Humaitá (Paraguay)
| Humaitá Humaita |
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Coordinates: 27 ° 3 ′ S , 58 ° 33 ′ W
Humaitá
Humaita on the map of Paraguay |
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| Basic data | |
| Country | Paraguay |
| Department | Ñeembucú |
| City foundation | 1778 |
| Residents | 3214 (2008) |
| Detailed data | |
| Time zone | UTC −4 |
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Humaitá ( Guaraní Humaita ) is a small port town on the Río Paraguay , about 24 km north of the confluence with the Río Paraná .
history
Humaitá was founded in 1778 by the governor Pedro Melo de Portugal. In 1844, during the presidency of Carlos Antonio López , the city was expanded into a fortress according to the plans of Franz Wiesner von Morgenstern and equipped with large-caliber artillery guns by the director of the naval arsenal in Asunción , John William Whytehead.
During the Triple Alliance War , the fortress was besieged by the Alliance for almost three years. The siege led to some of the bloodiest battles in Latin America and has been compared to the siege of Sevastopol at the time . In June the brothers James and Ezra Allen from the USA undertook 14 reconnaissance flights with their hot air balloon on behalf of the Brazilian troops . On January 18, 1868, Brazilian ironclad ships managed to pass Humaitá and thus gain control of the river. Most of the Paraguayan troops were evacuated on July 24, 1868. The commandant of the fortress, Colonel Paulino Alén, died by suicide, his successor, Colonel Francisco Martínez, surrendered with about 1,300 men. The ruin of the church, which was destroyed by shell hits, became a monument to the Defensa de la Patria (“Defense of the Homeland”).
literature
- R. Andrew Nickson , Historical Dictionary of Paraguay, The Scarecrow Press, Metuchen & London, 1993, ISBN 0-8108-2643-7
