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The Count of Feira | |
|---|---|
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| Born | (1769-11-01)1 November 1769 |
| Died | 6 November 1827(1827-11-06) (aged 58) |
| Allegiance |  Portugal |
| Service years | 1785–1820 |
| Rank | Lieutenant-General |
| Conflicts | War of the Pyrenees War of the Oranges Peninsular War |
| Signature |  |
D.Miguel Pereira Forjaz Coutinho, 10th Count of Feira (1 November 1769 – 6 November 1827) was a Portuguese general and War Secretary in thePeninsular War.[1]
He was the son of Diogo Pereira Forjaz Coutinho (born 23 May 1726) and the great grandson of the 9th Count of Feira,D. Álvaro Pereira Forjaz Coutinho (c.1656–?) and his wife Inês Antónia Barreto de Sá (c.1670–?). He was married twice, to Joana Eulália Freire de Andrade and to Maria do Patrocínio Freire de Andrade e Castro who died at childbirth.
He entered the army in 1785, as a cadet in the Regiment ofPeniche, in which he met many members of his family. In 1787 he was promoted to alferes (lieutenant) and served as chief of staff to the Count of Oeynhausen, inspector-general of the Infantry, fighting alongside him at Porcalhota in 1790. He was promoted to captain in 1791 and to major (sargento-mor) in 1793, and was made adjutant toGeneral Forbes, commander of the Portuguese division thenfighting in Roussillon andCatalonia.
Having been promoted to colonel, in March 1800 he was appointed governor and captain-general ofPará, but did not set out forBrazil. In theWar of the Oranges, the following year, he served as quartermaster-general (chief of staff) to General Forbes in theAlentejo. In 1806 he was promoted to brigadier and appointed inspector general of the army. On theroyal family's flight to the Portuguese colony of Brazil in 1807, he became deputy secretary of the government, to replace, if necessary, theCount of Sampaio.
When GeneralJunot took over the government of the country, Forjaz withdrew to the provinces. AtCoimbra he began the revolt against the French and went toPorto, where he reorganised the army, under the orders of his cousinBernardim Freire de Andrade. Accompanying Andrade as adjutant general of the army of the north on their march on Porto-Lisbon, Pereira was made secretary of the Regency, after theConvention of Sintra, and was given the war and foreign affairs portfolios. He remained the Regency's executive official for military matters until 1820.[2] In this capacity he took part in the reorganisation of the army underWilliam Carr Beresford (who had been appointed commander-in-chief by the Portuguese Royal family), completing the implementation of the 1803 proposals in 1807. One of his initiatives was the creation, towards the end of 1808, of six new battalions ofCaçadores in the north of the country[2] and supporting Beresford in adapting the Portuguese Army to British training and tactics to better help theAnglo-Portuguese Army's campaign during the Peninsular War. In 1815 he successfully opposed sending a Portuguese division to fight in the Low Countries against Napoleon during theHundred Days.
With theLiberal Revolution of 1820 he left his post as regent and retired from public life. In 1826 he received the title of Count of Feira and was elected a Peer of the Kingdom on the occasion of the giving of the Constitutional Charter byPeter IV of Portugal.
| Rank | Unit | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Member | Council of War | 24 July 1825 |
| Lieutenant General | 1812 | |
| Governor | Kingdom | 2 January 1809 |
| Secretary of the Regency | Affairs of the Navy and War | 2 January 1809 |
| Major General | 1808 | |
| Inspector General | Militias | 9 December 1806 |
| Brigadier | 9 December 1806 | |
| Interim Inspector General | Militias | 11 August 1803 |
| Colonel | 5 June 1798 | |
| Lieutenant Colonel | 22nd Infantry Regiment of Serpa | 17 December 1795 |
| Captain | 10th Company, 13th Infantry Regiment of Peniche | 22 June 1793 |
| Captaingraduated | 13th Infantry Regiment of Peniche | 24 September 1791 |
| Adjutant | 13th Infantry Regiment of Peniche | 27 February 1790 |
| Ensign | 5th Company, 13th Infantry Regiment of Peniche | 27 April 1787 |
| Cadet | 13th Infantry Regiment of Peniche | 1785 |
