“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...

The repercussions from the war would also be quickly felt. The allied forces had
expected a quick victory over the Paraguayans. Despite Urquiza’s failure to join the
campaign, the combined Brazilian, Argentine and Uruguayan armies quickly drove the
Paraguayans from Rio Grande do Sul and Corrientes. In early 1866, the allies crossed into
Paraguay. Once on Paraguayan soil, the nature of the conflict shifted dramatically. The
poorly supplied allied forces advanced slowly along the Paraguay River. They pushed the
Paraguayans to the north towards Asunción. Eventually they reached the heavily fortified
Paraguayan positions around Curupaity. On 22 September 1866, the allies launched a
massive assault. The entrenched Paraguayans carved up the allied columns. They
particularly punished Mitre’s forces. By the end of the day, more than 2,000 Argentines –
almost half of Mitre’s army – had perished. 28
Following the defeat, the war bogged down into a prolonged siege. Disease
particularly savaged the allied armies. Cholera broke out on both sides of the front in April
of 1867. Some 4,000 allied soldiers – the vast majority Brazilian – died during the first
outbreak alone. Only with the appointment of the Barão de Caxias, the old riograndense
president and victor over the Farrapos rebels, did conditions improve. Caxias restored order
in the allied camps, increased hygiene measures and secured adequate supplies for his forces.
Under his command, the now predominantly Brazilian army began a brutal war of attrition
against the Paraguayans. The fall of the Paraguayan fortifications at Humaitá in August of
1868 signaled the beginning of the end of the conflict. Caxias entered Asunción in January
of 1869. López continued to resist for another year until Brazilian forces finally killed him in
28 Chris Leuchars, To the Bitter End: Paraguay and the War of the Triple Alliance (Westport,
CN: Greenwood Press, 2002), 140-54.
310