Mato Grosso campaign

Brazilian expedition in Mato Grosso.

date	December 1864 to April 1868
place	Mato Grosso , Brazil
output	Long-term conquest of Mato Grosso by Paraguayan troops

Parties to the conflict
Paraguay 1842 Paraguay	Brazil 1822 Brazil
Commander
Paraguay 1842 Vicente Barrios Francisco Isidoro Resquin Paraguay 1842	Brazil 1822 Manuel Pedro Drago Carlos de Morais Camisão Brazil 1822
Troop strength
7,898 soldiers	3,000 soldiers
losses
exact number unknown	exact number unknown

The Mato Grosso campaign ( Spanish: Campaña del Mato Grosso ) is part of the Triple Alliance War and was an early advance by Paraguayan troops into Brazilian territory. The area of today's state of Mato Grosso was occupied by Paraguay for almost the entire duration of the war.

Paraguay's offensive

Paraguay took the initiative in the early stages of the war and attacked the Brazilian area of Mato Grosso on December 14, 1864 from the north. The area of today's state of Rio Grande do Sul was occupied in the spring of 1865, as was the Argentine province of Corrientes .

Vicente Barrios .

Two Paraguayan troop units invaded Mato Grosso independently of each other. An expedition with 3,248 men under the command of Colonel Vicente Barrios reached the city of Concepcion by ship across the Río Paraguay , under the command of Capitan de Fragata Pedro Ignacio Meza . They attacked Fort Nova Coimbra on December 27th. The 154-man garrison under Lieutenant Hermenegildo de Albuquerque Porto Carrero was able to hold out for three days. When their ammunition was exhausted, they finally gave up the fort and retired across the Corumbá River to the Anhambaí gunboat . After the troops from Paraguay were able to take the fort, they marched north and also captured the cities of Albuquerque, Tage and Corumbá in January 1865. Shortly afterwards, troops were sent to the military outpost of Dourados . This attack was led by Major Martín Urbieta . The troops faced resistance on December 29, 1864, with Brazilian Lieutenant Antonio João Ribeiro and 16 of his soldiers killed. The Paraguayan troops then advanced to Nioaque and Miranda , where they defeated the troops of Colonel José Dias da Silva . Coxim finally fell to them in April 1865. A second Paraguayan offensive with 4650 men under Colonel Francisco Isidoro Resquín also penetrated Mato Grosso.

From a strategic point of view, the Mato Grosso campaign was of little use to Paraguay, but it brought the country in significant quantities of arms and ammunition as well as tens of thousands of head of cattle and other booty, which were a valuable addition to its limited resources. The fact that, despite their victories at the beginning of the campaign, its troops did not march to Cuiabá , the capital of the province, where Augusto , also speaks for the fact that Paraguay was thinking more of a large-scale raid and not of conquering Mato Grosso Leverger had already fortified Melgaço fort to protect the city.

Brazilian counter-offensive

Brazil then sent an expedition to fight the Paraguayan troops in Mato Grosso. 2,780 men, led by Colonel Manuel Pedro Drago , left Uberaba in Minas Gerais in April 1865 and crossed the Río Apa towards Paraguay in April 1867. In January 1867, Colonel Carlos de Morais Camisão was given command after Drago died. The troop strength at this time was 1907 soldiers.

The President of Paraguay, Francisco Solano López sent the 21st Cavalry Regiment to Concepcion to reinforce the cavalry under Major Martin Urbieta . Despite the victory at the Battle of Baiende , Colonel Camisão was forced to resign. The supply situation for the troops was extremely poor and the number was reduced to 578 men. Camisão died on the way to Canuto , but his troops reached the city on June 11th.

literature

Chris Leuchars: To the Bitter End. Paraguay and the War of the Triple Alliance (= Contributions in Military Studies). Greenwood Press, Westport 2002, ISBN 978-0-313-32365-2 .
TD Hooker: The Paraguayan War . Foundry Books, Nottingham 2008, ISBN 1-901543-15-3 .
Thomas L. Whigham: The Paraguayan was. Vol. 1: Causes and early conduct (= Studies in War, Society, and the Military). Univ. of Nebraska Press, Lincoln et al. a. 2002, ISBN 0-8032-4786-9 .

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Hooker 2008.
↑ See Leuchars 2002, pp. 33–37, but especially Whigham 2002, pp. 192ff.

[Hooker-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Hooker 2008.

[2] See Leuchars 2002, pp. 33–37, but especially Whigham 2002, pp. 192ff.