Passage of Humaitá

Passage of Humaitá
Part of the Siege of Humaitá
Brazilian Navy forcing passage through the fortress Humaitá
Date 19 February 1868 Location Paraguay River, Humaitá Result Brazilian victory
Belligerents
Paraguay	Empire of Brazil
Commanders and leaders
Solano López	Delfim de Carvalho
Strength
Fortress of Humaitá	3 ironclads 3 monitors
Casualties and losses
unknown	9 wounded

The Passage of Humaitá (Portuguese: Passagem de Humaitá) was a military operation to move a small force of six Brazilian Navy monitors through the Fortress of Humaitá at the Paraguay River. The event took place on February 19th 1868, during the Paraguayan War. The fortress, then fully surrounded by forces on both land and water, fell on July 25th 1868.

History

Passage of Humaitá, by Admiral Trajano Augusto de Carvalho.

On August 1st 1867, Argentine General Bartolome Mitre, ordered the Brazilian imperial fleet to secure a passage through Curupaiti and Humaitá. On August 15th, two divisions of five battleships passed without incident at Curupaiti, however artillery fire forced them to stop at Humaitá. This news caused conflict in the Allied high command. The Brazilian commanders determined that attacking the fortress from the river would be futile and withdrew their fleet, pending a land-based attack which began on August 18th.

From Tuiu-Cuê, the allies headed north and took the villages of São Solano, Vila do Pilar, and Tayi. They finally laid siege to Humaitá itself, isolating it from Asunción. On February 19th 1868, Commander Joaquim José Inácio de Barros ordered the fleet to cross the river by Humaitá. There were few casualties and minimal damage to any of the ships.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Passagem de Humaitá.

• Donato, Hernâni. Dicionário das Batalhas Brasileiras. São Paulo, Editora Ibrasa, 1987.