Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/388

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302
SA
SAAVEDRA

S

SA, Estacio de (sah), Portuguese soldier. IP. in Alentejo about 1530 ; d. in Rio Janeiro, 20 Feb., 1567. He was a nephew of Men de Saa (q. v.). During the struggle between the French and Por- tuguese in Brazil the Portuguese government sent Estacio de Sa, with two galleons but few soldiers, to expel the invaders. He arrived at Bahia in 1564, and, after waiting several months to organ- ize a sufficient force, left in 1565 for Rio Janeiro, but, on examining the fortifications, became con- vinced of his inferiority. He then sailed for Santos, where he remained one year organizing militia and awaiting re-enforcements, and in January, 1566, sailed again for the Bay of Rio Janeiro. On 1 March he came to anchor at the bar and landed his force, fortifying himself between the Pao d'As- sucar and the Morro Sao Joao, where he laid the foundations of the future city of Rio Janeiro. The governor-general, being informed by Jesuits of the critical condition of his nephew, sent an expedition to his aid. Estacio de Sa began operations imme- diately by attacking the fortifications, which were taken after an obstinate battle, in which Sa was wounded. The French were completely routed and obliged to retire in their ships to Europe, but Sa died a few days afterward of his wound, and was buried in the church of Sao Sebastian, on the hill afterward called Morro do Castello.


SA, Salvador Correa de. Brazilian governor, b. in Rio Janeiro in 1594; d. in Lisbon, 1 Jan., 1688. He was a grandson of the first governor of Rio Janeiro after its separation from Bahia in 1573, and his father, Martim de Sa, also held that office after it became again a dependency of the general government of Bahia till 1608. Young Salvador entered the public service in 1612, protecting a con- voy of thirty vessels from Pernambuco to Europe against Dutch privateers. lie was afterward sent to Brazil to prepare an auxiliary force of 500 men and three armed ships to assist the fleet that had been sent under Padrique de Toledo against the Dutch invaders, and, after saving the province of Espirito Santo from an attack by Dutch corsairs, he aided in the recapture of Bahia in 1625. lie re- turned in 1632 to Lisbon, but was sent in Hi:! t as admiral of the south to suppress a rebellion of the Calequi Indians in Paraguay, whom he defeated in li'po.V He was appointed captain-general of Rio Janeiro in 1637. and as such recognized in 1640 the Prince of Braganza as King John IV., and, when the Je-uits of the south refused to acknowledge the new sovereign, Sa left his uncle, Duarte Correa, in charge of the government, and sailed on 29 March l"i Silo Paulo, where he soon restored order. In March, 1644, he was appointed general of the fleet, to protect the Brazilian coast against the Dutch, and co-operated with Joao Fernandes Vieira in the attack on Recife. He was appointed in 1645 t" establish a government in Angola, and sailed on 12 May for Africa, finishing the conquest of the Congo kingdom by the capitulation of Fort Sao Miguel, 15 Aug., 1648. In 1658 he was again ap- pointed governor of southern Brazil, and took charge; in September, 1659, but, after quelling an in- surrection in Nietheroy in October, 1660, he handed the government over to his successor in June of that year, and sailed for Lisbon. When Alpl 30 VI. v.-is deposed, 23 Sept., 1667, Sa, whose son had been the favorite of that monarch, was banished to Africa for ten years; but, resolving to finish his days in a Jesuit convent, he obtained, by the in- llui'iico of the general of the order, permission to live in retirement in his palace of Lisbp.n, where he died nearly a centenarian.


SA, Simao Pereira de, Brazilian author, b. in Rio Janeiro in 1701 ; d. there about 1769. He studied in the Jesuit college, and was afterward admitted into the order. He was graduated in theology and canonical law at Coimbra university, and by his learning became one of the most cele- brated members of his order. He wrote much, and among the few of his productions that have been preserved are " Ensaio topographico e militar sobre a Colonia do Sacramento" (Rio Janeiro, ITl'pO). and " Descripcao chronologica da diocese de Rio Janeiro" (1765).


SAAVEDRA, Cornelio (sah-vay-drah). Argen- tine soldier, b. in Potosi, Bolivia, in 1760; d. in Buenos Ayres in 1829. In 1767 his family removed to Buenos Ayres, where he obtained his education. He filled different posts under the Spanish govern- ment, and on 6 Sept., 1806, was appointed chief of a battalion. When Montevideo was taken by the English troops, 2 Feb., 1807, Liniers marched'with a division of 2,500 volunteers to protect the city, and Saavedra took part in the expedition at the head of 600 patricians. He took possession of all the arms and ammunition of Colonia, and carried them to Buenos Ayres. On 5 July, 1807, he took an active part in the reconquest of the latter city, at the head of his battalion. On 25 May, 1810, after the revolution, of which he was one of the chiefs, he was appointed president of the govern- ing junta. Against the advice of Mariano Moreno he admitted the deputies of the interior prov- inces into the junta in December, 1810, and by t Ins and other measures caused discontent, and when the patriotic army under Belgrano was defeated, 20 June, 1811, at Huaqui, Saavedra left for upper Peru to take command of the army. On 23 Sept. the revolution that overthrew the junta took place, and Saavedra was ordered to deliver the forces under his command to Gen. Pueyrredon. In 1M4 he was accused of being the leader of the mutiny of 5 April, 1811, took refuge in Chili, and was ex- eluiled from the amnesty that was granted after- ward. When, in 1816, the congress of Tucuman was established, he presented himself for trial, and was acquitted and occupied his former place, When Balcarce passed to the army of San Martin in 1817, Saavedra was appointed his successor as chief of staff, which place he occupied till 1818. He swerved in the Argentine army till 1S21, when he retired with his family to a country-seat.


SAAVEDRA, Hernando Arias de, Spanish soldier, b. in Asuncion, Paraguay, in 1556; d. there about 1625. He was a son of one of the officers that accompanied Cabeza de Vaca. and at an early age entered a military career, taking part in many engagements against the Indians. For his services he was made governor of Asuncion, which post he held three different times, being the first natnc 1" obtain such an office. In one of his expeditions he advanced 200 leagues to the soul]) of Buenos Ayres, and was taken prisoner by the Indians, but escaped and returned to Asuncion. Afterward he invaded the Chaco. and explored the borders of Parana and Uruguay rivers. He gamed nio-l renown I'v the two reforms that he promoted, of which the first was the suppression ( ,f the cucomieihla^ i.r system "t 1 personal slavery, which would have resulted in tin' destruction of the native race.