Battle of Seival

Initially aiming to topple the provincial president, the gaucho rebels faced a loyalist Imperial force. A detachment of the former, led by Colonel Antônio de Sousa Neto, moved to Bagé in early September 1836, where troops under João da Silva Tavares [pt] were encamped, having arrived from the Uruguayan border. Neto's first brigade, 430 men strong, crossed the Seival stream on September 10th and met Silva Tavares' troops in a field. The Imperial troops advanced and a melee ensued.^[5][6]

Initially, the loyalist force had the upper hand, but Silva Tavares's horse had its bridle broken in the fight and ran off at speed, making it seem like he was fleeing from the battle. This caused confusion amongst his men, something which was exploited by the rebels, who started to push them back and soon defeated them with light losses. Amongst the Imperial prisoners was João Frederico Caldwell.^[7]

After the battle, Neto and his men proclaimed a republic, separate from Brazil, which would be the Riograndense Republic, also known as the Piratini Republic from its capital, Piratini, close to where the battle took place. This was done without rebel leader Bento Gonçalves's assent, as he had been engaged at the siege of Porto Alegre and would later be arrested at the Battle of Fanfa.^[8][9]