Battle of Curuzú

Battle of Curuzú
Part of the Paraguayan War
Brazilian (all blue uniform) and Argentine (blue and red uniform) troops landing in Curuzú
Date September 1–3, 1866 Location Curuzu, Paraguay Result Allied victory
Belligerents
Paraguay	Empire of Brazil Argentina
Commanders and leaders
Colonel Jimenez	Bartolomé Mitre Manuel Marques de Sousa
Strength
2,500 men 13 Cannon	8,000 Brazilians 1,000 Argentines 6 Ironclad 7 Gunboat
Casualties and losses
832 killed 1,300 wounded	213 killed 628 wounded 1 Ironclad sunk

Vista N / S from the interior of Fort Curuzú on September 20, 1866. Candido Lopez, oil on canvas, 0.485 m. x 0.152 m, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes Buenos Aires, Argentina

The Battle of Curuzu happened between September 1 and September 3 in 1866 in the context of Paraguayan War.

After the first Battle of Tuiuti, won by the Allies on May 24 in 1866, commander of the reserves Mitre took ten thousand men brought by the baron of Porto Alegre and decided to attack the batteries in the Curuzu Fort and Fort Curupaiti, south of the main stronghold of Humaitá on the shores of Paraguay River.

On September 1, at 7:30 in the morning the Brazilian squad, with battleships Bahia, Barroso, Lima Barros, Rio de Janeiro and Tamandaré in front, facing the Curuzu fort, plus cannonry Mage in front of Palmar island, along with the wooden ships Greenhalgh, Beberibe, Belmonte, Araguari, Ipiranga, Parnaíba and Ivaí. The shootout between the fort and ships lasted four hours. Meanwhile the timber ships landed 800 soldiers in the Chaco, to destroy the base from which the Paraguayan launched fireships and fired artillery against the Brazilian warships. With nightfall the bombardment was stopped.

The next day, at 14:00, the battleship Rio de Janeiro hit two mines and sank immediately along with her commander Américo Brasílio Silvado and more than 50 sailors. An hour later the Baron de Porto Alegre, had already landed and gathered more than 8,000 men, infantry, cavalry, artillery and sappers in Guardia del Palmar. Despite having encountered resistance, they succeeded in repulsing the enemy and prepare for the next day ground attack.

Interior view of Curuzú.

On September 3, the fort, commanded by Colonel Jimenez, was stormed. The defenders relied on the advantage of the wetlands and bushes around the fort. The fort was conquered after a heavy bombardment, and the Paraguayan army was pursued until the vicinity of Curupaiti.

References

• DONATO, Hernâni. Dicionário das batalhas brasileiras. 2a ed, IBRASA, 1996, ISBN 978-85-348-0034-1, 593 pp.