Miguel Pereira Forjaz

D. Miguel Pereira Forjaz Coutinho, 10th Count of Feira (1 November 1769 – 6 November 1827) was a Portuguese general and War Secretary in the Peninsular War.

Life He was the son of Diogo Pereira Forjaz Coutinho (born 23 May 1726) and the great grandson of the 9th Count of Feira, D. Álvaro Pereira Forjaz Coutinho (c.1656–?) and his wife Inês Antónia Barreto de Sá (c.1670–?). He was married twice, to Joana Eulália Freire de Andrade and to Maria do Patrocínio Freire de Andrade e Castro who died at childbirth.

He entered the army in 1785, as a cadet in the Regiment of Peniche, in which he met many members of his family. In 1787 he was promoted to alferes (lieutenant) and served as chief of staff to the Count of Oeynhausen, inspector-general of the Infantry, fighting alongside him at Porcalhota in 1790. He was promoted to captain in 1791 and to major (sargento-mor) in 1793, and was made adjutant to General Forbes, commander of the Portuguese division then fighting in Roussillon and Catalonia.

Having been promoted to colonel, in March 1800 he was appointed governor and captain-general of Pará, but did not set out for Brazil. In the War of the Oranges, the following year, he served as quartermaster-general (chief of staff) to General Forbes in the Alentejo. In 1806 he was promoted to brigadier and appointed inspector general of the army. On the royal family's flight to the Portuguese colony of Brazil in 1807, he became deputy secretary of the government, to replace, if necessary, the Count of Sampaio.

When General Junot took over the government of the country, Forjaz withdrew to the provinces. At Coimbra he began the revolt against the French and went to Porto, where he reorganised the army, under the orders of his cousin Bernardim Freire de Andrade. Accompanying Andrade as adjutant general of the army of the north on their march on Porto-Lisbon, Pereira was made secretary of the Regency, after the Convention of Sintra, and was given the war and foreign affairs portfolios. He remained the Regency's executive official for military matters until 1820. and supporting Beresford in adapting the Portuguese Army to British training and tactics to better help the Anglo-Portuguese Army's campaign during the Peninsular War. In 1815 he successfully opposed sending a Portuguese division to fight in the Low Countries against Napoleon during the Hundred Days.

With the Liberal Revolution of 1820 he left his post as regent and retired from public life. In 1826 he received the title of Count of Feira and was elected a Peer of the Kingdom on the occasion of the giving of the Constitutional Charter by Peter IV of Portugal.

Promotions and units Rank Unit Date Member Council of War 24 July 1825 Lieutenant General 1812 Governor Kingdom 2 January 1809 Secretary of the Regency Affairs of the Navy and War 2 January 1809 Major General 1808 Inspector General Militias 9 December 1806 Brigadier 9 December 1806 Interim Inspector General Militias 11 August 1803 Colonel 5 June 1798 Lieutenant Colonel 22nd Infantry Regiment of Serpa 17 December 1795 Captain 10th Company, 13th Infantry Regiment of Peniche 22 June 1793 Captain graduated 13th Infantry Regiment of Peniche 24 September 1791 Adjutant 13th Infantry Regiment of Peniche 27 February 1790 Ensign 5th Company, 13th Infantry Regiment of Peniche 27 April 1787 Cadet 13th Infantry Regiment of Peniche 1785