In the article about the less known wars in history, as well as in other threads at CFC, I noted a substancial interest on the Triple Alliance War. Snce it's a subject of my interest, and recently I found some pretty rare photos taken during the war, I decided to write this small article and share the photos with the rest of you.
Origins of the Conflict
Even though the war was declared in 1864, its origins can be traced to the early 19th Century, or even before. The Plate region was disputed since the time south american nations were colonies of Spain and Portugal. When the nations of the region became indpendent, they inheritted also those local disputes.
Both the Empire of Brazil and the Portenha Confederation, which was under an undefined argentinian leadership, disputed the Cisplatine Province, also known as Eastern Band(modern Uruguay). Skirmishes were common, and in 1825 there was war between the two young nations. While the argentinian-uruguyan forces won the only major terrestrial battle, at Passo do Rosário, they were unable to occupy Uruguay. Also, the Imperial navy managed to obtain hegemony in the uruguayan coast, making it impossible for Argentina to place the nation under its controll. The conflict ended in half-term mediated by England: Uruguay would become independent.
Paraguay also faced threats to its independence. In 1811, an argentinian force of 1500 men invaded the nation, but was defeated by a paraguayn force. In face of such a hostile external scenario, the president of Paraguay, Carlos Antonio López, adopted an isolationist policy focused on internal development. His son Solano López, however, had a different approach once he became president. He wanted Paraguay to be a regional leader, and as such made an alliance with the Blanco Party of Uruguay. The Brazilian Empire, OTOH, was allied with the Colorado Party, and supported General Venâncio Flores.
In October 16 of 1864, when brazilian troops crossed the uruguayan border to place their candidate on power, López decided that he needed to go to war with the Empire. In Dezember 12 of the same year, he ordered the capture of the brazilian ship Marquês de Olinda, that was full of gold and carried the president of the Mato Grosso province, and declared war, begining the invasion of southern and central brazilian provinces and Uruguay.
Because the Argentinians refused to let Paraguayan troops cross their territory, Lopez declared war on Argentina and invaded its northern provinces. Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay signed the Triple Alliance Treaty againts Paraguay.
The military capabilities of the opponents
When the war begun, Paraguay had the largest army in South America. They had 30,000 men ready for action, and another 30,000 that could be mobilised in the medium term. Untill the end of the war, they had mobilised a total of 90,000 soldiers, and many civilians also fought. This is quite remarkable, when we take into consideration that thier population was of 800,000. Paraguay also was the only country in the war that manufactured their own cannons.
Uruguay was bankrupt after years of Civil War, and only contributed to the allied war effort with 2,000 soldiers.
Argentina was not entirely unified, and in fact some provinces did not accept Buenos Aires' rule. Some even supported Paraguay. A considerable part of the argentinian effort was actually against insurgents. When the war begun, Argentina only had a standing army of 6,000 and an almost non-existent navy. At the end of the war they had mobilised 30,000 soldiers.
Brazil had an army of 17,000 men, and a navy of about 6,500. Not only was this number small as the soldiers were also spread among all of our huge territory. After the war broke out, the Empire became completey desperate and had to use extensive voluntary manpower, the famous Corpo dos Voluntários da Pátria(Fatherland Volunteers' Corps). At the end of the war, Brazil had mobilised 200,000 men, 125,000 of which were volunteers.
The Conflict
The first phase of the war was marked by paraguayan victories. They quickly captured Montevideu and most of Uruguay. The paraguayan general Antonio de la Cruz Estigarribia commanded an expedition that captured severall villages of the brazilian southernmost state, Rio Grande Do Sul. He reached the maximum extent in his conquests around June of 1865.
But since Estagigarribia reached brazilian soil, the tide was slowly changing in the war. In the day 22 of February of 1865, Montevideu was captured by brazilian troops. Montevideu was very important to the paraguayan strategy, because its position at the entrance of the River Plate meant that whoever controlled it could controll supplie lines in that river.
In June 11 of the same year, the brazilian navy won a decisive victory at Riachuelo. Now Estigarribia had his back threatned. He could, at that point, have turned back and returned his troos to Paraguay, but instead he decided to move on and in August 5 he captured Uruguaiana.
17,000 troops of the Brazilian Empire besieged Estigarribia at Uruguaiana. Soon, the paraguayans were out supplies and his situation became desperate. In September, he and his 5,200 elite soldiers surrended to the Emperor himself.
After that point the allied commanders begun to prepare the invasion of Parguay. They took 8 months preparing, since the invasion was a logistical nightmare. The allies would have to cross the Paraná river, and take the paraguayan fortress of Itapirú so that the transport of troops would not be threatned. Only in March of 1866 the invasion plans were ready. The Allies decided to land a force north of Itapirú, and attack the backside of the fortress. After that, the main part of the troops would cross. The brazilian general Manuel Luís Osório commanded the 15,000 men force that would attack Itapirú. He had the backing of the Imperial Navy, that bombarded the paraguayan fortress nonstop. The battle was fierce and both sides suffered considerable losses, but ultimately the superior brazilian firepower prevailed, and 2 days after the attacks begun the paraguayas surrendered the fortress. One day after that, the argentinian general and president Bartlomé Mitre(who, at the time, was the allied supreme commander) landed in Paraguay with an allied force of 60,000 soldiers.
The first attack that the invading force suffered was at Estero Bellaco, when a paraguayan force made a surprise attack at an allied camp and captured some cannons. The paraguayans suffered heavier casualties, though(2,000 vs 1,600 brazilians).
After Estero Bellaco, the allied army split. The second Corps of the Imperial Army, 18,000 brazilians under the Count of Porto Alegre, marched north following the shores of the Paraná river. The main bulk of the army, a mixed force of 35,000 men, marched to a large camp named Tuiti. The plan of Solano López was to defeat the allies in a major battle, and his location of choice was precisely Tuiti. When he heard that the invaders were reaching that point, he sent reinforcements from all the country there. López sent 18,000 infantry soldiers and 5,000 cavalry ones. Many paraguayan officers noted that López plan was a disaster; he was abandoning defensive positions and attacking a more numerous enemy. Yet, whoever mentioned that was executed.
Soon the brazilians heard of López's plans, and soon they begun to set up their defenses. They digged trenches and placed the cannons at strategical positions.
The paraguayan attack was launched at 11:30 of May 24, by General Barrios. At first, things went well for the attackers. The uruguayan-brazilian unitis on the front lines of the allied force were caught on surprise, and unable to repeal the paraguayans. Soon, the troops of Barrios were joined by those of Díaz, another paraguaya general. However, the paraguayan cavalry was mostly neutralised by the brazilian artillery, and later they were forced to retreat by the argentinian cavalry.
The battle was fierce, maybe the paraguyans had a small advantage. However, when more brazilian troops arrived, the allies won a decisive victory. At 16:00 Barrios ordered a retreat.
Tuiti was a catastrophe for Paraguay. 6,000 paraguyans died, and another 6,000 were captured. Never again López managed to organize a huge force. 719 brazilians, 133 uruguayans and 128 argentinians also died.
After Tuiti, the allies advanced north, facing fierce opposition. It was necessary to take the paraguayan fortified trenches of Curupati before the assault on the main paraguayan defense, the fortress of Humaitá.
The attack against Curupati was commanded by Mitre, and it was a huge failure. Over 5,000 argentinians and brazilians died, and the disaster shook the alliance. The brazilians accused Mitre of incompetence, and would no longer accept his leadership. Unilaterally, the Emperor decided that the Brazilian Marquis of Caxias(later Duke) would be the allied commander. Mitre, furious, returned to Argentina and only left 4,000 soldiers.
From this moment on, the war was between Brazil and Paraguay.
The defeat at Curupati delayed the brazilian advance for 10 months.
Caxias considered that Mitre's strategy of a frontal attack against Curupati and Humaitá was suicidal, and as such he dramatically changed the strategy employed. He decided to halt the advance of his troops, bring new soldiers and weapons and buy more ships for the navy. When he considered that his troops were strong enough, he would then move to encircle the paraguayan defenses, cut their supplies and bombard them untill their surrender.
In July of 1867, his forces reached a total of 45,000, of which 40,000 were brazilians, 4,000 argentinians and 1,000 uruguayans.
After strong bombardment and without supplies, on August 18 the paraguayans were forced to surrender Curupati. A few days earlier, the city of San Solano, just a bit to the north of Humaitá, had been captured. So, the fortress was completely isolated and without any communication with Assuncion.
In 18 of February of 1868, before the fall of Humaitá, the brazilians begun the bombardment of Assuncion, what would eventually lead to its complete demolition. López ordered a desperate attack against the brazilian ships, but that only resulted in the destruction of what was left of the paraguayan navy.
In the nights of 2 and 3 of March, López begun the evacuation of Assuncion. He took 9,000 men who were still fighting to the Chaco, and other 3,000 were sent to help defend Humaitá. In the day 24 of that same month, the walls of Humaitá finally fell, and by the day 25 there was no living paraguyan inside.
The last phase of the war, known as Dezembrada, was marked by the persecution of the remaining paraguayan forces and the capture of Assuncion, which happened in January 5 of 1869.
Even though completely defeated, the paraguayans still fought fanatically for their leader. Proof is that during the month of December, over 7,000 brazilians died. Finally, in 1870, Solano López was killed at Cerro Corá by a brazilian soldier.
After the end of the war, Paraguay was completely destroyed and never recoverd. Over 300.000 paraguayans died(2/3 of that countrys' male population). Paraguay also lost part of its territory to Brazil and Argentina and had to pay a war debt(they never paid, actually. Brazil forgave that debt in 1943).
The brazilian losses were around 30,000.
Origins of the Conflict
Even though the war was declared in 1864, its origins can be traced to the early 19th Century, or even before. The Plate region was disputed since the time south american nations were colonies of Spain and Portugal. When the nations of the region became indpendent, they inheritted also those local disputes.
Both the Empire of Brazil and the Portenha Confederation, which was under an undefined argentinian leadership, disputed the Cisplatine Province, also known as Eastern Band(modern Uruguay). Skirmishes were common, and in 1825 there was war between the two young nations. While the argentinian-uruguyan forces won the only major terrestrial battle, at Passo do Rosário, they were unable to occupy Uruguay. Also, the Imperial navy managed to obtain hegemony in the uruguayan coast, making it impossible for Argentina to place the nation under its controll. The conflict ended in half-term mediated by England: Uruguay would become independent.
Paraguay also faced threats to its independence. In 1811, an argentinian force of 1500 men invaded the nation, but was defeated by a paraguayn force. In face of such a hostile external scenario, the president of Paraguay, Carlos Antonio López, adopted an isolationist policy focused on internal development. His son Solano López, however, had a different approach once he became president. He wanted Paraguay to be a regional leader, and as such made an alliance with the Blanco Party of Uruguay. The Brazilian Empire, OTOH, was allied with the Colorado Party, and supported General Venâncio Flores.
In October 16 of 1864, when brazilian troops crossed the uruguayan border to place their candidate on power, López decided that he needed to go to war with the Empire. In Dezember 12 of the same year, he ordered the capture of the brazilian ship Marquês de Olinda, that was full of gold and carried the president of the Mato Grosso province, and declared war, begining the invasion of southern and central brazilian provinces and Uruguay.
Because the Argentinians refused to let Paraguayan troops cross their territory, Lopez declared war on Argentina and invaded its northern provinces. Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay signed the Triple Alliance Treaty againts Paraguay.
The military capabilities of the opponents
When the war begun, Paraguay had the largest army in South America. They had 30,000 men ready for action, and another 30,000 that could be mobilised in the medium term. Untill the end of the war, they had mobilised a total of 90,000 soldiers, and many civilians also fought. This is quite remarkable, when we take into consideration that thier population was of 800,000. Paraguay also was the only country in the war that manufactured their own cannons.
Uruguay was bankrupt after years of Civil War, and only contributed to the allied war effort with 2,000 soldiers.
Argentina was not entirely unified, and in fact some provinces did not accept Buenos Aires' rule. Some even supported Paraguay. A considerable part of the argentinian effort was actually against insurgents. When the war begun, Argentina only had a standing army of 6,000 and an almost non-existent navy. At the end of the war they had mobilised 30,000 soldiers.
Brazil had an army of 17,000 men, and a navy of about 6,500. Not only was this number small as the soldiers were also spread among all of our huge territory. After the war broke out, the Empire became completey desperate and had to use extensive voluntary manpower, the famous Corpo dos Voluntários da Pátria(Fatherland Volunteers' Corps). At the end of the war, Brazil had mobilised 200,000 men, 125,000 of which were volunteers.
The Conflict
The first phase of the war was marked by paraguayan victories. They quickly captured Montevideu and most of Uruguay. The paraguayan general Antonio de la Cruz Estigarribia commanded an expedition that captured severall villages of the brazilian southernmost state, Rio Grande Do Sul. He reached the maximum extent in his conquests around June of 1865.
But since Estagigarribia reached brazilian soil, the tide was slowly changing in the war. In the day 22 of February of 1865, Montevideu was captured by brazilian troops. Montevideu was very important to the paraguayan strategy, because its position at the entrance of the River Plate meant that whoever controlled it could controll supplie lines in that river.
In June 11 of the same year, the brazilian navy won a decisive victory at Riachuelo. Now Estigarribia had his back threatned. He could, at that point, have turned back and returned his troos to Paraguay, but instead he decided to move on and in August 5 he captured Uruguaiana.
17,000 troops of the Brazilian Empire besieged Estigarribia at Uruguaiana. Soon, the paraguayans were out supplies and his situation became desperate. In September, he and his 5,200 elite soldiers surrended to the Emperor himself.
After that point the allied commanders begun to prepare the invasion of Parguay. They took 8 months preparing, since the invasion was a logistical nightmare. The allies would have to cross the Paraná river, and take the paraguayan fortress of Itapirú so that the transport of troops would not be threatned. Only in March of 1866 the invasion plans were ready. The Allies decided to land a force north of Itapirú, and attack the backside of the fortress. After that, the main part of the troops would cross. The brazilian general Manuel Luís Osório commanded the 15,000 men force that would attack Itapirú. He had the backing of the Imperial Navy, that bombarded the paraguayan fortress nonstop. The battle was fierce and both sides suffered considerable losses, but ultimately the superior brazilian firepower prevailed, and 2 days after the attacks begun the paraguayas surrendered the fortress. One day after that, the argentinian general and president Bartlomé Mitre(who, at the time, was the allied supreme commander) landed in Paraguay with an allied force of 60,000 soldiers.
The first attack that the invading force suffered was at Estero Bellaco, when a paraguayan force made a surprise attack at an allied camp and captured some cannons. The paraguayans suffered heavier casualties, though(2,000 vs 1,600 brazilians).
After Estero Bellaco, the allied army split. The second Corps of the Imperial Army, 18,000 brazilians under the Count of Porto Alegre, marched north following the shores of the Paraná river. The main bulk of the army, a mixed force of 35,000 men, marched to a large camp named Tuiti. The plan of Solano López was to defeat the allies in a major battle, and his location of choice was precisely Tuiti. When he heard that the invaders were reaching that point, he sent reinforcements from all the country there. López sent 18,000 infantry soldiers and 5,000 cavalry ones. Many paraguayan officers noted that López plan was a disaster; he was abandoning defensive positions and attacking a more numerous enemy. Yet, whoever mentioned that was executed.
Soon the brazilians heard of López's plans, and soon they begun to set up their defenses. They digged trenches and placed the cannons at strategical positions.
The paraguayan attack was launched at 11:30 of May 24, by General Barrios. At first, things went well for the attackers. The uruguayan-brazilian unitis on the front lines of the allied force were caught on surprise, and unable to repeal the paraguayans. Soon, the troops of Barrios were joined by those of Díaz, another paraguaya general. However, the paraguayan cavalry was mostly neutralised by the brazilian artillery, and later they were forced to retreat by the argentinian cavalry.
The battle was fierce, maybe the paraguyans had a small advantage. However, when more brazilian troops arrived, the allies won a decisive victory. At 16:00 Barrios ordered a retreat.
Tuiti was a catastrophe for Paraguay. 6,000 paraguyans died, and another 6,000 were captured. Never again López managed to organize a huge force. 719 brazilians, 133 uruguayans and 128 argentinians also died.
After Tuiti, the allies advanced north, facing fierce opposition. It was necessary to take the paraguayan fortified trenches of Curupati before the assault on the main paraguayan defense, the fortress of Humaitá.
The attack against Curupati was commanded by Mitre, and it was a huge failure. Over 5,000 argentinians and brazilians died, and the disaster shook the alliance. The brazilians accused Mitre of incompetence, and would no longer accept his leadership. Unilaterally, the Emperor decided that the Brazilian Marquis of Caxias(later Duke) would be the allied commander. Mitre, furious, returned to Argentina and only left 4,000 soldiers.
From this moment on, the war was between Brazil and Paraguay.
The defeat at Curupati delayed the brazilian advance for 10 months.
Caxias considered that Mitre's strategy of a frontal attack against Curupati and Humaitá was suicidal, and as such he dramatically changed the strategy employed. He decided to halt the advance of his troops, bring new soldiers and weapons and buy more ships for the navy. When he considered that his troops were strong enough, he would then move to encircle the paraguayan defenses, cut their supplies and bombard them untill their surrender.
In July of 1867, his forces reached a total of 45,000, of which 40,000 were brazilians, 4,000 argentinians and 1,000 uruguayans.
After strong bombardment and without supplies, on August 18 the paraguayans were forced to surrender Curupati. A few days earlier, the city of San Solano, just a bit to the north of Humaitá, had been captured. So, the fortress was completely isolated and without any communication with Assuncion.
In 18 of February of 1868, before the fall of Humaitá, the brazilians begun the bombardment of Assuncion, what would eventually lead to its complete demolition. López ordered a desperate attack against the brazilian ships, but that only resulted in the destruction of what was left of the paraguayan navy.
In the nights of 2 and 3 of March, López begun the evacuation of Assuncion. He took 9,000 men who were still fighting to the Chaco, and other 3,000 were sent to help defend Humaitá. In the day 24 of that same month, the walls of Humaitá finally fell, and by the day 25 there was no living paraguyan inside.
The last phase of the war, known as Dezembrada, was marked by the persecution of the remaining paraguayan forces and the capture of Assuncion, which happened in January 5 of 1869.
Even though completely defeated, the paraguayans still fought fanatically for their leader. Proof is that during the month of December, over 7,000 brazilians died. Finally, in 1870, Solano López was killed at Cerro Corá by a brazilian soldier.
After the end of the war, Paraguay was completely destroyed and never recoverd. Over 300.000 paraguayans died(2/3 of that countrys' male population). Paraguay also lost part of its territory to Brazil and Argentina and had to pay a war debt(they never paid, actually. Brazil forgave that debt in 1943).
The brazilian losses were around 30,000.
Very interesting and informative.
