610 



PARAGUAY. 



up, and the fire from the fort did the garrison 

 but little harm. On April 10th, a Paraguayan 

 force, under Captain Romero, attempted to re- 

 caplure the island, but nearly the whole force 

 perished in the attempt. Captain Romero himself 

 was taken prisoner. According to an Argen- 

 tine account, the losses of the Paraguayans con- 

 sisted in 800 muskets, 650 corpses on the field, 

 200 drowned, 30 canoes, much ammunition, 

 and 30 prisoners, including the chief of the ex- 

 pedition. The allies lost 149 men, among them 

 Major Sampalo and Lieutenant-Colonel Cabrita. 



On the 16th the Brazilians, consisting of 

 about 10,000 men, with the first corps of the 

 Argentines, numbering about 5,000, crossed 

 the river, and landed in Paraguay ; not at the 

 Paso de la Patria, as first intended, but at the 

 extreme corner of Paraguay, at the junction of 

 the Parana with the Paraguay River. This 

 movement was made under the command of the 

 Brazilian General Osorio. On making good his 

 footing, the general's first step was to direct a 

 rcconnoissance to be made toward the east, in 

 the direction of Itapicu, at the Paso de la Patria. 

 The force detailed for this duty had an en- 

 counter with the Paraguayans, who scarcely 

 imistered three battalions. Beaten in this first 

 encounter, the Paraguayans fell back, but ral- 

 lied at intervals during the day, and each time 

 they were repulsed with greater or less loss. On 

 the 17th the allies again advanced, and having 

 come up with the enemy in the rear of Itapicu, 

 were attacked by them with about 3,500 men, 

 who were entirely routed, leaving about 400 

 killed; but, as usual, very few wounded and 

 prisoners, two eighty-pounders, and one flag. 

 The fleet contributed largely to the victory, 

 which resulted in the entire demolition of the 

 fortress of Itapicu, and the complete possession 

 of the Paso de la Patria, where the rest of the 

 army, baggage, etc., crossed unopposed on the 

 20th and the two following days. The Para- 

 guayan camp having been reconnoitred, and it 

 having been ascertained that there were 60 

 pieces of artillery placed to defend the fortifi- 

 cations, preparations were made to assault it, 

 but on the morning of the 22d flames were seen 

 issuing from it, and on General Netto's cavalry 

 brigade advancing and entering the camp, it 

 was found that the Paraguayans had abandoned 

 it, after removing every thing of value, and set- 

 ting fire to the buildings inside. Soon, however, 

 it appeared that the Paraguayans had retreated 

 to a better position, where they awaited the at- 

 tack of the allies. 



On May 2d, the Paraguayans, some 8,000 

 strong, advanced on General Flores, and at- 

 tacked his position. Lopez in person was in 

 command. As the Paraguayans were four to 

 one, the fight was soon decided; some 1,600 

 men and 31 officers of Flores. were soon Tiors de 

 combat. Flores acted with the greatest bravery, 

 but the weight of the enemy was too great, and 

 the allies had to fall back with great loss. The 

 artillery of Flores was captured, and the allied 

 army was in great danger, when the Brazilian 



General Osorio rushed to the aid of Flores with 

 the regiment of the Volnntorios de la Patrin, 

 the best Brazilian soldiers in the field, who 

 charged under a cruel fire, and cut through a 

 solid square of the enemy. Flores was thus 

 saved ; but the heroic band of Brazilians, which 

 entered the tight several hundred strong, was re- 

 duced to 41 men. The Paraguayans finally had 

 to fall back, and in their retreat suffered a ter- 

 rible loss. The allies acknowledged a loss of 

 1,500 men placed hors de combat, while they 

 asserted that the loss of the Paraguayans ex- 

 ceeded 2,000. 



One of the greatest battles of the war was 

 fought on the 24th of May in the field of Tn- 

 guitz. The Paraguayans commenced the attack 

 with 13,000 infantry and 8,000 cavalry, witli 

 desperate fury. After four hours and a half of 

 fighting, they were repulsed at every point of 

 the allied lines, which they had attacked in four 

 columns, supported by reserves, with the inten- 

 tion of turning the flanks of the enemy. This 

 victory was chiefly due to the Oriental army 

 and two divisions of the Brazilian, together 

 with one regiment of the Argentine contingent, 

 under the immediate command of General 

 Flores, occupying the centre, and to the Brazil- 

 ian troops on the left, under the command of 

 Marshal Osorio. The right was held by the 

 Argentine army, under General Paunero, with 

 Colonel Rivas leading the van Generals Emilio, 

 Mitre and Hornos covering it witli their respec- 

 tive forces. More than 4,200 of the enemy's 

 dead, abandoned on the field in his flight ; 370 

 prisoners, the greater part of whom were woun- 

 ded ; 4 brass pieces of artillery ; 5 standards ; 

 3 colors; 12 drums; 15 bugles ; 4, 700 muskets, 

 more than the third of which were flint-lock 

 pieces ; over 400 carbines ; 300 sabres ; 200 

 pikes, and 50,000 rounds of ball cartridge, to- 

 gether with many other spoils, were captured 

 by the allies in this battle. On the side of the 

 allied armies the total losses amounted to 672 

 killed, and 2,645 wounded. Of these the Bra- 

 zilian contingent lost 413 killed, of which 29 

 were officers two of them being corps com- 

 manders and 2,090 wounded, of whom 183 

 were officers, including one general. Of the 

 Argentine troops, 126 were killed, of whom 4 

 were generals, and 7 officers , 480 were woun- 

 ded, including 2 generals and 35 officers. The 

 Oriental troops lost 133 in killed, of whom 12 

 were officers, and 163 wounded, including 17 

 officers. The Paraguayans retired to their 

 camp, and the position of the two armies re- 

 mained as before. President Lopez, in an official 

 report of the battle, deemed it as a great victory, 

 and represented the losses of the allies as much 

 greater than his own. 



On June 14, the Paraguayans made a fierce 

 attack on the allies, and poured a series of 68 

 and 110-pound shot right into their camp. At 

 noon a rocket went up as a signal, and all along 

 their line they opened in full range on the allied 

 tents. At first the firing was a little wild, but 

 they soon found the range, and in the course 



