Battle of Tupí-hú

Battle of Tupí-hú
Part of the Paraguayan War
DateMay 30, 1869
Location
Tupí-hú pass, Paraguay
Result Brazilian victory
Belligerents
Empire of Brazil Paraguay
Commanders and leaders
José Antônio Correia da Câmara Manoel Galeano[1]
Strength
500 1,052[1]
Casualties and losses
111 wounded
15 dead[1]		 350 prisoners
87 wounded
500 dead[1]

The Battle of Tupí-hú was a battle fought in May 30, 1869, by Brazilian and Paraguayan forces during the Paraguayan War, part of the beginning of the Campaign of the Hills. It was a Brazilian victory despite a Paraguayan advantage in numbers.

The allied army was advancing slowly in central Paraguay and gearing up to resume campaigning against the reorganized Paraguayan army; it had been mostly destroyed during the Pikysyry campaign some months earlier. A Brazilian unit had been tasked with finding a Paraguayan column operating near the Jejuí Guazú river, which it proceeded to engage and defeat.

Engagement

As the allied armies advanced through the hills of Central Paraguay, chasing Paraguayan president López's remaining forces after the bloody Pikysyry campaign, intelligence was obtained indicating that a Paraguayan column, 1,200 men strong, was stationed on the eastern shore of the Jejuí Guazú river, a position oblique to the axis the allies were advancing at. The allied commander, Gaston, Count of Eu, ordered a detachment to attack it on the 17th of May, composed by men from the 2nd Cavalry Division and the 10th Cavalry Brigade, together with an infantry battalion and two guns, totalling 500 troops, under general Câmara.[2]

Aware of this movement, the Paraguayan column withdrew on the 21st, however, and some days later reached Tupí-hú, a pass on the Aguaray Guazú river. On the 30th of May the Imperial army arrived, and by 10 AM battle had begun with the Brazilian artillery firing against the Paraguayan troops, which had assumed a position on the dry river bed.[1] Lieutenant colonel Galeano[a]'s troops were anchored on the right by a forest and on the left by a swamp on which a trench had been dug. A swift Brazilian attack, under rain,[3] which made the Paraguayan matchlocks unable to fire,[4] and supported by artillery fire and cavalry flanking attacks managed to defeat the defenders quickly, leaving 500 dead and 350 prisoners on the Paraguayan side, amongst them many children and teenagers; the Brazilians suffered 126 casualties.[1] Reportedly, 800 prisoners were made on the action, but most of these were slain afterwards.[5] 18 guns, gold and silver, thousands of heads of cattle and more than 3,000 women were also captured after the battle.[6]

Lieutenant colonel Galeano, who was amongst the few Paraguayans who managed to escape,[3] would be executed for cowardice after being captured by Paraguayan forces later.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ According to Doratioto, he was a major.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Hooker 2008, p. 102.
  2. ^ Donato 1996, p. 555.
  3. ^ a b c Doratioto 2002, p. 403.
  4. ^ Doratioto 2002, p. 364.
  5. ^ Capdevila 2014, p. 204.
  6. ^ Fertig & Gründling 2013; Doratioto 2002, pp. 403–404.

Sources

  • Capdevila, Luc (2014). "La contienda de la Triple Alianza, periferias e identidades colectivas: Guerra, Estado y nación en América austral en la década de 1860". In Palacios, Guillermo; Bano, Erika (eds.). El poder y la sangre: Guerra, Estado y Nación en la década de 1860. El Colegio de México. pp. 199–218.
  • Donato, Hernâni (1996). Dicionário das batalhas brasileiras (2 ed.). São Paulo: Instituição Brasileira de Difusão Cultural. ISBN 8534800340. OCLC 36768251.
  • Doratioto, Francisco (2002). Maldita Guerra: Nova história da Guerra do Paraguai (in Portuguese) (2 ed.). São Paulo: Companhia das Letras. ISBN 978-65-5921-286-6.
  • Fertig, André; Gründling, Guilherme (2013). "O General Câmara na Guerra do Paraguai através de suas correspondências" (PDF). Estudios Historicos (in Portuguese). 10 (5). CDHRPyB.
  • Hooker, Terry D. (2008). The Paraguayan War. Nottingham: Foundry Books. ISBN 978-1901543155.
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