Those individuals attempted at Oporto once more to raise the standard of Donna Maria, and failed in the attempt. […] [Holland] had in his pocket a list of the names of four- and- twenty or thirty of them, and there were not individuals more distinguished for rank, wealth, talent, and principle.

While Lisbon appeared relatively acquiescent towards the trend to absolutism and usurpation, the mood in Oporto was very different. On 17 May 1828, following an uprising at Aveiro, a military council established at Oporto issued a manifesto promising to restore the legitimate monarch, dethroned by a rebellious faction. On 20 May, the military council was replaced by a provisional junta, whose members consisted of ‘educated, God- fearing men, respectful to the King, loyal to the Charter, trusted by the people and chosen from the different Classes of Society’. Despite this promising start, divisions in the junta between moderate and radical Liberals made it hesitant and ineffective – in contrast to the determination shown by the Miguelistas.

Yet the rebellion spread to other northern towns and, within a few days, demonstrations in favour of Pedro and the charter had been held throughout Portugal, except in Lisbon, where, despite some initial alarm, the authorities managed to maintain order. On 25 May, Marshal Povoas left Lisbon with a force loyal to Miguel and headed north. On 2 June, when the Miguelistas were already at Leiria, General Saraiva left Coimbra, where the Liberal forces were concentrated, to meet the enemy before reinforcements could arrive from Lisbon. Yet Saraiva hesitated and Povoas took the initiative. Although Saraiva was intelligent and well- educated, he had little military experience and, according to Hugh Owen, ‘very modestly, constantly declared his own deficiencies’. Saraiva had actually asked to be replaced as commander of the Liberal forces, but the junta seemed unable to find a suitable successor. On 25 June, Miguel's forces attacked the Liberal positions at Cruz de Maroucos. Despite their numerical inferiority the Liberal forces repulsed the attack. This action was known as Acção dos Capitães (the Captains’ Action), as all senior officers were absent at Coimbra, attending an extraordinary council of war called by the provisional junta.