Battle of Curupaity

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Battle of Curupayty

Date	September 22, 1866
Location	Curupayty, Paraguay
Result	Paraguayan victory

Combatants

Paraguay

Uruguay,
Argentina,
Brasil

Commanders

José E. Díaz

Bartolomé Mitre

Strength

5,000

20,000

Casualties

ca. 4,000

War of the Triple Alliance
Mato Grosso – Rio Grande do Sul – Corrientes – Riachuelo – Jataí – Tuyutí – Curupaity – Piquissiri – Campaign of the Hills

The Battle of Curupayty was a key battle in the War of the Triple Alliance.

On the morning of september 22, 1866, the joint force of the Imperial (Brazilian) and Argentina armies attacked Paraguayan fortified trenches on Curupaity. The Paraguayans were led by General José E. Díaz. This position was held by 5,000 men and 49 cannons, some of them in hidden places out of the attackers view. The [Brazilian Navy] gave support to the 20,000 assailants, but the ships had to keep some distance from the guns at the fortress of Humaitá, which led to the lack of accuracy and impact of the ship's fire. The Paraguayans were also successful in misleading their foes: a trench drew most of the Brazlian fire, but the Paraguayan troops were located elsewhere. Around 20 percent of the almost 20,000 allied (Brazilian and Argentine) troops involved in the attack were lost; Paraguay lost less than a hundred men. The utter failure resulted in the change of the allied command. Paraguay's biggest success in the ultimately disastrous War of the Triple Alliance was limited because its military leader Francisco Solano López didn't counterattack the defeated allies. Not even a general as celebrated as Díaz would attack without López's orders. Ultimately, the battle of Curupayty was merely a sidenote and temporary success in what would eventually become a near-extermination of the Paraguayan people.