Siege of Humaitá 1867
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 2 November 1867 – 25 July 1868 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1867 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | Paraguay | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | South America | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Paraguayan War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | -27.0700, -58.5022 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Humaitá was a military operation in which the Triple Alliance (Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay) flanked, besieged and captured the Fortress of Humaitá, a Paraguayan stronghold that was referred to as the Gibraltar of South America. It fell on 26 July 1868. It can be considered the key event of the Paraguayan War since the fortress had frustrated the allied advance into Paraguay for more than two years. However it did not surrender as the defenders escaped, most of them to fight another day.
The allies were severely criticised for the time it took them to take the installation, whose strength was belittled. But they were essentially a pre-professional army fighting a long way from home against an unaccustomed defence tactic: artillery in prepared, entrenched positions firing a hail of anti-personnel shot. Further, they were battling in unprecedented terrain — most of it impassible, all of it unmapped — in the wetlands of southern Paraguay. It gave the Paraguayans, who fought with exemplary courage despite being abysmally supplied, a huge advantage.
Moreover the allies, who at first had attempted to take the fortress by frontal attack from the Paraguay River, had instead suffered a catastrophic defeat; this had disorganised and demoralised their forces.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Humaitá (revision 1377032982), 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
- Passage of Humaitá 1868 · 0 km
- Battle of Curupayty 1866 · 9 km
- Battle of Tuyutí 1866 · 16 km
- Battle of Estero Bellaco 1866 · 63 km
- Battle of Riachuelo 1865 · 64 km
- Battle of Lomas Valentinas 1868 · 191 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
- Battle of Lomas Valentinas 1868
- Passage of Humaitá 1868
- Battle of Cerro Corá 1870
All 10 battles of the Paraguayan War →
Browse more: battles in Paraguay · South America · 19th century battles