Lord Alexandre Thomaz Cochrane

Alexandre Thomaz Cochrane was the first commander of the   Imperial Navy by the time the newly-created  fleet was engaging the Portuguese vessels at   Brazilian coast. 

Cochrane was born in the small village of Annsfield count of Lanark in Scotland in December 1775. He was the first son of a navy officer, Archibald Cochrane, Count of Dundonald. He was admited in the navy in 1789 raising in the ranks by   quickly promotions: by  1794 he was appointed as cadet and then as 2ŗ Lieutenant in 1796.
He undertook several missions against the Spanish and French Fleets in the Mediterranean Sea where he captured many enemy vessels during 1800. The next year he is imprisioned in a combat against the French commander Count of Linois. He returns to Great Britain in a exchange of prisioners between the two rival countries.

In political affairs Cochrane's life  was not so brillant. Thanks to his bad temper he made many enemies. Soon he returned to the naval life, where he obtained new victories. By 1809 he achived the rank of captain.

After new dellusions, he leaves England in order to join the Chilean Navy in a  war against Spain. By August, 1818 he runs to Chile where he is given the rank of vice-admiral. When the conflict comes to an end in 1821, Cochrane retires to Valparaizo. In 1823 he is invited to join the newly-created Brazilian Navy, by that time   in war  against Portugal.

With no more than 7 ships and a few small vessels at disposal  he faces the Portuguese Fleet under command of commodore  Joćo Felix Pereira de Campos stationed at Brazil's coast, while on land the grim Brazilian Army fustigates  the Portugueses led by General  Madeira de Mello.

Despite a mutiny  led by Portuguese sailors aboard some of his ships, Cochrane obtains a major victory on May 4,1823 near Itapuć, in the province of Bahia.The enemy finally withdrew from Brazil leaving towards Portugal by mid-1823.
Cochrane remained in  the navy until 1827, taking part in some events in the Cisplatine War. Then,  he returned  to Great Britain where he was given  the rank of vice-admiral in 1841. He died in 1860 at the age of 85.