Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/52

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CUNHA BARBOSA
CURANTEO

moved toward the fortress of Puchanqui, defeated and killed Maj. Aranda and part of his troops that had left the place to prevent her from advanc- ing. But she failed to take the fortress, and was obliged to go into winter quarters near the city of Villarrica, which her warriors kept besieged until, early in 1591, its governor came out with a large number of men. She commanded her forces dur- ing several attacks, and did not leave the field until the Spanish artillery had decimated her ranks. After this campaign she retired to private life. Cunequeo always went on horseback among her officers, fought like the bravest of her war- riors, and on several occasions killed Spanish soldiers with her own hands. Ercilla, the author of " La Araueana," devoted many pages of his great epic to a description of her prowess.


CUNHA BARBOSA, Janiuirio da (koon -yah bar-bo'-sa), Brazilian statesman, b. 10 July, 1780 ; d. 23 Feb., 1846. lie was chaplain of John VI., and afterward professor of moral philosophy. On 15 Dec, 1821, he established, in conjunction with Ledo, the " Reverbero Constitucional," a political journal, at Rio de Janeiro, favoring Brazilian in- dependence. After this had been declared, Cunha was arrested, 7 Dec, 1822, and banished to France. To repair this injustice, he was appointed in 1824 canon of the imperial chapel. In 182G he became a member of the assemby. In concert with Gen. Cunha, he founded the Historical and geographical society of Rio de Janeiro. He also edited a politi- cal journal favorable to the government, and an agricultural paper, and was imperial historiogra- pher and director of the national library. He left a small volume of poems.


CUNHA DE AZEVEDO COUTINHO, José Joaquim da (koon'-ya day ah-thay-vay'-do koo-teen'-yo), Brazilian bishop, b. in San Salvador do Campo dos Goitacazes, Lisbon, 8 Sept., 1743; d. in Rio Janeiro, 12 Sept., 1821. After studying in the capital of his province, he finished his education at Coimbra, Portugal, and returned to his country. In 1784 he went to Lisbon as deputy to the In- quisition, and was appointed bishop of Pernam- buco in 1794, where he at once devoted himself to benevolent work, specially the building of hospi- tals, also founding a seminary for the instruction of priests, for which Queen Mary of Portugal gave him several estates that had belonged to the Jes- uits. He was appointed bishop of Braganza in 1802, archbishop of Braga in 1806, and bishop of Beja in 1817, and, although he declined to be re- moved from his diocese, he was obliged to serve as president of the board in charge of monastic affairs. He died soon after his election as dep- uty to the Portuguese cortes. He had distin- guished himself by his patriotism during the Na- poleonic wars, and left works highly esteemed in Brazil and Portugal, which have been translated into several languages.


CUNHA MATTOS, Raimundo Jose da (koon - yah-mah'-tos), Brazilian soldier, b. in Faro, prov- ince of Algarve, 2 Nov., 1776'; d. in March, 1840. He entered the Portuguese army in 1790, served three years in the south of France, and eighteen years in Africa, then served in Rio Janeiro, and was afterward acting governor of St. Thomas. In 1817 he returned to Brazil, commanded the artil- lery of Pernambuco, and subsequently governed the province of Goyaz. He published a work on the interior of Brazil (1836). Removing to Rio de Janeiro in 1826, he was elected to the legislature, directed the military academy of Rio in 1832, and was made commander-in-chief of the Brazilian army. He was secretary for life of the Industrial aid society, and one of the founders, and for sev- eral years vice-president, of the Historical society of Rio de Janeiro.


CUNNINGHAM, Robert, loyalist, b. in Ire- land about 1739 ; d. in Nassau, W. I., in 1813. In 1769 he settled in the district of Ninety-Six (now • Abbeville), S. C, and soon became a judge. He in- curred the enmity of the whigs by his disapproval of their action in sustaining the cause of Massa- chusetts and in the adoption of the non-impor- tation act. In 1775 he was imprisoned in Charles- ton, and after his release joined the British forces. During 1780 he was commissioned brigadier-gen- eral, and placed in command of a garrison in South Carolina. In the following year he served in the field against Gen. Thomas Sumter. His estate was confiscated in 1782. After the war he petitioned to be allowed to remain in South Caro- lina, but this request was refused, and he removed to the Bahamas and settled in Nassau. The British government made him a liberal allowance for his losses, and gave him an annuity.


CUNNINGHAM, William, provost-marshal, b. in Dublin ; d. in London, 10 Aug., 1791. From his confession, published at* the time of his death, he appears to have been the son of a trumpeter in the dragoons, and to have been born in the bar- racks in Dublin. He arrived in New York in 1774, and was occupied for a time in the breaking of horses and in giving riding-lessons. His course at the beginning of the Revolutionary war rendered him obnoxious to the whigs in New York, and he fled to Boston, where, continuing hi.s opposition to the popular movement, he attracted the attention of Gen. Thomas Gage, who appointed him provost- marshal to the royal army. In 1778 he had charge of the prisons in Pliiladelphia, and later of those in New York ; and in both places his cruel- ties to the prisoners became notorious. The de- tails of his crimes are horrible. Of the prisoners under his care, 2,000 were starved to death, and more than 250 were hanged without trial. At the close of the war he went to England, and settled in Wales. Later he resided in London, where he became exceedingly dissipated, and, in order to re- lieve his embarrassment, mortgaged his half-pay, and subsequently forged a draft. For this offence he was convicted and executed.


CURANTEO (coo-ran-tay'-o), Araucanian cacique of the Promanco tribe, b. in Puren, Chili, in 1726 ; d. there in 1785. He became famous among the Araucanian warriors, and they appointed him their generalissimo to direct the war against the Span- iards in 1766. He began operations by destroying several towns and settlements of the whites. At the head of 8.000 Indians, he fought a battle at Tucapel (1767) against the Spanish Gen. Gonzala, who, after a long and tenacious resistance, was forced to retreat to Chilhin, and subsequently be- sieged by Curanteo. In 1768 he fought and won another important battle in the Arauco valley, but lost a leg in the struggle. In a fierce battle near Angol with Gen. Ponte, governor of Chili, in 1768, he was badly defeated. From that time until 1772 Curanteo had many encounters with the Spaniards, his principal purpose being to damage the settlers rather than obtain victories in the field. In April, 1773, he was again defeated near Quillero in one of the most terrible battles known in the history of Chili. In 1780 he won a battle against the Spanish army, whose commander signed, a treaty of peace granting the Araucanian chief what he demanded. Curanteo retired to his native town, and, although his body was covered with wounds, attained an advanced age.