das armas (military commander), thus giving him authority over the National Guard and army (brought back to full strength by the Reactionary administration) units in the province, respectively. Luís Alves arrived in São Luís, Maranhão's capital, on 4 February 1840. After several battles and skirmishes, he defeated the rebels. For his achievement, Luís Alves was promoted to brigadier (present-day brigadier general) on 18 July 1841 and raised by Pedro II to the titled nobility as Barão de Caxias (Baron of Caxias). He was given the rare honor of choosing his title; he decided to commemorate his recapture of Caxias, Maranhão's second richest town, which had fallen into rebel hands. Francisco de Lima wrote to his son with news of the Liberals' demand that Pedro II's majority be immediately declared. Meanwhile, Honório Hermeto Carneiro Leão (later Marquis of Paraná, a distant cousin of Caxias's wife and a leader of the Reactionary Party) sent letters to Luís Alves attempting to undermine the influence Francisco de Lima had on him and to dissuade him from supporting the unconstitutional proposal to declare the Emperor of age. Liberal rebellions of 1842 Upon his return from Maranhão, Caxias saw that the political climate had changed. Francisco de Lima's Liberal Party had pushed through the premature declaration of the Emperor's majority on 23 July 1840. In May 1842, the Liberals rebelled in the provinces of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais in retaliation for the Emperor's decision—on the advice of a Council of State dominated by Reactionaries—to call for new elections, annulling the previous election tainted by widespread fraud by the Liberal Party. Named as the province's vice-president and military commander, Caxias arrived in São Paulo on 21 May 1842. After he defeated the rebels there, he was appointed military commander of Minas Gerais and marched to that province. With the aid of National Guard units from Rio de Janeiro under its president, Honório Hermeto, Caxias was once again successful, and by late August, the rebellion was crushed. Caxias was honored by Pedro II, who made him his aide-de-camp on 23 July 1842. Two days later, Caxias was promoted to brevet (acting) field marshal (present-day divisional general). To distinguish itself from what the Reactionaries perceived as the "unruly" Liberals, sometime around 1843 (and certainly by 1844), the Reactionary Party became known as the Partido da Ordem (Party of Order) and its members as saquaremas. Caxias