612 



PAKAGUAY. 



word from Martinez that be had arrived at the 

 point indicated, and had killed forty or fifty 

 Paraguayans, and had learned from prisoners 

 that the Paraguayans were in force. Eivas 

 sent word that he was coming, but before he 

 had mounted received information that Mar- 

 tinez had advanced. Orders were sent to him 

 to retire, but when Kivas arrived he found the 

 vanguard already routed and pursued. Check- 

 ing the pursuit, he obtained reinforcements of 

 two battalions, and drove the Paraguayans 

 over the bridge, after a severe fight. The loss- 

 es of the allies were severe, being stated in 

 the dispatch at 350 killed and wounded. Mar- 

 tinez and Campos were either killed or prison- 

 ers. General Eivas's dispatch states the loss 

 to have been as follows : Argentines, 94 killed 

 and 224 wounded; Brazilians, 60 killed and 

 208 wounded; total, 586. 



Notwithstanding these repulses, the allies, 

 only a few days later, on the 25th of July, ob- 

 tained possession of Humaita. The events, in 

 connection with the evacuation of Humaita by 

 the Paraguayans and the subsequent surrender, 

 after a struggle of more than a week's duration 

 of the remainder of the garrison, are thus de- 

 scribed by the Anglo-Brazilian Times of Eio 

 (August 22) : 



To evacuate Humaita the Paraguayans had 80 or 100 

 boats, and the evacuation was going on for a week 

 "before it was completed. First, the families were re- 

 moved ; then, the sick, the prisoners, a large quantity 

 of munitions, the remainder of their food, and finally 

 the garrison, the outposts being maintained to the 

 last moment to deceive the allies. Almost all the 

 non-combatants, and probably at least a third of the 

 garrison, passed through the lake in the middle of the 

 narrow peninsula without exciting suspicion ; and it 

 was only on the withdrawal of the outposts at Hu- 

 maita that the allies became aware of the fact that the 

 garrison was withdrawing to Timbo. The allied forces 

 in the Chaco were then raised to 10,000 men, and 

 the gunboats were brought up, and grape was poured 

 into the narrow peninsula, which, however, being^ 

 covered with bush, thickets, and tall reeds, favored 

 the concealment of the Paraguayan movements. 

 Hidden in the thickets, the Paraguayans had some 

 heavy cannon, which played on the vessels ; while, 

 opposed to the allied position, they had a strong bat- 

 tery which guarded them from attack on that side. 

 They transported boats overland to the lake, and 

 armed some with small cannon, and during the night 

 of the 25th of July no doubt many escaped, being as- 

 sisted by the Paraguayans in Timbo. During the 

 26th the escape continued, but the allies made great 

 exertions to open space for their fire, and to carry 

 small cannon over to the commanding points. In 

 doing this they were frequently attacked by the armed 

 boats. At night on the 26th a great effort was made 

 "by the Paraguayans to escape in the darkness, with 

 30 to 40 boats and 600 to 800 men. Being discovered 

 a heavy fire was kept upon them, and some of the 

 boats were forced to return ; but others, with the sup- 

 port of the armed boats of the Timbo Paraguayans, 

 suceeded in passing, but with heavy loss. Gelly y 

 Obes says they lost 500 out of 1,000. Two more flats 

 with cannon were brought from Timbo and placed in 

 the lake, and on the 27th the Brazilians dragged over 

 some from the river to contend with them on the lake. 

 After a reconnoissance on the 27th, in which loss 

 was experienced, on the 28th an assault was attempted 

 by the Brazilians, to the number of 3,000 to 4,000 

 men, upon the battery which the Paraguayans had, 

 but they were received with so severe a fire from the 



battery, and from infantry posted in the woods, that 

 they were forced to retire alter losing 400 men in the 

 vain attempt. Fights continued daily and nightly "be- 

 tween the allies and the garrison, aided in their at- 

 tempts to escape by the Paraguayans of Timbo, and 

 on the night of the 29th the last sent over some 20 

 "boats to transport part of the garrison across and carry 

 cooked meat to the rest. Only a few succeeded in 

 getting over, because of the fire poured in from eleven 

 cannon and a large number of troops. On the night 

 of the 31st some 12 boats made an attempt to escape, 

 but were beaten back by the armed boats stationed 

 on the lake. They, however, returned suddenly, and, 

 overpowering one of the boats, succeeded in passing 

 and escaping. At midnight of the 1st of August an- 

 other affair occurred : eight or ten Paraguayan boats 

 making the attempt to pass the line of armed boats, 

 their movements were seren, and the one in which 

 Colonel Hermosa went was run down and destroyed 

 with all its crew. Eight "boats were captured, and 

 their crews mostly killed or drowned. On bringing 

 the boats to land and examining the "bodies, some 

 dead women were found dressed in soldiers' clothes. 

 Of the 25 or 30 wounded two or three were women, 

 one with an infant, whose arm was traversed by a 

 ball. Some other young children were likewise among 

 the saved. Up to the 4th, the night fighting contin- 

 ued, but on that day Father Ignacio Esmerats, a chap- 

 lain in the Brazilian hospitals, obtained permission to 

 try if he could effect' communication with the Paraguay- 

 ans, as two officers previously sent to summon them 

 to surrender had been driven off with bullets. In 

 that he was successful, and on the 5th the Paraguay- 

 ans on the peninsula surrendered, to the number of 

 98 officers and 1,230 men, the commander, Colonel 

 Martinez, being among the number. They were three 

 days without food, and some 200 were prostrated by 

 exhaustion ; 300 Avere sick or wounded. The condi- 

 tions of capitulation stipulated that the garrison 

 should not be forced to serve against Lopez, and that 

 the officers might keep their swords and choose the 

 allied nation in which to reside. The commander 

 says that the effective force of the garrison, when it 

 evacuated Humaita, was 2,500 men. 



The abandoned fortress of Humaita was de- 

 scribed as inferior in its position and construc- 

 tion to Curupaity. The form was an irregular, 

 almost circular, polygon, with a perimeter of 

 some Vi miles in length, mounted with about 

 200 cannon. The works followed the course 

 which the nature of the soil pointed out and 

 rendered so defensible. The ditch was 16 feet 

 wide and 13 feet deep, in general. The para- 

 pet was 6J- feet wide, and, on the side of the al- 

 lied positions, was sustained inside by trunks 

 and palms, and showed signs of age. The gla- 

 cis was natural, and the abatis on it was of 

 little strength, being merely boughs of trees 

 without connection or fastenings, without com- 

 bination with the palisade, or protected by a 

 terre-pleine from projectiles. The line that was 

 opposed to the allied armies was covered with 

 salient angles, to give cross fire upon assail- 

 ants. On the south side the works were 

 naturally defended by lakes, which covered 

 them to the river. On this side only small 

 cannon were placed, and the abatis was but 

 a sham of branches. On the river side the best 

 works and the heaviest cannon were found. 

 The former consisted of six large and well-con- 

 structed batteries, of which the London battery 

 was the only one casemated. No large central 

 redoubt existed inside the fortress. It had in- 



