Forgotten Battle 28

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This month's Forgotten Battle is...

The battle of Tuyutí 

Intro

The Battle of Tuyutí occurred on May 24, 1866. It was fought within the Tuyutí Marsh in the southwest corner of the country of Paraguay between the armies of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay against the army of Paraguay. This battle (which many historians would call the, "Latin Waterloo") was bloodiest event of the worst war fought in the history of South America and would change the fate of one nation forever.

Part I

In the year 1865, the political situation on the continent of South America had reached a breaking point. A series of civil wars and coups had plunged the entire southern part of the continent into one of the most destructive wars of the 19th century. The country that was at the center of this conflict was the nation of Paraguay. The leader of Paraguay was Francisco Solano Lopez. Lopez had succeeded his father as President of Paraguay in 1862. After touring Europe, he returned to his country with the very latest in military technology. He brought with him, thousands of guns, ammunition, and several dozen steamships which he used to bolster the Paraguayan Army and Navy into a lethal fighting force that could rival its much larger neighbors (Brazil and Argentina).

In the year 1864, civil war had broken out in the nation Uruguay. On one side, was the reigning Blanco Party headed by President Atanasio Aguirre. The other side was the rebelling Colorado Party led by Venancio Flores. To Lopez's anger, he noticed that the nations of Brazil and Argentina were backing Flores and the Colorado Party. Believing that this would threaten Paraguay, Lopez pledged his support for President Aguirre and demanded that the Brazilian Emperor Pedro II cease his intervention in Uruguay. When his demand fell on deaf ears, the Paraguayan Army launched an incursion into the Brazilian province of Mato Grosso in December of that year. They defeated the Brazilians stationed there and by January of 1865, the southern border of Mato Grosso was under Paraguayan occupation.

After this, President Lopez sent a demand to Argentina's President Bartolomé Metre for permission to cross the Argentine province of Corrientes with his army to aid the Blancos in Uruguay. President Mitre declined this demand so Lopez declared war on Argentina and sent 20,000 soldiers into the Corrientes province in March of 1865. Unfortunately, the civil war in Uruguay was now over. Aided by Brazilian troops, Venancio Flores and his Colorado Party entered the capital city of Montevideo, defeated the Blancos, and forced them into exile. With Flores now the president, Uruguay along with Brazil and Argentina signed the Treaty of the Triple Alliance and declared war on Paraguay.

Part II

Almost immediately, the tide of the war turned against the Paraguayans. The Allies destroyed most their navy at the battle of Riachuelo on June 11, 1865. Two months later, the Paraguayan Army was decisively defeated at the battle of Yatay Creek on the banks of the Uruguayan River. These defeats coupled with the massive numbers of Allied troops massing to the north and south of Paraguay, forced President Lopez to pull his armies back to the mainland and prepare for an invasion.

In April of 1866, the Allies launched an incursion into Southern Paraguay. After a month of marching and fighting, the Allied Army camped a few miles north of the Paraná River in a marshy swamp called, Tuyutí (Guarani for: white mud). Upon learning this, Lopez ordered the Paraguayan Army to launch an attack on the Allied camp. Led by General Alexandre Argolo, the Paraguayans advanced in four columns and numbered more than 27,000 infantry and cavalry. By contrast, the Allied Army was made up of 22,000 Brazilians (led by General Manuel Osório), 11,800 Argentines (led by President Mitre), and 1,200 Uruguayans (led by President Flores). Their entire force consisted of 35,000 infantry, cavalry, and 48 artillery guns.

General Argolo divided his force into four columns. His plan was to launch a pincer movement against the Allied position and catch them by surprise. However, during the night of May 23, many Paraguayan soldiers got lost in the thick marsh and struggled to get through them. By noon the next day, only one of General Argolo's columns had made it through to the Allied camp. To make matters worse, the Allies had spotted the Paraguayans struggling to get through Tuyutí and were ready to meet the attack. In spite of these setbacks, the sole Paraguayan column (led by Colonel Jose Diaz) decided to launch their assault.

Part III

The first to attack were Colonel Diaz's cavalry units. At 11:55 AM, they charged at full gallop toward the first Allied line of defense (manned by the Uruguayans). When the attackers were at grapeshot range, the Allied artillery opened fire and ripped through the cavalry lines with deadly accuracy. When they got within 180 meters, the Uruguayan infantry opened fire and mowed them down. The few horsemen who survived abandoned the assault and pulled back. At this point, Colonel Hilario Marcó arrived on the battlefield with four infantry regiments. With Colonel Diaz's infantry on their right, they launched another assault on the Allied camp (once again, against the Uruguayans).

By now however, the Brazilians had moved up on the Uruguayan left flank and fired down upon the Paraguayan infantry. At the same time, the Paraguayan cavalry launched another charge. Both attacks were repulsed with heavy casualties. Even so, the Paraguayans refused to give up and sent more infantry to assault the Allied center. Even though the Brazilian general (António Sampaio) was shot off his horse and killed, each attack was repelled with no attacker getting closer than fifty meters to the Brazilian/Uruguayan lines.

Then without warning, Paraguayan cavalry and infantry under the command of General Vincente Barrios emerged and struck the Brazilians in the left flank. Although the Brazilian Light Brigade was initially pushed back, they were reinforced by two infantry regiments and stopped the Paraguayan advance. The latter was then annihilated by a burst of cannon fire from the allied artillery units. The final action occurred on the Allied right flank, when the last Paraguayan column under General Francisco Resquín arrived on the battlefield.

General Resquín's cavalry charged against the Argentine lines. The Argentine infantry responded by fixing bayonets and forming squares which fended off the Paraguayan attacks. At the same time, the Argentine artillery fired canister rounds into the Paraguayan ranks. After losing an entire regiment of cavalry, General Resquín could see the situation was hopeless and pulled his forces back. By 4:30 PM, all fighting in the swamp of Tuyutí had ceased.

Epilogue

The casualties for the four hour battle of Tuyutí were horrific. The Allied casualties are listed as 996 killed and 3,232 wounded. Although the exact numbers are not known, the Paraguayan casualties are believed to have numbered more than 6,000 killed and over 7,000 wounded (out of 26,000 engaged). It was a disaster that they would never recover from. From this point onward, the Paraguayans would never mount another major offensive against the Allies.

The War of the Triple Alliance went on for another four years. During this, the Paraguayan Army continued to suffer multiple defeats. Even after the Paraguayan capital (Asunción) fell in 1869, President Lopez refused to give up and turned to guerrilla warfare. After another year of brutal fighting, on March 1, 1870, Lopez and what remained of his army were cornered by the Brazilian Army at a hill called, Cerro Corá. President Francisco Solano Lopez was shot and killed during this final battle after allegedly shouting, "I do not surrender nor deliver my sword. I die with it and for my country!". With that, the War of the Triple Alliance was finally over.

For the nation of Paraguay, the war had been utterly devastating. The nation ultimately lost more than a quarter of its territory to Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. In addition to this, more than sixty percent of its population (including ninety percent of its men and boys) had died. To this day, the nation of Paraguay has still not fully recovered. The battle of Tuyutí remains the most iconic battle of this devastating conflict. It  is now remembered as the pretext to the near-annihilation of a whole country in the worst war fought in South America.

https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/war-of-the-triple-alliance-bloodbath-in-paraguay/

https://www.grunge.com/1167842/tragic-details-about-the-war-of-the-triple-alliance/

https://www.erroluys.com/paraguayanwar3.html

https://thebattlecast.com/2018/12/30/show-24-the-paraguayan-war-and-the-battle-of-tuyuti/