Battle of Tacuarí
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Tacuarí was a battle in Southern Paraguay between revolutionary forces under the command of General Manuel Belgrano
, member of the Primera Junta
government of Argentina
, and Paraguay
an troops under colonel Manuel Atanasio Cabañas, at the time at the service of the royalists.
in Buenos Aires
, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
, the Primera Junta
government invited the other cities and provinces to join the revolution. Any intent of preserving the local governments previous to the revolution were considered hostile; and as a consequence two military campaigns were launched to suppress the resistance, one to Upper Peru
and another to Paraguay, whose Spanish governor, Bernardo de Velasco, had refused to recognize the Junta and had received political support from the Cabildo
of Asunción
.
General Manuel Belgrano, a member of the Junta was named commander of the expedition with only 700 men, half of them without military experience. Even though his forces were small, the extreme prudence of Velasco got them to fight first at Paraguarí, near Asunción, were he was defeated with relative ease.
Forced to retreat, Belgrano marched to the Tebicuary river, where he was joined by 400 men from the Guaraní militias from Yapeyú
and some men from the Fatherland Cavalry Regiment (ex-Blandengues). As noted in his Memoirs, the Paraguayans did not pursue, and he could continue retreating to the town of Santa Rosa
. There he received news that the situation was worsening at the Banda Oriental
, so the Junta was ordering him to end the Paraguay campaign soon so he could help in the new theater of operations. On his part Belgrano requested reinforcements and decided to stop the retreat at the Tacuarí river and establish a defensive position. He was confident that with reinforcements from Buenos Aires he could maintain the position.
The help sent by the Junta consisted of a small naval squadron travelling north on the Paraná River
. This flotilla, composed of three small ships under the command of Juan Bautista Azopardo
was defeated on March 2, 1811 at San Nicolás de los Arroyos
, so Belgrano was left without reinforcements.
The Paraguayans advanced after Belgrano, expecting he would retread without combat after the defeat at Paraguarí. The vanguard was under the command of Fulgencio Yegros and the main army under General Manuel Cabañas, with a total of 2,000 men, plus a reinforcement of three pieces of artillery.
Velazco had communicated to Cabañas by letter on January 29:
The Paraguayan forces under Cabañas consisted of a total of 1,400 men and 10 artillery pieces. Cabañas directly commanded 1.000 men with a division under commander Blas José de Rojas, 200 men from Villarrica with 7 pieces of artillery, an advance force under commander Fulgencio Yegros with two squadrons of cavalry (urban militias from Villarrica, Villa Real de Concepción and Caazapá) and five companies of infantry under captain Pedro Juan Caballero, captain Antonio Tomás Yegros, commander García, commander José Mariano Recalde and sub-lieutenant Pedro Pablo Miers. These forces were complemented by 400 men under commander Juan Manuel Gamarra with three pieces of artillery under the command of Pascual Urdapilleta.
On the morning of March 7 the Paraguayan troops joined in one place with the arrival of Gamarra's forces to the right side of the Tacuary river. Cabañas wrote that day to Velazco:
On March 8 a bridge over the river was finished and the Paraguayan troops commenced to cross. On March 9, the Paraguayans attacked the front of Belgrano's position. He was reinforced behind the Tacuarí river, forcing Cabañas's forces to cross the river under enemy fire, but Cabañas left only part of his forces to cross directly, including all the artillery, and advanced with the rest through a man-made path through the jungle.
Through a path opened specifically for this operation, Cabañas attacked the enemy at their flank. Colonel José Machain moved to the side to repel them, but was surrounded by Paraguayan cavalry and forced to surrender. Therefore Belgrano left only a few men in a defensive position and marched to help Machain. Commanding the defenders was at the river crossing was major Celestino Vidal, who was left almost blind by cannon fire.
Belgrano refused to surrender under Cabañas request, and maintained a steady resistance, which forced the Paraguayans to stop their advance. Rapidly, Belgrano retreated with the remainder of his army to a nearby hill. From there he sent a communication to Cabañas, saying
Cabañas took that communique as a request for armistice, and ordered Belgrano to abandon the province completely in one day.
In first place, he succeeded in extracting an important part of the army from Paraguay, about 400 men, including the prisoners captured with Machain. These men would form the for the future United Provinces army that would fight at the Banda Oriental (present-day Uruguay
), supporting the local militia commanded by José Artigas.
Belgrano wrote a proposal that general Cabañas took to Asunción to form the base for a peace treaty between Asunción and Buenos Aires; this included free commerce between the two capitals and the formation of a new local government in Asunción. He also requested this new government to send a representative that would form part of the Government (Junta) in Buenos Aires and would negotiate all the reparations that would be paid by Buenos Aires for the war they took to Paraguay. Belgrano made the condition that this would require at the formation of a local autonomous government (outside of Spain and the Royalists) and that it recognized the rebel government in Buenos Aires.
His best success, in any case, was to have Paraguay start to seriously consider independence from Spain
, even without joining the United Provinces. In effect, shortly after May 14, the Paraguayans declared their independence from Spain (on May 17) and formed their first government after a peaceful rebellion at Asuncion that forced the resignation of the entire city and provincial councils, after a plan to have Portuguese troops from Brazil as reinforcements to the Spanish troops as counterweight to the Argentine troops was exposed. Among their first proponents were several of the victors at Tacuarí, especially Fulgencio Yegros.
Belgrano's campaign did not accomplish their goal of having Paraguay to form part of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, joined by the other ex-provinces of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.
Due to his military defeat in Paraguay the Primera Junta in Buenos Aires opened a Court Martial for Belgrano on June 6, 1811, even though they did not have a definite charge against him, instead a people's petition (petición del pueblo) to make the charges that would be appropriate. Nobody presented any charges against him, and the officers under his command in the Paraguay campaign did not have any complaints and defended his patriotism and irreproachable conduct.
Finally, the government decided on August 9, 1811 to absolve him of all charges and published the verdict in the Buenos Ayres Gazette
and that he died in the battle.
However, this child is not mentioned in battle reports of the time, either the immediate ones or others made days or months later. The first mention to the drummer of Tacuarí was formulated 45 years after the battle, and despicted shortly after in a portrait with a 50-years old blind man (however, Vidal was nearly 21 years old when the battle took place). This portrait would be based on many improbable ideas: that the army was led by a blind man (in real life Vidal was almost blind due to cannon fire), that a 12 years old child would be allowed in the front lines, and that a child might be able to serve both as guide of a blind man and a military drummer in the middle of a battle between Argentines and Spanish royalists. This myth has made way into Argentine military history, a legend told through the years.
In light of this, today, the "Tacuari Drummer" Regimental Band of the 1st Regiment of Foot Infantry "Patricios" has a young snare drummer in its ranks, bringing this story to the 21st century Argentina. This is the only Argentine Military band
to have a child play as a military musician, in tribute to the young drummer from Concepcion del Uruguay who used his talent, at the cost of his life, to bring victory to the Argentine forces and would result, indirectly, in Paraguay's independence days after, with several of the victorious royalist officers and soldiers supporting it.
Manuel Belgrano
Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano , usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano, was an Argentine economist, lawyer, politician, and military leader. He took part in the Argentine Wars of Independence and created the Flag of Argentina...
, member of the Primera Junta
Primera Junta
The Primera Junta or First Assembly is the most common name given to the first independent government of Argentina. It was created on 25 May 1810, as a result of the events of the May Revolution. The Junta initially had representatives from only Buenos Aires...
government of Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, and Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
an troops under colonel Manuel Atanasio Cabañas, at the time at the service of the royalists.
History
After the May RevolutionMay Revolution
The May Revolution was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish colony that included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay...
in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, , was the last and most short-lived Viceroyalty of the Spanish Empire in America.The Viceroyalty was established in 1776 out of several former Viceroyalty of Perú dependencies that mainly extended over the Río de la Plata basin, roughly the present day...
, the Primera Junta
Primera Junta
The Primera Junta or First Assembly is the most common name given to the first independent government of Argentina. It was created on 25 May 1810, as a result of the events of the May Revolution. The Junta initially had representatives from only Buenos Aires...
government invited the other cities and provinces to join the revolution. Any intent of preserving the local governments previous to the revolution were considered hostile; and as a consequence two military campaigns were launched to suppress the resistance, one to Upper Peru
Upper Peru
Upper Peru was the region in the Viceroyalty of Peru, and after 1776, the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, comprising the governorships of Potosí, La Paz, Cochabamba, Los Chiquitos, Moxos and Charcas...
and another to Paraguay, whose Spanish governor, Bernardo de Velasco, had refused to recognize the Junta and had received political support from the Cabildo
Cabildo (council)
For a discussion of the contemporary Spanish and Latin American cabildo, see Ayuntamiento.A cabildo or ayuntamiento was a former Spanish, colonial administrative council that governed a municipality. Cabildos were sometimes appointed, sometimes elected, but were considered to be representative of...
of Asunción
Asunción
Asunción is the capital and largest city of Paraguay.The "Ciudad de Asunción" is an autonomous capital district not part of any department. The metropolitan area, called Gran Asunción, includes the cities of San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambaré, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, Ñemby, San...
.
General Manuel Belgrano, a member of the Junta was named commander of the expedition with only 700 men, half of them without military experience. Even though his forces were small, the extreme prudence of Velasco got them to fight first at Paraguarí, near Asunción, were he was defeated with relative ease.
Forced to retreat, Belgrano marched to the Tebicuary river, where he was joined by 400 men from the Guaraní militias from Yapeyú
Yapeyú
The word Yapeyú comes from the Guaraní language and means "ripe fruit".* Yapeyú, Corrientes*Yapeyú River now called Guaviraví River...
and some men from the Fatherland Cavalry Regiment (ex-Blandengues). As noted in his Memoirs, the Paraguayans did not pursue, and he could continue retreating to the town of Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa, Paraguay
Santa Rosa is a town and district located in the Misiones department in Paraguay. It is one of the most important cities of the influence Jesuit.-Geography:Santa Rosa is located 257 kilometers south of Asunción on Route I "Mariscal Francisco Solano Lopez"...
. There he received news that the situation was worsening at the Banda Oriental
Banda Oriental
The Banda Oriental del Uruguay was the South American territory east of the Uruguay River and north of the Río de la Plata, coinciding approximately with the modern nation of Uruguay, the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul and some parts of Santa Catarina...
, so the Junta was ordering him to end the Paraguay campaign soon so he could help in the new theater of operations. On his part Belgrano requested reinforcements and decided to stop the retreat at the Tacuarí river and establish a defensive position. He was confident that with reinforcements from Buenos Aires he could maintain the position.
The help sent by the Junta consisted of a small naval squadron travelling north on the Paraná River
Paraná River
The Paraná River is a river in south Central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina for some . It is second in length only to the Amazon River among South American rivers. The name Paraná is an abbreviation of the phrase "para rehe onáva", which comes from the Tupi language...
. This flotilla, composed of three small ships under the command of Juan Bautista Azopardo
Juan Bautista Azopardo
Juan Bautista Azopardo was a Maltese Privateer and military man who fought under the flags of The Netherlands, Spain and Argentina.- Early life :...
was defeated on March 2, 1811 at San Nicolás de los Arroyos
San Nicolás de los Arroyos
San Nicolás de los Arroyos is a city in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the western shore of the Paraná River, 61 km from Rosario. It has about 138,000 inhabitants . It is the head town of the partido of the same name...
, so Belgrano was left without reinforcements.
The Paraguayans advanced after Belgrano, expecting he would retread without combat after the defeat at Paraguarí. The vanguard was under the command of Fulgencio Yegros and the main army under General Manuel Cabañas, with a total of 2,000 men, plus a reinforcement of three pieces of artillery.
The battle
The Paraguayan forces under Cabañas consisted of a total of 1,400 men and 10 artillery pieces. Cabañas directly commanded 1.000 men with a division under commander Blas José de Rojas, 200 men from Villarrica with 7 pieces of artillery, an advance force under commander Fulgencio Yegros with two squadrons of cavalry (urban militias from Villarrica, Villa Real de Concepción and Caazapá) and five companies of infantry under captain Pedro Juan Caballero, captain Antonio Tomás Yegros, commander García, commander José Mariano Recalde and sub-lieutenant Pedro Pablo Miers. These forces were complemented by 400 men under commander Juan Manuel Gamarra with three pieces of artillery under the command of Pascual Urdapilleta.
On the morning of March 7 the Paraguayan troops joined in one place with the arrival of Gamarra's forces to the right side of the Tacuary river. Cabañas wrote that day to Velazco:
On March 8 a bridge over the river was finished and the Paraguayan troops commenced to cross. On March 9, the Paraguayans attacked the front of Belgrano's position. He was reinforced behind the Tacuarí river, forcing Cabañas's forces to cross the river under enemy fire, but Cabañas left only part of his forces to cross directly, including all the artillery, and advanced with the rest through a man-made path through the jungle.
Through a path opened specifically for this operation, Cabañas attacked the enemy at their flank. Colonel José Machain moved to the side to repel them, but was surrounded by Paraguayan cavalry and forced to surrender. Therefore Belgrano left only a few men in a defensive position and marched to help Machain. Commanding the defenders was at the river crossing was major Celestino Vidal, who was left almost blind by cannon fire.
Belgrano refused to surrender under Cabañas request, and maintained a steady resistance, which forced the Paraguayans to stop their advance. Rapidly, Belgrano retreated with the remainder of his army to a nearby hill. From there he sent a communication to Cabañas, saying
Cabañas took that communique as a request for armistice, and ordered Belgrano to abandon the province completely in one day.
Consequences
Even though his army suffered a serious defeat, there are some accomplishments by Belgrano from his defense at Tacuarí.In first place, he succeeded in extracting an important part of the army from Paraguay, about 400 men, including the prisoners captured with Machain. These men would form the for the future United Provinces army that would fight at the Banda Oriental (present-day Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
), supporting the local militia commanded by José Artigas.
Belgrano wrote a proposal that general Cabañas took to Asunción to form the base for a peace treaty between Asunción and Buenos Aires; this included free commerce between the two capitals and the formation of a new local government in Asunción. He also requested this new government to send a representative that would form part of the Government (Junta) in Buenos Aires and would negotiate all the reparations that would be paid by Buenos Aires for the war they took to Paraguay. Belgrano made the condition that this would require at the formation of a local autonomous government (outside of Spain and the Royalists) and that it recognized the rebel government in Buenos Aires.
His best success, in any case, was to have Paraguay start to seriously consider independence from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, even without joining the United Provinces. In effect, shortly after May 14, the Paraguayans declared their independence from Spain (on May 17) and formed their first government after a peaceful rebellion at Asuncion that forced the resignation of the entire city and provincial councils, after a plan to have Portuguese troops from Brazil as reinforcements to the Spanish troops as counterweight to the Argentine troops was exposed. Among their first proponents were several of the victors at Tacuarí, especially Fulgencio Yegros.
Belgrano's campaign did not accomplish their goal of having Paraguay to form part of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, joined by the other ex-provinces of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.
Due to his military defeat in Paraguay the Primera Junta in Buenos Aires opened a Court Martial for Belgrano on June 6, 1811, even though they did not have a definite charge against him, instead a people's petition (petición del pueblo) to make the charges that would be appropriate. Nobody presented any charges against him, and the officers under his command in the Paraguay campaign did not have any complaints and defended his patriotism and irreproachable conduct.
Finally, the government decided on August 9, 1811 to absolve him of all charges and published the verdict in the Buenos Ayres Gazette
The Drummer boy of Tacuarí
There is an Argentine myth about a child called the "Drummer of Tacuarí" who would have been involved in the battle. It is said that it was a 12 years old child, acting as military drummer in the first lines of battle, being guide of the above mentioned commander Celestino Vidal and was playing a snare drum. It is also said that his name was Pedrito Ríos, that he was born in Concepción del UruguayConcepción del Uruguay
Concepción del Uruguay is a city in Argentina.It is located in the Entre Ríos province, on the western shore of the Uruguay River, some 320 kilometers north from Buenos Aires. Its population is about 65,000 inhabitants .-History:...
and that he died in the battle.
However, this child is not mentioned in battle reports of the time, either the immediate ones or others made days or months later. The first mention to the drummer of Tacuarí was formulated 45 years after the battle, and despicted shortly after in a portrait with a 50-years old blind man (however, Vidal was nearly 21 years old when the battle took place). This portrait would be based on many improbable ideas: that the army was led by a blind man (in real life Vidal was almost blind due to cannon fire), that a 12 years old child would be allowed in the front lines, and that a child might be able to serve both as guide of a blind man and a military drummer in the middle of a battle between Argentines and Spanish royalists. This myth has made way into Argentine military history, a legend told through the years.
In light of this, today, the "Tacuari Drummer" Regimental Band of the 1st Regiment of Foot Infantry "Patricios" has a young snare drummer in its ranks, bringing this story to the 21st century Argentina. This is the only Argentine Military band
Military band
A military band originally was a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the title of Bandmaster or Director of Music...
to have a child play as a military musician, in tribute to the young drummer from Concepcion del Uruguay who used his talent, at the cost of his life, to bring victory to the Argentine forces and would result, indirectly, in Paraguay's independence days after, with several of the victorious royalist officers and soldiers supporting it.