His father was a native of Alagoas and, being military, was transferred to Gabriel, where Hermes was born, in 1855. When his father was sent for the Paraguayan War, the family returned to Rio de Janeiro.
Military career
In 1871, at the age of 16, he graduated with a degree in science and letters and joined the Military School of Praia Vermelha where he was a student of Benjamin Constant Botelho de Benjamin Constant, one of the introducers of the ideas of Auguste Comte in Brazil, and thus did not escape the influence of the master, although he did not become an orthodox positivist. When he graduated, he served as an assistant to the Gaston de Orléans, Count d'Eu, Prince Gaston of Orléans, Count d'Eu. He supported the proclaimed republic by his uncle Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca, and was invited by him to be a field assistant and military secretary after the seizure of power. In ten months it went from captain to lieutenant colonel. On the occasion of the revolt of the squadron, it stood out, in Niterói, in the command of the defense of the government of Floriano Peixoto. From 1894, when he was promoted to colonel, in 1896 he commanded the 2nd Mounted Artillery Regiment, then was appointed head of the Presidential Military House. He commanded the current Federal Capital Police Brigade Military Police of the State of Rio de Janeiro, between 1899 and 1904, when he took command of the Realengo Military School, which formed the officers of the army. As commander of the Realengo Preparatory School in 1904, he repressed the Vaccine Uprising, a movement that, in the name of individual freedom, protested against the compulsion of the variolic smallpox., also translating the broader popular dissatisfaction against the regime. President Rodrigues Alves promoted him to marshal. He held various government positions until he became Minister of War during the government of Afonso Pena, from November 15, 1906 to May 27, 1908. At the suggestion of the Baron of Rio Branco, sent officers for training in the German Empire, who returning to Brazil, became known as the "". Reformed Army and Ministry with the creation of technical and administrative services. Of these innovations, the most important was the institution of compulsory military service, although this law was only legitimized in 1964, Law No. 4,375 of August 17, 1964. Due to the discussion in the Chamber about the participation of the military in the political life of the country, he resigned. He was later minister of the STM.
The 1910 election
In November 1908, after returning from a trip to Germany, where he had witnessed military maneuvers as a guest of William II, he was nominated for presidential succession. It had the support of President Nilo Peçanha, who replaced Afonso Pena, and state representations at the National Congress, except for the benches of São Paulo and Bahia, who supported the name of Senator Rui Barbosa and the president of São Paulo Albuquerque Lins as a vice-presidential candidate, and began the civilist campaign. It is strongly speculated by some historians that the Elections were Forged by the TSE, and that in fact the one who won this election was Ruy Barbosa according to them this was the result of that election.
