Paraguarí, Battle of

Battle of Paraguarí (15 January 1811), a major engagement in the Paraguayan struggle for independence. After their successful seizure of power in May 1810, the insurgents of Buenos Aires expected the rest of the Platine region to quickly accept their authority and to support the cause of independence. Paraguay, however, continued to recognize the legitimacy of Spanish rule, and rejected the porteño appeal. In response, the insurgents dispatched a 700-man army under Manuel Belgrano to bring the Paraguayans to heel.

Belgrano's troops crossed the Alto Paraná at Itapúa in December 1810 and proceeded to penetrate deep into Paraguay, encountering little opposition. Meanwhile, the Spanish governor, Bernardo Velasco, had well prepared the Paraguayans for defending the province, telling them that Belgrano's intention was to press them into service for a war of expansion elsewhere in South America. Since the porteños had, in fact, been guilty of this practice, the Paraguayans believed Velasco's claims. The result of Velasco's propaganda was that as Belgrano advanced toward Asunción, the inhabitants fled, leaving behind few cattle or foodstuffs. Desperate for provisions, on 15 January 1811, the porteños attacked a Paraguayan force of some 5,000 ill-equipped but well-mounted men just outside the town of Paraguarí. Initially, the battle went in favor of Belgrano, at which point Velasco and most of his peninsular staff hastily withdrew to the provincial capital, spreading tales of utter defeat. In fact, the Paraguayans had rallied under militia officers Manuel Atanacio Cavañas, Juan Manuel Gamarra, and Fulgencio Yegros. The porteños were driven far back, leaving a number of dead upon the field and 130 prisoners.

The incidents surrounding the Battle of Paraguarí confirmed that the defense of the province was fully in Paraguayan hands.

See alsoBelgrano, Manuel .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Harris Gaylord Warren, Paraguay: An Informal History (1949), pp. 144-147.

John Hoyt Williams, Rise and Fall of the Paraguayan Republic, 1800–1870 (1979), pp. 24-27.

Additional Bibliography

Ezcurra Medrano, Alberto. La independencia del Paraguay y otros ensayos. Buenos Aires: Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Históricas Juan Manuel de Rosas, 1999.

Giménez, Ovidio. Vida, época y obra de Manuel Belgrano. Buenos Aires: Librería "El Ateneo" Editorial, 1993.

                                      Thomas L. Whigham