Battle for Fort Curuzú

Battle for Fort Curuzú

Part of: Triple Alliance War

Brazilian armored ships open fire on the farms near Curuzú. The sinking ironclad Rio de Janeiro can be seen in the left foreground (drawing from the 1890s).

date	September 1st to 3rd, 1866
place	Río Paraguay , south of Humaitá , Paraguay
output	Brazilian victory
consequences	Conquest of the fortress at Curuzú. Push back the Paraguayan armed forces in the direction of Curupaytí (and thus also in the direction of Humaitá) by the Brazilian troops.

Parties to the conflict
Paraguay	Brazil
Commander
Manuel Antonio Jiménez	Manuel Marques de Sousa
Troop strength
2,830 soldiers 13 guns (on land) improvised mines	8,400 soldiers 5 ironclads 7 gunboats 6 transport ships
losses
832 killed ~ 1,300 wounded. 13 guns destroyed	213 fallen 628 wounded 1 ironclad sunk 4 ironclad damaged

The battle for Fort Curuzú was a battle fought during the Triple Alliance War between Paraguay and Brazil in September 1866. A combined land and sea ​​force of Brazil fought the Paraguayan artillery batteries at Curuzú on the banks of the Río Paraguay . The aim of the Brazilians was to force and secure the course of the river for a further advance to the north and thus in the direction of the strong defense complex Humaitá -Curupaytí, which guarded the river access into the Paraguayan heartland. The battle ended with a victory for the Brazilians after three days.

The Paraguayan Defense

The Paraguayan troops at Curuzú consisted of 2,830 soldiers and a total of 13 guns well entrenched behind earthworks , including eight 32-pounders and one heavy 60-pounder Parrot gun . In addition, the defenders had an unknown number - probably around 40 to 50 - of mines laid in the river. These explosive devices were either firmly attached to stakes just below the surface of the water or were released by the Paraguayans as a kind of floating mine. These mines, floating down the Paraguay River, probably represented the greatest threat to Brazilian ships during the entire campaign on the river. The contact-detonated mines carried between 150 and 680 kilograms of black powder in a galvanized container . The commander of the Paraguayan troops in Curuzú was Coronel Manuel Antonio Jiménez.

The Brazilian Armed Forces

The Brazilians had gathered around 8,400 soldiers, including marine infantry , to attack the fortress near Curuzú . These troops were grouped in the 2º Corpo do Exército Brasileiro (II. Brazilian Army Corps). From the river side, the attack was to be carried out by the four modern armored cannon boats Brasil , Barroso , Rio de Janeiro and Tamandaré (all ships were commissioned between March 1865 and spring 1866), the turret armored ship Lima Barros and the (unarmored) cannon boats Greenhalgh , Beberibe , Belmonte , Araguari , Ipiranga , Parnaíba and Ivaí are supported. The non-armored gunboats, which were very susceptible to fire with grenades , should however remain in the background if possible and concentrate primarily on securing troop landings. The commander of the 2nd Corpo do Exército Brasileiro was Tenente-General Manuel Marques de Sousa (Conde de Porto Alegre).

Course of the battle

The Brazilian armed forces had been concentrated in Corrientes and Cerrito for the planned attack since July 1866 . The association finally ran out on August 30, 1866 in the direction of Curuzú. In the early hours of September 1, around 5:00 a.m., the first Brazilian troops, around 800 marine infantry, landed around two and a half kilometers southwest of Curuzú against very little resistance. The defenders had almost completely retreated behind the earth entrenchments of Curuzú. In addition, both sides were initially hindered by dense ground fog .

At 7:30 pm, the Brazilian approached ironclads the fortifications and opened half an hour later the fire. The five ironclads dueled with the fort for around four hours. The Paraguayan batteries scored numerous hits on the ships. Although they suffered considerable damage on the surface - almost all units lost some of the masts or the chimney and had a large number of impact dents on the armor - none was seriously damaged or even put out of action. In return, the armored cannon boats were able to destroy around half of the fort's guns. The Paraguayan artillerymen suffered heavy losses, especially from shrapnel shells that exploded over the positions. Around 4,000 Brazilian soldiers were landed south of Curuzú by midday. At around 3:00 p.m., they carried out their first assault on the earthworks, which, however, could be repulsed by the attackers with considerable losses (around 100 dead, around 300 wounded). As the fog broke up again in the afternoon hours, the attacks were stopped for that day.

Brazilian armored ships open fire on the farms near Curuzú. The sinking ironclad Rio de Janeiro can be seen in the left foreground (drawing from the 1890s).

On September 2, the Brazilians renewed their attack. But even on this day, the now severely weakened defenders managed to repel all attacks. The Brazilian armored cannon boats began bombarding the earthworks again at 9:00 a.m. With only three or four operational guns left, the Paraguayans offered fierce resistance, but all cannons in the fort were out of action by the afternoon. Nevertheless, the Brazilians suffered the heaviest loss during the battle that day: The armored gunboat Rio de Janeiro (871 tons) ran into one (or two?) Of the Paraguayan gunpowder river mines at noon . The violent explosion tore a hole in the hull below the stern , whereupon the stern buckled and the ironclad began to sink rapidly. 53 crew members went down with the ship, including the commander, Primeiro-Tenente Joaquin Alves Coelho. 61 men, including the ship's doctor, were rescued from the other ships' dinghies. Although the situation of the Paraguayan defenders after the failure of all guns and after heavy losses (around 60 percent of all soldiers had already fallen or wounded) had become virtually untenable and thus a conquest of the fort was within reach, the Brazilians broke after the loss of the Rio de Janeiro stopped all attacks that day.

On the morning of September 3, 1866, around 4,000 Brazilian soldiers stormed the earthworks with strong artillery support. The defenders were unable to counter this major attack, which is why the commander in Curuzú, Coronel Manuel Antonio Jiménez, and around 800 to 900 Paraguayan soldiers decided to retreat towards the fort of Curupaytí further upstream. Although the sporadic retreat skirmishes lasted until midday, the fortress grounds of Curuzú were firmly in the hands of the Brazilians on the afternoon of September 3, and the battle came to an end.

The damaged Brazilian armored gunboat Brasil after the battle. The stumps of the masts shot down and the dents from hits on the armored central battery are clearly visible.

losses

Paraguay's troops suffered heavy losses during the battle. These were mainly caused by the shrapnel of the ironclad ships, which had exploded over the uncovered positions of the Paraguayans. A total of 832 Paraguayans had fallen, the number of wounded was around 1,300. Of these, a part (300?) Could be taken away on the retreat. Added up, the Paraguayan casualties are likely to have been around 1,800 soldiers (including the prisoners).

In comparison, the Brazilians had significantly fewer casualties: 213 men had died (a quarter of the deaths were due to the sinking of the Rio de Janeiro alone ) and 628 men were wounded. However, the Brazilian flotilla suffered considerable damage in the attack. While only one ship was lost - to a mine hit - all of the armored gunboats involved had their superstructures shot up and masts and chimneys torn down.

consequences

The battle for Fort Curuzú ended with a victory for the Brazilian armed forces, whereby it became apparent that the Paraguayan troops, even if they were clearly inferior in terms of weapons and numbers, were determined to resist bitterly. The success at Curuzú paved the way for the Brazilians (and their allies) towards the much more developed fortress complex Humaitá -Curupaytí. The allies still had to face the costly battles for these barriers, which were also known as the “Gibraltar of South America” - and they were to last for more than two years.

Aftermath

Allegedly due to a lack of combat readiness and cowardice in front of the enemy, the dictator of Paraguay, Francisco Solano López , had more than 60 members of the 10th Infantry Battalion participating in the fighting for Curuzú liquidated on September 10, 1866.

literature

• Donato, Hernâni: Dicionário das Batalhas Brasileiras . Editora Ibrasa. São Paulo 1996.
• Doratioto, Francisco Fernando Monteoliva: Maldita Guerra: Nova História da Guerra do Paraguai . Companhia das Letras. São Paulo 2002.
• Gratz, George A .: The Brazilian Imperial Navy Ironclads, 1865–1874 . In: Preston, Antony: Warship 1999-2000 . Conway Maritime Press. London 1999.
• Hooker, TD: The Paraguayan War . Foundry Books. Nottingham 2008.
• Muñoz, Javier Romero: The Guerra Grande: The War of the Triple Alliance, 1865-1870 . Decision Games. Bakersfield 2011.

Web links

• Information about the gunboat Rio de Janeiro . (Portuguese)
• To the battle of Curuzú (Portuguese)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Kennedy, Andrew J .: La Plata, Brazil and Paraguay During the Present War . Stanford. London 1869, p. 104.
2. ^ Gratz, George A.: The Brazilian Imperial Navy Ironclads, 1865-1874 . In: Preston, Antony: Warship 1999-2000 . Conway Maritime Press. London 1999, p. 150.
3. ↑ http://www.naval.com.br/ngb/R/R028/R028.htm
4. ^ Hooker, TD: The Paraguayan War . Foundry Books. Nottingham 2008, p. 61.