The Death Column () was a military unit in the São Paulo Revolt of 1924, part of the tenentist forces in arms against the president of Brazil, Artur Bernardes. Commanded by João Cabanas, an officer of the Public Force of São Paulo, the column went on campaign on 19 July 1924, fighting loyalist forces in São Paulo and Paraná until the end of April 1925, when its commander left the revolutionary forces. Column members continued to fight as part of the Miguel Costa-Prestes Column. The denomination of "Death Column" was never official, and among the revolutionaries it was called "the battalion" or, after August 1924, the "5th Battalion of Caçadores", subordinated to the 3rd Brigade, commanded by Miguel Costa.
The column initially had 95 men from the Public Force (the "state army") of São Paulo, growing over time by incorporating civilian volunteers and prisoners. Its first mission was on the Mogiana Railway, as part of the campaigns in the interior of São Paulo. Loyalists commanded by general Martins Pereira threatened to take Campinas and cut off access to the interior by the rebels in the city of São Paulo. Applying the principles of psychological and maneuver warfare, Cabanas conquered Mogi Mirim and defeated numerically superior forces from the Public Force of Minas Gerais and irregular "patriotic battalions".
After the withdrawal of the bulk of the revolutionaries from the capital of São Paulo, on 28 July, the "Death Column" was tasked with defending the rear of the rebels as they traveled along the Sorocabana Railway to the Paraná River. On the way, the column sabotaged the railway infrastructure to slow the loyalist advance and had several skirmishes with the government troops that followed at its heels. At the end of October, with the revolutionaries settled in the extreme west of Paraná, the Death Column defended their flank on the Piquiri River. Its greatest achievement in the Paraná campaign was in Formigas, on 21 January 1925, when it opened a path through the forest and launched a surprise attack on the rear of the loyalists who were attacking Catanduvas. The column was not destroyed by the final loyalist offensive against Catanduvas on 27 March, and it took part in the revolutionaries' retreat to Paraguay; however, João Cabanas was already too ill to continue and left command, an act execrated by his comrades.
The column's achievements had great repercussions in the popular imagination and in the government press, creating a myth around Cabanas. A charismatic leader for his troops, righteous with his supporters and intimidating for his enemies, Cabanas was characterized by government supporters as a truculent leader, responsible for violence against the population and public property. While in exile, he published the book A coluna da morte sob o comando do tenente Cabanas, in which he reacted to the accusations and presented a positive self image of a righteous and revolutionary leader. His importance as a military leader was recognized by loyalists in his day and later historians.
Organization
The "Death Column" was one of three forces sent to the interior of São Paulo by the tenentist revolutionaries, commanded by general Isidoro Dias Lopes, who controlled part of the city of São Paulo. While urban warfare was waged against the loyalists, more loyalist reinforcements converged on São Paulo from Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Paraná, Mato Grosso and Minas Gerais. Inland, the revolutionaries already controlled Itu, Jundiaí, Campinas and Rio Claro on 9 July. Throughout the month, they consolidated their strength in the São Paulo-Campinas-Sorocaba triangle and extended to Bauru and Araraquara. The approach of several loyalist forces in the interior threatened to besiege and lock the revolutionaries in the capital of São Paulo, putting an end to the revolution. Thus, between 17 and 19 July, army captain Otávio Muniz Guimarães was sent to the Paulista and Noroeste railways; the captain of the Public Force Francisco Bastos to the Sorocabana Railway and Public Force lieutenant João Cabanas to the Mogiana Railway.
This force initially consisted of soldiers from the Public Force of São Paulo, recognized at the time for their military professionalism, obtained through French training. There were only infantry and a small artillery component. Over time, the number grew due to the incorporation of civilians and prisoners. Cabanas called both his troops and the irregular forces of his opponents, the "patriotic battalions" of the Republican Party of São Paulo, "bandits". There was only one regular officer, and even some of the corporals and sergeants were amateurs. Cabanas started the campaign as a lieutenant and, by the end of the operations in Paraná, he was already a lieutenant colonel within the revolutionary forces.
Under Cabanas' command, the daily discipline of the barracks was relaxed, but indiscipline in operations was strictly punished. The bugle ringtones were based on Brazilian folk music. The insignia (a skull on a red flag) and proper name ("Death Column") reinforced the troop's morale. "Death Column" was never a formal name of the organization. Originally Cabanas referred to his strength among the revolutionaries as "the battalion".
Operations
Mogiana campaign
Forces in the region
The force of João Cabanas left São Paulo at 04:00 on 19 July, numbering 95 men, a piece of mountain artillery, three machine guns and four submachine guns. Their objective was to defeat the loyalist forces of general Martins Pereira in Mogi Mirim, from where they planned to attack Campinas. The strategy outlined by Euclides Figueiredo, of the cabinet of the Ministry of War, was a loyalist flank movement, advancing through Mogi and Campinas to cut the revolutionary fleeing path.
Initially, the revolutionaries accredited having barely 300 men in Mogi Mirim, recruited by local politicians, but according to general Abílio de Noronha, there were actually 1,200 men. According to the sources from the perspective of the Public Force of São Paulo, the loyalist regular forces did not have more than 800 men, made up of the majority of the 5th Infantry Battalion (BI) of the Public Force of Minas Gerais, with minor contributions from batteries of the 2nd Regiment of Mounted Artillery and a platoon (some dozens of men) of the 1st Regiment of Divisional Cavalry, in addition to loyalists from the Public Force of São Paulo, belonging to the 4th Battalion. The 1,200 men figure would include the patriots and policemen in the Pirassununga-Ribeirão Preto axis.
Upon arriving in Campinas the same day, lieutenant Cabanas was informed that the loyalist vanguard, the 5th BI, under the command of major Amaral, had 800 men in Mogi, Jaguariúna and Itapira. However, according to Paulo René de Andrade, who wrote from the point of view of the Public Force of Minas Gerais, the Minas Gerais troops present at that moment were the Amaral contingent or battalion, under the command of captain (commissioned in major) Octavio Campos do Amaral. It was an improvised unit, still poorly armed, of police detachments from the south of Minas Gerais. The 5th BI was commanded by lieutenant colonel Joviano de Mello, had a staff of 350 men (two companies and a machine gun section) and was not yet in the region, only reaching Ouro Fino on the 21st; then, by order of general Martins, the 2nd Company, with 120 men, was left behind in Ouro Fino and the battalion entered São Paulo without personnel. Its ammunition was negligible, only ten packs of cartridges.
Cabanas reported that major Amaral sent a telegram to the mayor of Campinas threatening to cut off his ears for his pro-tenentist stance. To compensate for its numerical disadvantage, Cabanas sought to deceive the loyalists, convincing them that a strong revolutionary brigade would advance towards Mogi Mirim. He telephoned Ribeirão Preto, declaring that he had a thousand men and six pieces of artillery at his disposal and summoning the local garrison to join him. He then sent similar messages to other locations and spread the word that his small column was just one of several revolutionary forces in the region. In Campinas, he destroyed the telegraph and telephone lines to the north and threatened to shoot the employees of the Mogiana Company if they disobeyed.
Battle of Mogi Mirim
The railroad was broken in Campinas. The revolutionaries went in 20 trucks to Jaguariúna, disembarked at night and marched for three kilometers at dawn on 20 July. In Cabanas' account, a small number of Minas Gerais troops in the city was defeated, with four soldiers killed and 16 prisoners, at the cost of two dead and five wounded for the revolutionaries. The loyalists counter-attacked on the Atibaia River, without success. In his account, Cabanas praised the bravery of the loyalist combatants, but emphasized even more the virtue of his side. From Jaguariúna, the revolutionaries changed direction to the east and went by train, in secret, to Amparo. There was a detachment of the Public Force in the city, which offered no resistance and was forcibly incorporated into the column.
At night, the column turned north and went on foot to Itapira, a journey of almost 30 kilometers. To keep the displacement secret, all civilians in the path were incorporated into the column. Cabanas divided the column into three platoons and attacked at 10:00 on 21 July, with the loyalists still imagining that the attack would be on Mogi Mirim. The strongest loyalist resistance, in the Public Prison, was defeated. São Paulo sources then recorded that a force of 400 loyalists was advancing from the east, coming from Jacutinga; thus, the revolutionary column was threatened on both sides (with Mogi Mirim to the west). This loyalist advance was defeated in an ambush east of Itapira on 23 July.
According to Minas Gerais sources, the 5th BI was still in Eleutério, on its way to Itapira, when the revolutionaries (supposedly 500 men) conquered the city. The battalion landed in Rio do Peixe and, two kilometers from the city, realized that an attack would be unfeasible. At midnight the Minas Gerais troops received the order to retreat to Sapucaí, and from there to Jacutinga, from where they were dispersed before the 23rd: 120 men from the 1st Company in Sapucaí and then Barão de Ataliba, 50 in Pinhal and 60 (including the command of the battalion and the machine gun section) in Jacutinga. During this period colonel Monte arrived in Jacutinga with the army's cavalry platoon and artillery battery. For Paulo René de Andrade, this dispersion of personnel made the 5th BI vulnerable and ineffective, and the continuous movements prevent an accurate picture of events.
From Itapira, João Cabanas ordered the sabotage of tracks and bridges and spread the rumor that he would attack Mogi Mirim from the east, leading general Martins to entrench that direction. The revolutionaries turned around and, in a journey of 90 kilometers by various means, returned to Amparo and Jaguariúna to attack Mogi Mirim from the south. The maneuver was risky and would be crushed if general Martins realized the deception. But the loyalists were taken by surprise and, believing themselves to be under attack from two directions (south and east), abandoned the city. This victory resulted in the addition of 60 loyalist soldiers to the column, which now numbered 180 men, equivalent to a company.
Ribeirão Preto