The Cayenne Battery (formally, Historical Cayenne Battery – pt, Bateria Histórica Caiena) of the Brazilian Army is one of three military units that comprise the

Brazilian president The president of Brazil ( pt, Presidente do Brasil), officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil ( pt, Presidente da República Federativa do Brasil) or simply the ''President of the Republic'', is the head of state and head o ...

honor guard A guard of honour ( GB), also honor guard ( US), also ceremonial guard, is a group of people, usually military in nature, appointed to receive or guard a head of state or other dignitaries, the fallen in war, or to attend at state ceremonials, ...

, the others being the 1st Guards Cavalry Regiment ( pt, 1º Regimento de Cavalaria de Guardas – RCG) – "

Independence Dragoons Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the sta ...

" and the Presidential Guard Battalion ( pt, Batalhão da Guarda Presidencial – BGP). "Cayenne Battery" was the name for the Brazilian colonial troops sent by John VI to the

Portuguese conquest of French Guiana The Portuguese conquest of French Guiana, also known as Conquest of Cayenne (Portuguese: ''Conquista de Caiena''), was a military operation against Cayenne, capital of the South American colony of French Guiana, launched in January 1809 in the ...

in 1809. Nowadays, it is part of 32nd Artillery Campaign Group, but falls within the 1st Guards Cavalry Regiment due to the necessity of horses. It uses horse-drawn

cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder duri ...

s and is responsible for

21-gun salute A 21-gun salute is the most commonly recognized of the customary gun salutes that are performed by the firing of cannons or artillery as a military honor. As naval customs evolved, 21 guns came to be fired for heads of state, or in exceptiona ...

s at special ceremonies. Image:Inauguration ceremony of President Lula.jpg, 21-gun salute during the

Brazilian presidential inauguration Brazilian commonly refers to: * Something of, from or relating to Brazil * Brazilian Portuguese, the dialect of the Portuguese language used mostly in Brazil * Brazilians, the people (citizens) of Brazil, or of Brazilian descent Brazilian may also ...

History

In 1808,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

's Royal Family had sought refuge in

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 ...

during the

Napoleonic wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. On June 10, 1808, Dom João VI

declared war A declaration of war is a formal act by which one state announces existing or impending war activity against another. The declaration is a performative speech act (or the signing of a document) by an authorized party of a national government, i ...

on France and sent 470 soldiers to French Guiana to bring support to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

. On January 12, 1809, these troops had conquered the

Cayenne Cayenne (; ; gcr, Kayenn) is the capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic coast. The city's m ...

, capturing Guiana`s governor. The Portuguese maintained a presence in Guiana until 1817. In 1815, Brazil's status was elevated to The

United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves The United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was a pluricontinental monarchy formed by the elevation of the Portuguese colony named State of Brazil to the status of a kingdom and by the simultaneous union of that Kingdom of Brazil ...

. The Portuguese troops in Brazil, some of which had already been previously stationed there, all united under the direct command of the Brazilian Ministry of War, and thus in honor of the victory in the Cayenne, the artillery battery which was deployed there was officially renamed as the Cayenne Battery.

References

{{reflist Military units and formations of Brazil Military units and formations established in 1808 1808 establishments in South America

History

See also

References