Henrique Cavalcanti de Albuquerque

Henrique Cavalcanti de Albuquerque trained in law at Olinda and served in Brazil's consular and diplomatic corps. He served in Uruguay and temporarily headed the Washington mission in 1867. In that year he also undertook a military procurement mission in New York: obtaining observation balloons for the Brazilian army fighting in Paraguay. ^{1, 2}

Acting on instructions from war minister João Lustosa da Cunha Paranaguá, Albuquerque contacted Thaddeus Lowe, who had directed balloon operations for the Union army. Lowe could not travel himself and recommended James and Ezra Allen. The resulting arrangements covered balloons, equipment for generating gas, and the aeronauts' employment. Albuquerque arranged payment and shipment; the Allen brothers and equipment sailed from New York aboard Merrimac on 22 March 1867. ¹

Later appointments took Albuquerque to La Paz in 1872 and Caracas in 1872–1876. ²