Battle of Cerro Corá 1870
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 1 March 1870 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1870 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | Paraguay | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | South America | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Campaign of the Hills, Paraguayan War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | -22.6522, -56.0253 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Cerro Corá (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈsero koˈɾa]) was the last major battle of the Paraguayan War, fought on 1 March 1870, in the vicinity of Cerro Corá, 454 kilometres (280 mi) northeast of Paraguay's capital Asunción. It is known for being the battle in which Francisco Solano López, Paraguayan president, was killed at the hands of the Imperial Brazilian Army.
The Paraguayan War was dragging on for more than five years and, after numerous battles, the Paraguayan army had been reduced to the elderly, the sick and children. The battle of Acosta Ñu was the last major combat of the war, which from then on was restricted to occasional skirmishes in the final months of 1869 and beginning of 1870. During this period, the Count of Eu, the allied commander-in-chief, organized expeditions in search of Solano López, following the path his column had taken. Along the way, López's and Eu's men made the civilian population suffer, either because of alleged conspiracies against López, or because of the looting and mistreatment inflicted by imperial troops. On 8 February 1870, López and his column reached Cerro Corá.
Conditions in the camp were deplorable, with the five hundred people who accompanied López in extreme hunger. In Cerro Corá, one head of cattle was slaughtered a day to feed everyone.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Cerro Corá (revision 1374679753), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Paraguarí 1811 · 351 km
- Battle of Lomas Valentinas 1868 · 360 km
- First Battle of Nanawa 1933 · 389 km
- Second Battle of Nanawa 1933 · 389 km
Other battles of the Paraguayan War
- Battle of Riachuelo 1865
- Battle of Yatay 1865
- Siege of Uruguaiana 1865
- Battle of Curupayty 1866
- Battle of Estero Bellaco 1866
- Battle of Tuyutí 1866
- Siege of Humaitá 1867
- Battle of Lomas Valentinas 1868
- Passage of Humaitá 1868
All 10 battles of the Paraguayan War →
Browse more: battles in Paraguay · South America · 19th century battles