556 



PAEAGUAY. 



guayan Republic still exists, fighting to insure its free 

 return to the community of nations, and that a pro- 

 longed struggle has not undermined its faith or 

 shaken its heroism. Sensible as I am of the assur- 

 ances which your Excellency gives me in the name of 

 the President of the United States, my task shall be 

 to foster the friendly relations between the two coun- 

 tries, so that when we get rid of the enemies now 

 claiming all our attention, we may resume the enjoy- 

 ment of the mutual benefits they offer. 



General McMahon was attended to the Bra- 

 zilian lines by a Paraguayan guard of officers, 

 under the command of General Caballero next 

 to Lopez the most prominent man in the Para- 

 guayan camp. On arriving at General Poli- 

 doro's headquarters, General McMahon was re- 

 ceived with marked respect, and shortly after 

 an aide-de-camp arrived from the Count d'Eu, 

 with an invitation to visit him at his head- 

 quarters. He accepted the invitation, and was 

 received by his Imperial Highness with every 

 mark of distinguished consideration. A guard 

 of Brazilian soldiers, under the command of 

 Captain Rice, accompanied him to Asuncion. 



When the allies, after several months of in- 

 activity, resumed the offensive, they were at 

 first much harassed by Lopez's bold troopers. 

 General Barreto, with over 2,000 cavalry, failed 

 to advance on Villa Rica, to join General Por- 

 tinno's brigade, which was attempting a march 

 from the Upper Parana, but, on returning from 

 the Tebicuari, he found he could not get over 

 that river where he struck it, and thought it 

 advisable to make no further stay, looking for 

 fords, but to hurry back with all possible dis- 

 patch; and, in fact, it was only by a series of 

 forced marches that he managed to escape 

 being caught in the narrow roads through the 

 woods. As it was, his rear-guard, which had 

 fallen behind nine or ten miles, in trying to 

 bring along some 8,000 Paraguayan non-com- 

 batants, was cut off from the main body; the 

 Paraguayans, under Caraballo, coming in by a 

 side-road, and fortifying during the night the 

 narrow bush-road which formed the communi- 

 cation. On being informed of this Barreto 

 turned back, and abandoned his rear-guard to 

 its fate. The Count d'Eu, on hearing that Bar- 

 reto was threatened by the Paraguayans, hur- 

 ried off brigades of cavalry and infantry to his 

 assistance, and rescued the rear-guard, but all 

 the Paraguayan refugees had disappeared. Most 

 of the Brazilian rear-guard saved themselves by 

 abandoning their horses and by taking to the 

 woods, living on what they could find till their 

 friends came up. Barreto brought into camp 

 between 3,000 and 4,000 Paraguayan women, 

 children, and old men, who were started ahead, 

 and thus were not recaptured. 



A victory was obtained by a Brazilian force 

 that marched against San Pedro, while 1,200 

 Paraguayans were trying to place a deep river 

 between them and the greatly superior corps 

 marching to attack them. Three hundred Para- 

 guayans were surrounded and taken, the rest 

 tried to cross the river, and, while doing so, 

 they suffered so severely from the fire poured 



on them, that the Brazilian commander esti- 

 mates their loss at 500 killed, out of the 1,200 

 engaged. All the cannon, two flags, some arms, 

 etc., were taken. 



These operations on the part of the allies de- 

 veloped the fact that Lopez was still strong. 

 His position was in a range of mountains, hav- 

 ing a height of 900 to 1,000 feet, beyond which 

 the country gradually rises to the central chain 

 of Paraguay, where the elevation reaches over 

 3,000 feet. In those highlands the Paraguayan 

 women were raising food, while the men guard- 

 ed the approaches and could retire from position 

 to position into still more difficult regions; the 

 gaps were well defended by abattis and earth- 

 works; on the flat tops of the mountains Lopez 

 had his heaviest cannon so placed as to sweep 

 the gaps and command the works below ; he 

 was, however, very much in need of arms and 

 ammunition. The Brazilian commander was 

 aware of Lopez's pertinacity and his own diffi- 

 culties, as set forth plainly and frankly in a 

 statement subsequently made. 



The attack upon Ascurra, which had been 

 for several months the stronghold of Lopez, 

 was retarded by heavy rains. When the Brazil- 

 ians advanced, they received a serious check 

 and were thrown back upon their base, their 

 rear-guard being defeated during the retreat. 

 Count d'Eu was baffled in every attempt to make 

 a satisfactory reconnoissance of approaches 

 to Ascurra, although he commanded the entire 

 line from Asuncion to Villa Rica. On August 

 21st, the Argentine cavalry cut off 300 to 400 

 Paraguayans escorting some baggage, but the 

 advanced troops of the allies fell back. The 

 main army, according to official Brazilian re- 

 ports, reached Perebebuy on the 10th of Au- 

 gust. On the 12th, this place was attacked 

 and taken after a stubborn struggle. The place 

 was defended by 2,000 men. The taking of 

 Perebebuy caused Lopez, as it appears, to aban- 

 don Ascurra. The allies continued their 

 pursuit, and forced Lopez to accept battle on 

 August 16th. Lopez was beaten, and left 23 

 cannon, his loss being estimated by the Brazil- 

 ian reports at 2,000. At the Hondo another 

 skirmish took place, with the same result. On 

 August 18th the six vessels of Lopez, which 

 were beached near Caraguatay, in the Taguy, 

 were burned by the Paraguayans. The allied 

 loss at the taking of Perebebuy is given at 645 

 killed and wounded. The town was badly 

 chosen for defence, being on the slope of a hill, 

 and commanded from several points. The Par- 

 aguayans were caught as in a trap, the works 

 being entered on three sides ; but they "resisted 

 desperately, even the women taking part with 

 lances and sticks, and hurling bottles and 

 stones at the allied soldiery. General Joao 

 Manoel Menna Barreto was killed. 



After these reverses, Lopez retreated slow- 

 ly, holding his ground as pertinaciously as 

 could be expected. The Indians in the east of 

 Paraguay seemed to remain loyal to him, and 

 he sent officers to them to organize and train 



