão Paulo, in the neighborhood ofVila Zelina, there is a street named Marechal Mallet, and in the district ofGuaianases there is a school named after him; in the state ofSão Paulo, in the city ofPraia Grande, there is an Avenue Marechal Mallet, in the same neighborhood whereFort Itaipu [pt] is and where the 6th Coastal Motorized Artillery Group was based until 2004; nowadays the2nd Anti-Air Artillery Group [pt] is based there. InCampinas, the Marechal Mallet State School is of great regional importance.
InFortaleza, capital ofCeará, there is a square named after him.
His battle sword is in a museum inSão Gabriel, where he lived for many years. One of the main thoroughfares of the city is named General Mallet. Also in Rio Grande do Sul, his dress sword is in a museum dedicated to him in Santa Maria. InCaxias do Sul, there is a General Mallet street; inSantana do Livramento, there is a Marechal Mallet avenue.
| Insignia | Rank | Date | Component |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 1st Cadet | 13 November 1822 | Imperial Brazilian Army |
| 2nd Lieutenant | 12 October 1823 | Imperial Brazilian Army |
 | 1st Lieutenant | 17 February 1825 | Imperial Brazilian Army |
 | Captain | 12 October 1827 | Imperial Brazilian Army |
| Captain | 29 April 1831 | Imperial Brazilian Army, retired |
 | Major | 1837 | Guarda Nacional [pt] |
| Captain | 1845 | Imperial Brazilian Army, retired |
| Captain | 20 September 1851 | Imperial Brazilian Army |
 | Major | 2 December 1855 | Imperial Brazilian Army |
 | Lieutenant Colonel | 28 November 1863 (brevet) 22 January 1866 (permanent) | Imperial Brazilian Army |
 | Colonel | 20 August 1866 | Imperial Brazilian Army |
 | Brigadier | 14 July 1869 | Imperial Brazilian Army |
 | Field Marshal | 18 January 1879 | Imperial Brazilian Army |
 | Lieutenant General (temporary) | 11 October 1884 | Imperial Brazilian Army |
| Lieutenant General | 30 May 1885 | Imperial Brazilian Army, retired |
| Marshal | 31 December 1885 | Imperial Brazilian Army, retired |
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Brigadier Carlos Betbzé de Oliveira Nery | Commander of Arms ofPernambuco 28 March 1872 – 12 June 1872 | Succeeded by Colonel José Maria Ildefonso Jacomé da Veiga Pessoa e Mello |
| Preceded by Field Marshal Salustiano Jeronymo dos Reis | Commander of Arms ofRio Grande do Sul 7 November 1879 – May 1880 | Succeeded by Field Marshal Frederico Augusto de Mesquita |