Francisco Barreto de Meneses (1616 – 21 January 1688) was a Portuguese military officer and a colonial administrator in the colonies of São Tomé and Príncipe and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. He was born during the

Iberian Union pt, União Ibérica , conventional_long_name =Iberian Union , common_name = , year_start = 1580 , date_start = 25 August , life_span = 1580–1640 , event_start = War of the Portuguese Succession , event_end = Portuguese Restoration War , ...

and his Portuguese father was a military officer at Peru. A brave soldier, he was chosen to command the colonial troops in the uprising that took place in

Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it List of Brazilian states by population, sev ...

which drove out the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

from the Northeast of Brazil, finishing the 24-year-long Dutch occupation of Brazil. He arrived in the colony of Brazil in 1647, was arrested but managed to escape. With the rank of "Master-of-Field-General" (in

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

''Mestre-de-Campo-General'') he commanded the "Patriot Army" of 25,000 men, composed of four Terços, led by Fernandes Vieira,

André Vidal de Negreiros André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation ...

, Henrique Dias and Filipe Camarão, beating the Dutch in the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

Second Battle of Guararapes The Second Battle of Guararapes was the second and decisive battle in a conflict called the Pernambucana Insurrection, between Dutch and Portuguese forces in February 1649 at Jaboatão dos Guararapes in Pernambuco. The defeat convinced the ...

in 1648 and 1649. For such achievement he was awarded with the title of "Restorer of Pernambuco". He was

Governor of Pernambuco The Governor of the State of Pernambuco is the chief executive of the state of Pernambuco. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Pernambuco's state government. The officeholder is afforded the courtesy title of His/Her Excellency w ...

and later, from 18 June 1657 to 1663, General-Governor of Brazil, succeeding '' Dom'' Jerónimo de Ataíde, 6th Count of Atouguia.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meneses, Francisco Barreto De 1616 births 1688 deaths People of the Dutch–Portuguese War Colonial Brazil Portuguese generals 17th-century Portuguese people