Tuyuty

The Battle of Tuyuty was far the largest encounter of the war. Almost 60,000 troops took part in the fight. It is named for a vast foldable camp northward of Estero Bellaco the Allied Forces reached by late April.

After the encounter of May 2 , a 18,000 strong force, led by the General Antonio Paranhos, Viscount of Porto Alegre, marched bordering Paraná River, while the major part of the Allied Army, some 35,000 troops, followed to North Estero Bellaco and camped there. The Brazilian Army, commanded by General Osório, occupied part of the terrain on the nearby of Estero Bellaco and the Argentinean were located to the right. The Uruguayan Battalions, with the 41st Infantry Battalion of the Imperial Army, were ahead of the Allied Army, southwards of Tuyuty. The Allied commander, General Bartolomé Mitre, was still worried with what to expect from the enemy. The action of beginning May and the constant skirmishes, were evidence that the Paraguayan would not give way easily. There were also rumors of a large enemy army waiting for a favorable occasion to confront them. To make things worst, looseness was decimating his ranks. Diseases caused more casualties than bullets did.

López, for his turn, called his officers to discuss the situation. He was confident of moving the Allies back, towards Paraná waters. In Tuyuty, reinforcements from other points of the country swelled his ranks to more than 23,350 men. He planned a direct assault on the Triple Alliance positions. This attack was to have in addition the support of heavy guns. The 9.000 strong left wing of his troops would keep the Argentinean forces engaged. They would be led by General Francisco Isidoro Resquin, who would have at his disposal the bulk of the Paraguayan cavalry. On the right, General Vicente Barrios, with an equal number of troops, would launch a direct assault on the Brazilian Army. On the center, Díaz, now promoted to General, had the objective of destroying the Allies vanguard. At the same time he would help Barrios to smash the Allied left wing. He would command 5.000 men. A small reserve would back the attack, if necessary.

For some officers, it was clear that the attack was a blunder. They would have to cross an uneven land, against an entrenched enemy with little support of their own cannons. George Thompson, an English engineer that fought in López' army as Lieutenant-Colonel , noted later that if El Supremo had decided for a defensive strategy, the Paraguayan would have inflicted a great defeated on the Allies, since the terrain was proper for a defensive stand. Notwithstanding, López was determined. The attack would take place on May 24th.

Meantime, the Allies spent their time digging trenches. On the left wing of the Allied camp the artillery was under command of Captain Emílio Mallet, a French middle-aged man that joined the Imperial Army. He was worried about his pieces since his position was to close of Estero Bellaco. An attack from that point or a flank maneuver would put the cannons in serious danger. Near his position the 1st and the 3rd Infantry Divisions formed the extreme left of the wing.

Díaz opened the attack about 11:30 AM. He broke up on the vanguard of the Allied Army. Once again Flores' men were the firsts to experience the Paraguayan onrush. He began to be pushed back by the pressure of the assailants.

On the left of the Allied camp the units of the Imperial Army were under attack of Barrios' infantrymen. Here, the terrain made the battle a melee right from the start. The Paraguayan were moving ahead under close fire of the enemy lines. Soon, it became clear that the assailants were moving to flank the Allies. Mallet's artillery was in danger. The 3rd Division disposed some battalions to protect Mallet's position. For that reason, they would suffer the major part of the attack.

General Osorio

On the right, things did not come so well to the attacking force. First, the terrain was full of obstacles for a cavalry assault. It was marshy and the assailants had to deviate from pools and thickets. Another reason for the difficulties the Paraguayans were facing had to do with the fact that the Argentineans quickly deployed his troops in lines of batallion. Even so, the assailants head for the artillery and held it for some time,but they were soon ejected by a counterattack of the Argentinean Cavalry under Lt. General Wenceslao Paunero.

Meanwhile, Díaz had joined Barrios in his attempt to break the Brazilian formation and reach the rear of the Allied camp.

The extreme left of the Allies was engaged in a desperate fight not to be involved. Both, Paraguayan and Brazilian infantrymen were addressing steady volleys on each other at a short distance. When the Paraguayans were about to achieve their aim, some units brought from the center came in the 1st and 3rd Divisions help. Thus, the defenders were able to repulse the assault. By 4 PM the Paraguayans retreated. They did not achieved their goals.

Tuyuty represented a immense disaster for the Paraguayan Army: almost half of the attacking force was lost. According to some sources, the Paraguayans had 6,000 dead and 6,000 wounded or captured.

Some battalions were annihilated. For the rest of the conflict, López could not field an army of the seize he had in Tuyuty.

Attack of  Paraguayan cavalry onto the Allied right-wing (detail) - Candido Lopez (Fine-Arts Museum / Buenos Aires)

The Allies also had a great toll of losses. The casualties totaled some 4,000, 11% of the effectives. For the Imperial Army the losses were: 719 to 736 killed and 2,292 wounded. Brigadier General Antônio Sampaio, commander of the 3rd Division was among the dead. The Argentineans sustained 126 dead and 480 wounded. For the Uruguayans, the losses counted up to 429, of this number, about 133 were killed.

Combined losses were as high as 16,000. Around 3,550 casualties were sustained each hour of the battle. Tuyuty was the bloodiest single day of the war.

López marched northward to the fortified area of Humaita. It would proved to be a serious obstacle for the Allied Force. Nevertheless, after Tuyuty the Allies were firmly settled on the enemy territory. The tide of war had shifted in favor of the Triple Alliance forces.

Brig. General Antônio Sampaio - Brazilian Army Archives

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