Pedro Ignacio Meza

Pedro Ignacio Meza (* 1813 in Asunción , Paraguay ; † June 15, 1865 in the fortress Humaitá , Paraguay) was a naval officer and commander in chief of the Paraguayan Navy. During the Triple Alliance War , he commanded his country's navy in the Mato Grosso campaign and in the battle of the Riachuelo .

Life

Meza joined the Paraguayan army as an artilleryman in 1830 , was promoted to corporal in 1841 and sergeant three years later. In 1845 he was assigned to the newly established naval artillery and in the following year promoted to Subteniente , with which he was ranked slightly below a lieutenant (Teniente) . In this function he took part in an expedition to the Gran Chaco , which was led by the old Austrian nobleman Franz Xaver Wisner von Morgenstern (1804-1878), who was in the Paraguayan service .

In 1847 Meza was promoted to lieutenant and in 1850 he was given command of the Balandra Marte , which was also his first independent command. In recognition of his personal and military qualities, President Carlos Antonio López (1790–1862) appointed him Commander in Chief of the Paraguayan Navy in 1854. In 1857 Meza was given command of the paddle steamer Tacuarí , one of the largest and most heavily armed ships in the Paraguayan Navy. Little by little he climbed the career ladder, became a corvette captain (Capitán de Corbeta) and finally a frigate captain (Capitán de Fragata) .

After the declaration of war by Marshal and President Francisco Solano López (1827–1870) on Brazil , Meza was given command of the five steamships with which the army division commanded by López's brother-in-law Vicente Barrios (1825–1868) steamed up the Paraguay River in mid-December 1864 . to carry out the invasion of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso . Although this campaign was of little strategic use to Paraguay, it brought in significant quantities of weapons and ammunition as well as tens of thousands of cattle and other booty.

After his return from Mato Grosso, Meza was ordered to the Argentine theater of war. Here he was able to record a significant success on April 13, 1865, when his fleet managed to surprise the Argentines in Corrientes and capture their two steamers 25 de Mayo and Gualeguay . As a Brazilian squadron appeared in this area a little later and blocked the further advance along the river, Meza was now entrusted with the task of destroying it.

On June 11, 1865, Mezas shipping unit approached the Brazilian squadron, which was located at the mouth of the Riachuelo river in the Paraná river . The battle that followed ended in a catastrophic defeat for Meza's fleet due to a number of factors. The Paraguayan fleet was clearly inferior to that of its opponents in terms of armor. In addition, the cannon-equipped barges , called chatas , added to the steamships had slowed the Paraguayan advance, which, together with the foggy weather in the area of operation, had meant that the anticipated element of surprise was lost. In the end, the fact that Meza had tried under all circumstances to comply with the instructions given to him by López for the upcoming battle weighed heavily and thus deprived himself of any tactical flexibility.

Meza suffered a serious wound to the chest during the battle. Therefore, he was taken to the military hospital of the Paraguayan fortress Humaitá. Here he died four days later as a result of his injury. López is said to have had no interest in seeing Meza and regretted his death as he allegedly intended to have him shot. López's anger hit even the dead. He ruled that only members of the military with low ranks and a limited number of ordinary soldiers were allowed to attend Meza's funeral and had him buried in a shallow grave without military honors. Meza's remains are in the Paso Pucú cemetery south of Humaitá.

literature

John H. Tuohy: Biographical Sketches from the Paraguayan War - 1864-1870. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2011, ISBN 978-1-4662-4838-0 , p. 17 f. (Keyword: Meza, Pedro Ignacio ).

Web links

Capitán de Fragata Pedro Ignacio Meza (biographical entry including photo on bibliotecanacional.gov.py, Spanish)
Pedro Ignacio Meza (biographical entry on portalguarani.com, Spanish)

References and comments

↑ Tuohy 2011, p. 17, names 1817 as the year of Meza's birth. In contrast: "El Capitán de Navio D. Pedro Ignacio Meza, nacido en Asunción en 1813" .
↑ 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 , pp. 33-37, but especially Thomas L. Whigham: The Paraguayan war. Volume 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 , p. 192 ff.
↑ Leuchars 2002, p. 66, and Whigham 2002, p. 324.
↑ Whigham 2002, p. 324, where u. a. the talk is that Meza died after eight days.

personal data
SURNAME	Meza, Pedro Ignacio
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Commander in Chief of the Paraguayan Navy
DATE OF BIRTH	1813 or 1817
PLACE OF BIRTH	Asunción , Paraguay
DATE OF DEATH	June 15, 1865
Place of death	Humaitá , Paraguay

[1] Tuohy 2011, p. 17, names 1817 as the year of Meza's birth. In contrast: "El Capitán de Navio D. Pedro Ignacio Meza, nacido en Asunción en 1813" .

[2] 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 , pp. 33-37, but especially Thomas L. Whigham: The Paraguayan war. Volume 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 , p. 192 ff.

[3] Leuchars 2002, p. 66, and Whigham 2002, p. 324.

[4] Whigham 2002, p. 324, where u. a. the talk is that Meza died after eight days.