On 24 May 1866, the Battle of Tuyuti was fought in South America between the Paraguayans under Francisco Solano Lopez against the Triple Alliance under Bartolome Mitre and Manuel Luis Osorio during the Paraguayan War.
Why did it happen?
In 1862, Francisco Solano Lopez succeeded his father, Carlos Antonio Lopez, as the Dictator of Paraguay. An admirer of Napoleon Bonaparte, Francisco Lopez sought to expand Paraguay’s borders towards the River Plate controlled by Uruguay and Argentina and gain access to its natural resources. In 1864, Lopez decided to aid Uruguay in its war against Brazil, aiming to fight a short war to achieve favourable terms. However, when Lopez invaded Argentina the following year, Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina formed the Triple Alliance on 1 May 1865 to defeat Paraguay. On 11 June, the Paraguayan navy was defeated at the Battle of Riachuelo, and the Triple Alliance invaded Paraguay in early 1866, encamping at Tuyuti near the Parana River. On 24 May, Lopez decided to launch a large-scale assault on the Triple Alliance’s camp after hearing reports that it was planning to advance against his positions. Historians would later dub the resulting battle “the South American Waterloo.”
Who was involved?
The Paraguayan army at Tuyuti numbered 17,000 infantry, 7,000 cavalry and 50 artillery. The Paraguayan army was divided into four columns: General Vicente Barrios led 3,000 infantry and 500 cavalry on the right wing; General Isidoro Resquin commanded 2,000 infantry and 3,700 cavalry on the left wing; Colonel Hilario Marco and Jose Diaz led 6,000 infantry and 2,800 cavalry in the centre. The remaining 6,000 infantry remained within the Paraguayan camp along with the 50 artillery pieces. The Triple Alliance army at Tuyuti numbered 32,000 infantry, 3,000 cavalry and 150 artillery. The left wing of the Triple Alliance consisted of 22,000 Brazilians under Manuel Luis Osorio, while the right wing consisted of 11,000 Argentinians and 20 artillery under Bartolome Mitre and Wenceslao Paunero. The centre consisted of 2,000 Uruguayans and 27 artillery pieces under Leon de Palleja, with the remaining 103 artillery positioned in front of the trenches and redoubts protecting the Triple Alliance camp.
What happened?
At 11.55am, the Paraguayan column under Vicente Barrios attacked the Brazilian forces stationed on the left wing of the Triple Alliance army. Despite some initial successes against the Brazilian infantry, the Brazilian cavalry forced the Paraguayans back. In the centre, the advance of Jose Diaz’s column was slowed by marshland covering the battlefield, which allowed the Uruguayan artillery to inflict heavy casualties on the Paraguayans. Upon reaching the enemy lines, the Paraguayans engaged the Uruguayans in hand-to-hand fighting, which forced the Uruguayans to retreat. At that point, the Brazilian reserves advanced toward the Triple Alliance centre to support the Uruguayans. Both Diaz’s and Marco’s columns were forced to retreat after coming under Allied artillery fire. Simultaneously, the Paraguayan column under Isidoro Resquin charged the Argentinians on the Triple Alliance’s right wing and routed the cavalry there, capturing 20 artillery pieces. Finally, the Paraguayan columns under Resquin and Barrios attempted a double envelopment of the Triple Alliance army, only for the Argentinian and Brazilian cavalry to regroup and repulse both attacks, which forced the Paraguayans to retreat at 4.30pm. The Paraguayans lost 6,000 killed and 7,000 wounded during the battle, while the Triple Alliance only lost 1,000 killed and 3,000 wounded.
What changed as a result?
The Battle of Tuyuti was a decisive victory for the Triple Alliance. In the words of Gabriele Esposito, “From a purely numerical point of view, it was the largest pitched battle ever fought in South America to date, and resulted in more casualties in a single day than any other battle on the continent” (Esposito, 2019, p.57). Four months later, the Triple Alliance was defeated at the Battle of Curupayti, and the war dragged on for months without a decisive battle. In 1868, Brazilian Duke Marques de Caxias became commander-in-chief of the Triple Alliance, and on 1 January 1869, the Paraguayan capital, Asuncion, was captured. Francisco Lopez then fled into the mountains and fought a guerrilla war against the Triple Alliance until he was killed at Cero Cora on 1 March 1870, ending the war. Of the surviving Paraguayan population of 200,000 at the war’s end, only 30,000 were men, while Argentina and Brazil annexed large chunks of territory. The Battle of Tuyuti demonstrated that cavalry alone could not capture artillery batteries without adequate infantry support, while South American armies grew to become larger and more professional in the years during and after the Paraguayan War.
Bibliography
Esposito, Gabriele. The Paraguayan War 1864-70: The Triple Alliance at stake in La Plata. Oxford, Osprey Publishing, 2019.
Grant, R.G. Battle: A Visual Journey Through 5,000 Years of Combat. London, Dorling Kindersley, 2005.
Kings and Generals. “Battle of Tuyuti 1866 - War of the Triple Alliance DOCUMENTARY.” YouTube video, 16:45. July 30, 2018. www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xwLynzKdx4
Webb, Jonathan. “Battle of Tuyuti, 1866.” The Art of Battle. Last revised 2011. www.theartofbattle.com/battle-of-tuyuti-1866/