Battle Of Tuyutí, 1866

By André Geraque Kiffer

The Battle of Tuyutí was the biggest and bloodiest battle of the entire Paraguay War and the South American continent, as it involved more than 55,000 men. It was fought on May 24, 1866, in a swampy, sandy and difficult to move region called Tuyutí, in southwestern Paraguay. Paraguayan historians maintain that poor coordination and a lack of detailed planning turned a certain victory for their army into a devastating defeat. Without a well-defined chain of command and without knowing the terrain well, due to the absence of maps, the Triple Alliance encountered difficulties in the beginning of the action. In this historical simulation, we will consider a hypothesis in which both the Paraguayan attack had been better coordinated and the Allied defense had been better oriented – even though the latter maintained its expectation for the next offensive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clube de Autores
• Release date: Feb 3, 2024

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ANDRÉ  GERAQUE  KIFFER

Battle  of  Tuyutí,  1866. A  historical  simulation

Edição  do  Autor Rio  de  Janeiro

2022

---  Kiffer,  André  Geraque.

Battle  of  Tuyutí,  1866.  A  historical  simulation.  André Geraque  Kiffer.

Author’s  Edition,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  2022. Bibliography:  110  p.  52  im.  21  cm..

1.  History.  2.  Art  of  War.  3.  Science  of  War.  4.  War Games.  I.  Author.  II.  Title.

ISBN  978-65-00-46832-8

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3 PROLOGUE

As  a  Military  Historian  I  rely  on  a  summary  of  the historical  fact,  I  analyze  and  highlight  the  decisive factors,  before  simulating  hypotheses  what  if… hypotheses  through  a  board  game.  In  the simulation,  all  possibilities  of  the  purpose  of  the study  are  completed,  when  the  past  of  history  is analyzed  based  on  the  theory  of  the  present  and projected  for  similar  situations  in  the  future.  Since 2010  I  have  published  the  following  series  of simulations:  I.  Historical  Simulation  of  the  Wars  of the  First  Empires;  II.  Historical  Simulation  of  the Wars  in  Classical  Greece;  III.  Historical  Simulation of  the  Roman  Wars;  IV.  Historical  Simulation  of Wars  in  the  Medieval  Era;  V.  Historical  Simulation of  Wars  in  the  Modern  Era  (1453  to  1774);  VI. Historical  Simulation  of  Wars  in  the  Age  of Revolutions  (1775  to  1860);  VII.  Historical Simulation  of  Wars  in  the  Industrial  Age  (1861  to 1913);  "VIII.  Historical  Simulation  of  the  First  World

War;  IX.  Historical  Simulation  of  World  War  II;  X.

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Historical  Simulation  of  the  Cold  War  (1917  to 1991);  and  XI.  Historical  Simulation  of Contemporary  Wars  (1991  to  ...)". Keywords:  History.  Art  of  War.  Science  of  War.  War

Games.

5 SUMMARY

HISTORICAL  FACT...….....…………….....……....…6 HISTORICALANALYSIS…………….....…....….….13 HISTORICAL  SIMULATION…..………………....…29 ANNEXES.……...…………………………………..106

REFERENCES....………………………………….109

6 BATTLE  OF  TUYUTÍ,  MAY  24,  1866

I  recommend  to  the  reader,  as  a  setting  for  the war  of  which  this  battle  was  a  part,  the  reading  of my  book  Paraguay  War,  1864  to  1870.  A historical  simulation  .

Im  1:  The  war.

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Tuyutí  (from  the  Guarani  white  mud),  at  the confluence  of  the  Paraná  and  Paraguay  rivers,  was a  sandy  and  marshy  terrain,  surrounded  by  reeds and  palm  trees  that  served  as  camouflage  for approaches.

The  allies  were  camped  in  a  dry  part  of  the region,  small  compared  to  the  total  number  of soldiers,  which  reached  almost  33,000.  The  space was  four  kilometers  long  by  2.4  kilometers  wide.  It was  in  this  place,  due  to  overpopulation,  poor  water quality  and  numerous  burials  that  a  contamination by  cholera  began,  an  epidemic  that  would  plague the  Alliance  army  for  the  next  years.

On  the  south  side  was  the  estero  (stream  or narrow  branch  of  a  river,  inland)  Bellaco  Sur;  to  the west  was  the  lagoon  and  the  potrero  (enclosed  field with  water  for  breeding  horses)  Piris  or  Pires;  to  the north,  the  estero  Bellaco  Norte  or  Rojas;  and  to  the east,  as  well  as  to  the  west,  on  the  banks  of  other smaller  esteros,  swamp  areas.

Allied  possession  information  was  current  and

visual,  as  they  did  not  have  maps  of  that  territory.

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Without  knowing  it,  the  allies  were  facing  a  strong enemy  defensive  position,  the  Sauce  trenches, further  north,  towards  Humaitá.  The  position  was very  well  organized  on  planks,  it  had  about  1,500 meters,  26  gun  platforms,  quarters  for  3,000  men and  camouflaged  pits  for  snipers.  Six  kilometers from  this  position  was  the  Paso  Pucú,  the  region where  López  was  installed.

Between  the  22nd  and  23rd  of  May,  the  allies reconnoitred  the  region  ahead  of  the  Paraguayan defensive  positions.  Upon  analyzing  the  information obtained,  the  Allied  high  command  decided  to launch  an  attack  no  later  than  25  May,  since  the troops  that  were  doing  the  reconnaissance  had  not finished  it.

López  realized  the  invaders'  intentions  and decided  to  act  in  advance.  He  gathered  his subordinates  in  Paso  Pucú  and  expressed  his desire  to  crush  once  and  for  all  the  enemies  of  our homeland.  The  Paraguayan  president  said  he would  pool  all  resources  in  this  battle  and  attack  the

allied  army  from  all  sides,  pushing  them  back  into

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the  Paraná  River.  The  plan  was  well  received  by  his officers,  as  they  found  it  workable  and  ingenious.

Im  2:  The  Humaitá  Campaign  and  the  Battle  of  Tuyutí.

On  the  morning  of  the  24th,  the  fog  fog  that spread  over  the  camp  were  replaced  by  black smoke  resulting  from  cannon  fire  and  rockets coming  from  the  Paraguayans.

The  Paraguayan  attack  aimed  to  outflank  and encircle  the  allied  positions,  blocking  their  access  to the  Paraná  River.  The  Paraguayan  cavalry,  which

numbered  8,500  against  just  over  1,700  of  the

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allies,  whose  animals  were  mistreated,  was employed  from  the  initial  phase.

At  first  a  lot  of  confusion