To the Bitter End: Paraguay and the War of the Triple Alliance (Contributions in Military Studies)

264 Pages·2002·16.33 MB·English

by  Christopher Leuchars

TO THE BITTER END
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TO THE BITTER END
Paraguay
and the War of the Triple Alliance
Chris Leuchars
Contributions in Military Studies, Number 223
Greenwood Press
Westport, Connecticut • London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Leuchars, Chris, 1956-
To the bitter end: Paraguay and the War of the Triple Alliance / Chris Leuchars.
p. cm. — (Contributions in military studies, ISSN 0883-6884; no. 223)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-313-32365-8 (alk. paper)
1. Paraguayan War, 1865-1870. I. Title. II. Series.
F2687.L545 2002
989.2'05—dc21 2002069640
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.
Copyright © 2002 by Chris Leuchars
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced, by any process or technique, without the
express written consent of the publisher.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2002069640
ISBN: 0-313-32365-8
ISSN: 0883-6884
First published in 2002
Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
w w w. greenwood.com
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this book complies with the
Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National
Information Standards Organization (Z39.48-1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21
Contents
maps vn
1 The Country at the Heart of the Continent 1
2 The Man Who Would Be King 10
3 The Other Players in the Drama 15
4 Political Relations in the Plate Region 22
5 The Invasion of Brazil: September to December 1864 31
6 The Triple Alliance 38
7 The Military Balance 47
8 Conscripts and Volunteers: May to June 1865 54
9 The Invasion of Argentina: June 1865 60
10 The Rio Grande Campaign: June to September 1865 71
11 The March to War: September to December 1865 85
vi Contents
12 The Invasion of Paraguay: January to April 1866 90
13 Conflict in the Esteros: April to May 1866 109
14 The Battle of Tuyuty: May 1866 117
15 The Funnel of Death: July 1866 129
16 The Attack on Curupaity: September 1866 140
17 The Long Pause: September 1866 to August 1867 155
18 The Fall of Humaita: September 1867 to August 1868 169
19 The December Campaign: December 1868 191
20 Endgame: January 1869 to March 1870 213
Conclusion: Securing the Spoils 233
Notes 239
Selected Bibliography 245
Index 249
Maps
South America 4
River Plate Region, 1860s 5
Invasion of Mato Grosso, December 1864 35
Paraguayan invasions, May-December 1865 63
Battle of Riachuelo, 11 June 1865 67
Battle of Yatay, 17 August 1865 79
Paso de la Patria, December 1865-April 1866 97
Battle of Estero Bellaco, 2 May 1866 115
Battle of Tuyuty, 24 May 1866 125
Battle of Sauce, 16-18 July 1866 135
Battle of Curupaity, 22 September 1866 151
Operations around Humaita, 1866-1868 171
Piquisiri Campaign, December 1868 193
Battle of Ytororo, 6 December 1868 197
Battle of Avahy, 11 December 1868 202
Battle of Ita Ivate, 21 -27 December 1868 206
Cordilleras Campaign, January 1869-March 1870 217
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1
The Country
at the Heart of the Continent
The Italian explorer, Sebastian Cabot, was perhaps the first outsider to set eyes
on that land of swamp and jungle, subsequently the scene of so much bloodshed,
that lay between two of the great rivers that fed into the Plate. He was also the
first to come across the region's fearsome inhabitants and was probably fortu
nate to escape the encounter with the loss of only half of his companions. So
brief was his stay that he discovered little more than the name of the river down
which he had fled, and which the Indians referred to as "the river that flows to
the sea" or, in their tongue, "Paraguay."
His experience had been humiliating, but it was portentous too, for three
centuries later this land of Paraguay was equally mysterious to those who did not
reside there, and its people still proud and suspicious. Indeed, its geographical
position, tucked away in the heart of the continent, difficult of access and stifled
by its oversized neighbors, together with its bizarre and exploited history, had
created a people whose development and character were notably different from
those around them.
By the first half of the nineteenth century, this history seemed to be relent
lessly downwardly mobile, for since the Spanish conquest the country had as
sumed a number of different, progressively less distinguished identities. From
the 1530s it had been part of a huge province, designated "Provincia Gigante de
Los Indios," comprising its present borders, together with those of Uruguay,
eastern Bolivia, and most of Argentina. But in 1542 it was brought under the
jurisdiction of the Viceroyalty of Peru and divided into two governorships: that
of the River Plate, with its headquarters in Buenos Aires, and Guaira, based in
Asuncion.