David Canabarro

David Canabarro was a soldier, rancher and merchant from Rio Grande do Sul. As a young man, he served in the Brazilian army in conflicts against Uruguay and Argentina. Canabarro also owned farms and also acted as a merchant. In his ranch, on the São Gregório farm, the gaucho military had several slaves. One of his enslaved women, Candida accompanied the general in the battles of the Farroupilha revolution, working to serve the commander. From the beginning of the Farroupilha Revolution, Canabarro acted alongside the revolutionary forces with prominence, reaching the rank of commander in chief of the revolutionary troops. At the end of the war, the commanders of the Farroupilha army did not want to allow the black fighters to gain freedom. To prevent this liberation of the black and enslaved participants of the Farroupilha Revolution, General Farrapo, David Canabarro, and General of the Brazilian Army, Duque de Caxias, organized the Massacre dos Porrongos. In that conflict on November 14, 1844, black lancers were sent into an ambush, where many were killed in combat and the rest were arrested and tried by the Brazilian Empire.