The Battle of Boquerón was fought September 7–29, 1932, between the Bolivian and Paraguayan armies in and around the stronghold of Boquerón. It was the first major battle of the
Chaco War
The Chaco War (, [Daniel Salamanca
Daniel Domingo Salamanca Urey (8 July 1869 – 17 July 1935) was a Bolivian lawyer and politician who served as the 33rd president of Bolivia from 1931 to 1934.
He was overthrown in a ''coup d'état'' on 27 November 1934, during the country' ...]
, which led to the escalation of what began as a border conflict into a full-scale war. The Bolivian garrison was under the command of Colonel Manuel Marzana.
The assault on Boquerón was the first move of the Paraguayan offensive that was aimed to defeat the Bolivian army and capture territory before Bolivia had fully mobilized its army and resources. Paraguayan Lt. Col.
José Félix Estigarribia
José Félix Estigarribia Insaurralde (21 February 1888 – 7 September 1940) was a Paraguayan military officer and politician who served as the 34th President of Paraguay from 1939 until his death in a plane crash on September 7, 1940. ...
led the attack. The use of
mortars
Mortar may refer to:
* Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon
* Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together
* Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind
* Mortar, Bihar, a village i ...
, an unknown weapon for the Bolivian troops until then, would give the Paraguayans a decisive advantage during the siege.
[ Severin, Kurt, ''Guns In the 'Green Hell' Of The Chaco'', Guns Magazine, Nov. 1960, Vol. VI, No. 11–71, pp. 20–22, 40–43]
The first Paraguayan assault on Boquerón was repulsed. Both sides suffered from the lack of potable waterthe Paraguayans had to get it from a small lake at
Isla Poí
Isla or ISLA may refer to:
Organizations
* International Securities Lending Association, a trade association
* International School of Los Angeles
* International Bilingual School, later named International School of Los Angeles
People
* Isla ( ...
( to the east), and although the Bolivians had wells inside their compound, they were under heavy Paraguayan fire and were eventually contaminated by the bodies of fallen soldiers. Bolivian aircraft tried with little success to resupply their troops by dropping ammunition, food and medicinethe only supplies the Bolivians managed to get from the air drops were 916
cartridges, a sack of bread and 110 pounds of dried meat. On September 12 a 3,500-man Bolivian relief column coming from the southwest was driven back near the outpost of Yucra. As the siege progressed the Paraguayans began to suffer from a shortage of water from Isla Poí due to over-extraction from the wells. In the face of these problems Estigarribia ordered an all-or-nothing attack on the stronghold on September 26. Three days later the remaining Bolivian defenders, consisting of 240 mostly wounded men, surrendered.
Notes
Sources
* Latin America's Wars: ''The age of the professional soldier, 1900–2001''. Robert L. Scheina. pp. 93–95
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Boqueron
Battles of the Chaco War
Conflicts in 1932
1932 in Paraguay
1932 in Bolivia
September 1932 in South America
20th-century sieges
History of Boquerón Department