Battle of Riachuelo

The Battle of Riachuelo was a large and decisive naval battle of the Paraguayan War between Paraguay and the Empire of Brazil. By late 1864, Paraguay had scored a series of victories in the war, but on 11 June 1865, its naval defeat by the Brazilians on the Paraná River began to turn the tide in favor of the allies.

This was the largest naval battle fought between two South American countries.

Plan

Paraguay's fleet was a fraction of the size of Brazil's, even before the battle, and arrived at the Fortress of Humaitá on the morning of June 9. The Paraguayan president Francisco Solano López prepared to attack the ships supporting allied land troops at Riachuelo. Nine ships and seven cannon-carrying barges, totaling 44 guns, as well as 22 guns and two Congreve rocket batteries from river bank located troops, attacked the Brazilian squadron, nine ships with a total of 58 guns.

The Paraguayans had planned a surprise attack before sunrise since they were fully aware that most Brazilian troops would offboard their steamers to sleep on land, and they would leave only a small garrison of men to guard and watch their fleet.

The original plan had been that under the dark of the night, the Paraguayan steamers would sneak up to the docked Brazilian vessels and board them outright. No confrontation other than the one carried out by the boarding party had been planned, and the Paraguayan steamers were there only to provide cover from the inland battling forces.

Battle

The Paraguayan fleet left the fortress of Humaitá on the night of 10 June 1865 and headed to the port of Corrientes. López had given specific orders to approach the docked Brazilian steamers stealthily before sunrise and to board them. That would leave the Brazilian ground forces bereft of their fleet early on in the war.

López sent nine steamers: ''Tacuarí'', ''Ygureí'', ''Marqués de Olinda'', ''Paraguarí'', ''Salto Guairá'', ''Rio Apa'', ''Yporá'', ''Pirabebé'', and ''Yberá''; under the command of Captain Meza, who was aboard the ''Tacuarí''. However, some two leagues after leaving Humaitá, it reached a point known as Nuatá-pytá, where the engine of the ''Yberá'' broke down. After hours were lost in an attempt to fix it, a decision was made to continue with only the eight remaining steamers.

The fleet arrived at Corrientes after sunrise, but because of a dense fog, the plan was still executable since most, if not all, Brazilian forces were still on land. However, not following López's orders, Meza decided that instead of approaching and boarding the docked steamers, the fleet was to continue down the river and fire at the camp and docked vessels as they passed by. The Paraguayans opened fire at 9:25 am.

The Paraguayans passed in a line parallel to the Brazilian fleet and continued downstream. Ordered by Meza, the entire fleet opened fire on the docked Brazilian steamers. The land troops, realizing that they were under attack, hastily boarded their own ships and began to return fire. One of the Paraguayan steamers was hit in the boiler, and one of the ''chatas'' (barges) was damaged as well. Once out of range, they turned upstream and anchored the barges, which formed a line in a very narrow part of the river. That was intended to trap the Brazilian fleet.

Admiral Barroso noticed the Paraguayan tactic and turned down the stream to go after the Paraguayans, but they started to fire from the shore into the lead ship, ''Belmonte''. The second ship in the line, '' Jequitinhonha'', mistakenly turned upstream and was followed by the whole fleet. That leaving ''Belmonte'' alone to receive the full firepower of the Paraguayan fleet, which soon put it out of action. ''Jequitinhonha'' ran aground after and so became an easy prey for the Paraguayans.

Admiral Barroso, on board the steam frigate '' Amazonas'', tried to avoid chaos and to reorganize the Brazilian fleet and so he decided to lead the fleet downstream again and to fight the Paraguayans to prevent their escape, rather than to save ''Amazonas''. Four steamers (''Beberibe'', ''Iguatemi'', ''Mearim'', and ''Araguari'') followed ''Amazonas''. Meza left his position and attacked the Brazilian line, which sent three ships after ''Araguari''. ''Parnaíba'' remained near ''Jequitinhonha'', and he was also attacked by three ships that were trying to board it. The Brazilian line was effectively cut into two. In ''Parnaíba'', a ferocious battle took place when ''Marquez de Olinda'' joined the attackers.

Barroso, now heading upstream, decided to turn the tide of the battle with a desperate measure. The first ship to face ''Amazonas'' was the ''Paraguarí'' which was rammed and put out of action. Then, he rammed ''Marquez de Olinda'' and ''Salto'', and sank a "chata". ''Paraguari'' was already out of action and so the Paraguayans tried to disengage. ''Beberibe'' and ''Araguari'' pursued the Paraguayans and heavily damaged ''Tacuary'' and ''Pirabebé'', but nightfall prevented the sinking of those ships.

''Jequitinhonha'' had to be put afire by ''Paraguari'' and ''Marquez de Olinda''. In the end, the Paraguayans lost four steamers and all of their "chatas", but the Brazilians lost only the ''Jequitinhonha'', coincidentally the ship responsible for the confusion.

Aftermath

After the battle, the eight remaining Brazilian steamers sailed down river. President López ordered Major José María Bruguez with his batteries to quickly move inland to the south to wait for and attack the passing Brazilian fleet. The fleet then had to run the gauntlet. On August 12, Bruguez attacked the fleet from the high cliffs at Cuevas. Each Brazilian ship was hit, and 21 men were killed.Leuchars, Chris, To the Bitter End: Paraguay and the War of Triple Alliance, Greenwood Press, 2002, p.86

The ''Paraguarí'', which had been rammed by the ''Amazonas'', was set ablaze by the Brazilians, but the ship had a metal hull. A few months later, López ordered the ''Yporá'' to retrieve the hull, tow it to the Jejui River and sink it there. Also, under orders from López, one month after the battle, the ''Yporá'' returned to the scene and, again under the cover of night and using stealth to avoid alarming another Brazilian steamer nearby, boarded the remains of the ''Jequitinhonha'' and stole one of its cannons.

Meza was wounded by a gunshot to the chest on June 11 during the battle. He left the battle alive but would die eight days later from the wound at the Humaitá hospital. López, upon learning of Meza's death, said, ''Si no hubiera muerto con una bala, debia morir con cuatro'' ("Had he not died from one gunshot, he would have to die from four"). He gave orders for no officers to attend Meza's funeral.

Manuel Trujillo, one of the Paraguayan soldiers who took part in the battle, recalled, "When we sailed down river on full steam, passing all the Brazilian steamers on the morning of the eleventh, we were all shocked since we knew that all we had to do was approach the steamers and go 'all aboard!'" He also recalled that during the battle, the land troops who had been taken on the steamers to board the Brazilian fleet, shouted, "Let's approach the steamers! We came in order to board them and not to be killed on deck!"

Barroso had turned the tables by creatively ramming the enemy ships. The Brazilian Navy had won a decisive battle. General Wenceslao Robles had effectively been stopped in Rio Santa Lúcia. The threat to Argentina had been neutralized.

Order of battle

Brazil

Paraguay

Gallery

File:Local batalha do riachuelo.jpg, Place where the battle was fought.
File:Plano da batalha naval do Riachuelo, dada a 11 de Junho de 1865.JPG, Plan of the battle in Portuguese.
File:Bataille de Riachuelo.jpg, Plan of the battle in French.
File:Gravura mostrando um aspecto da Batalha Naval do Riachuelo ocorrida no rio da Prata, na Argentina.jpg, The ''Jequitinhonha'' (left) trapped on a sandbar during the Battle of Riachuelo.
File:Combate del Riachuelo.jpg,
File:Scena do Combate Naval de Riachuelo no dia 14 de junho de 1865. A canhoneira — Araguay — (comandante Hoonholtz) incendiando o vapor inimigo — Paraguay — debaixo do fogo das baterias paraguayas do Riachuelo.jpg,
File:BATAILLE NAVALE DE RIACHUELO, DANS LES EAUS DU PARANA, ENTRE LES ESCADRES BRÉSILIENNE ET PARAGUÉENNE (11 juio). - D'après un dessin envoyé par M. Félix Vogeli.jpg,
File:Batalha Naval do Riachuelo (11 DE JUNHO DE 1865) (52322574845).jpg, The Brazilian corvette ''Amazonas'' rams and sinks the Paraguayan ''Jejuy''.
File:AMÉRIQUE DU SUD. — Bataille livrée entre les flottes de Brésil et du Paraguay. — Le Paranahyba soutient le choc de trois vapeurs paraguayens. (Croquis de M. Muller.).jpeg,
File:Cuadro del Combate Del Riachuelo (Junio 10 del 1865) (De una lámina litográfica impresa en el Brasil).jpg,
File:Episódio do dia 11 de Junho de 1865. Combate Naval de Riachuelo. A Fragata Amazonas com o pavilhão do Chefe Barroso e comandada pelo Capitão de Fragata, Brito, mettendo a pique um vapor.jpg,
File:Episódios do dia 11 de Junho de 1865. COMBATE NAVAL DE RIACHUELO. O Vapor Ypiranga, commandante Alvaro de Carvalho, batendo o vapor de guerra paraguayo - Saltó (4 horas da tarde).jpg,
File:Episódios do dia 11 de Junho de 1865. Combate Naval de Riachuelo. A canhoneira Araguary aprisionando as chatas paraguayas na noite de 11 de Junho de 1865.jpg,
File:Morte do Guarda-marinha Greenhalgh na Batalha do Riachuelo.jpg,
File:Episódios do dia 13 de Junho de 1865. Combate Naval de Riachuelo. Os vapores Ypiranga (com. Alvaro de Carvalho), Mearim (com. Barboza), Araguary (com. Hoonholtz) e Iguatemy (com. Coimbra), trabalhando em desencalhar o Jequitinhonha.jpg, The ''Ypiranga'', ''Mearim'', ''Araguary'' and ''Iguatemy'' trying to refloat the '' Jequitinhonha''.
File:Episódios da Campanha do Sul. O vapor Jequitinhonha, incendiado pelo guardião do Amazonas Pedro Tape..jpg, The ''Jequitinhonha'' ran under the batteries of the strong enemies, having to be left by the crew. Not being able to get away from the beach, it was burned by the crew.
File:Episódios do dia 17 de junho de 1865. Combate Naval de Riachuelo. A canhoneira Araguary, comandada por Hoonholtz, incendiando o vapor Marquez de Olinda.jpg,
File:Combate naval do Riachuelo, da coleção Museu Histórico Nacional.jpg, ''Combat of Riachuelo'' by Victor Meirelles.
File:Palácio Pedro Ernesto - Batalha do Riachuelo - cópia.jpg, The Battle of Riachuelo by Victor Meirelles.

References

Notes

Sources

*
*  – by Ulysses Narciso
* Fragoso, Augusto Tasso. ''História da Guerra entre a Tríplice Aliança e o Paraguai, Vol II''. Rio de Janeiro: Imprensa do Estado Maior do Exército, 1934.
* Schneider, L. ''A guerra da tríplice Aliança, Tomo I''. São Paulo: Edições Cultura, 1945.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riachuelo
Naval battles of the Paraguayan War
Conflicts in 1865
Battle of Riachuelo
Maritime incidents in Argentina
Riverine warfare
June 1865 events