Paraguay Campaign
Part of theSpanish American wars of independence
Argentine forces crossing the Paraná River
Date 22 September 1810 – 21 March 1811 Location Paraguay Result Spanish-Paraguayan victory Paraguay achieved independence from Buenos Aires.[1] Months later, it would proclaim independence from Spain.
Belligerents
Provinces of the Río de la Plata[a]	Intendency of Paraguay[b]
Commanders and leaders
Manuel Belgrano	Bernardo de Velasco Fulgencio Yegros
Strength
Around 1,000–2,000[2]	Spanish troops: ~1,500 Paraguayan patriots: ~3,500
Casualties and losses
Around 500–1,000 men (killed, wounded and prisoners)	Around 500–1,000 men (killed, wounded and prisoners)
^The Provinces of the Río de la Plata were loyal to theJunta of Buenos Aires. ^The Intendency of Paraguay was loyal to theCouncil of Regency of Spain and the Indies.

TheParaguay campaign (1810-1811) was a military expedition launched byBuenos Aires and commanded byManuel Belgrano to ensure the adherence of theIntendency of Paraguay to thePrimera Junta, which was established after theMay Revolution. It is considered both a part of the independence ofArgentina andParaguay.

The first battles fought were theBattle of Campichuelo andBattle of Campo Maracana, in which the Junta of Buenos Aires army claimed victory. However, they were completely vanquished in the subsequentBattle of Paraguarí andBattle of Tacuarí. The campaign ended in a military failure and Paraguay breaking its links with the Spanish crown just two months after Belgrano's withdrawal, starting its course towards full independence.

Three months after the creation of the Primera Junta, Manuel Belgrano was appointed Chief Commander of an army destined to gather support atCorrientes,Santa Fe, Paraguay and theBanda Oriental territories. A few days later his goal was made more specific: he must aim for Paraguay. The Junta had been informed that their image was favorable there, and a small army would suffice to take control.^[3] Trusting such information, Belgrano moved towards Paraguay with two possible goals—to guarantee loyalty for the Junta in Paraguay or promote a new government that would stay on friendly terms with Buenos Aires.

Belgrano headed north with nearly 200 men, expecting to gather more soldiers on his way to theParaná River. Soldiers from the Blandengues regiments of San Nicolás and Santa Fe did join himen route, and later the junta sent reinforcements of another 200 soldiers. The army was welcomed by most of the population they encountered along the way, receiving donations and new recruits in most villages. Finally the small army grew to nearly 950 men, consisting of infantry and cavalry, divided into four divisions with one piece of artillery each.^[4]

"This Congress will not discuss whether it's thesodomite King (of Spain) or his weak son, our ruler. None of them have anymore power upon Paraguay. This Congress must discuss the way of protecting our independence from Brazil, Buenos Aires and Lima... Paraguay is free, is independent and it is a Republic..."

Paraguay was a ratherisolated region of theViceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, which made the ideas of regional independence stronger than in other provinces of the Viceroyalty.^[6] The road to Paraguayan independence began at the Congress of July 24, 1810, which was called by the last colonial governor to express the province's loyalty to theCouncil of Regency of Spain. Paraguayans indeed refused to pledge themselves to thePrimera Junta ofBuenos Aires and agreed to remain loyal to the Council—yet the process of independence started here, as many Paraguayans, led byJosé Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia and other patriots, took control of the situation and started working to obtain independence, both from theUnited Provinces of the Río de la Plata and theKingdom of Spain.^[7]

Belgrano ignored all this when he invaded Paraguay, believing that he would find a favorable political situation.^[3] There were three main political tendencies in Paraguay: those who supported the Council of Regency of the metropolis, those who supported the Junta of Buenos Aires and those who supported independence.

By the end of October Belgrano's army stopped atCuruzú Cuatiá, where an old border conflict betweenCorrientes andYapeyu was solved. He set the territories that would belong to Curuzu Cuatiá and Mandisoví, and organized their urban layout around the chapel and the school. By November 1810 the army reached theParaná River near Apipé island, and there Belgrano took measures to benefit the natives that were living in missions. With his authority as representative of the Junta he gave them full civil and political rights, granted lands, authorized commerce with the United Provinces and lifted the inability to take public or religious office. However, the junta later requested that he seek authorization for such changes in the future.^[8]

From that point the army moved toCandelaria, which was used as a stronghold for the attack on Paraguay. The terrain gave a clear advantage to Velazco's Paraguayan troops, who confronted Belgrano: the Paraná River, nearly 1,000 m. wide, was an effectivenatural barrier; once it was crossed the Argentine army would have to move for a long distance across a land without supplies. Swamps, hills, rivers and lakes would also force the army to march slowly, making a possible retreat difficult. The Parana was crossed with several boats on December 19, and a force of 54 Paraguayan soldiers was forced to flee during theBattle of Campichuelo.

Belgrano saw Velazco's army from the Mbaé hill, and despite being greatly outnumbered he ordered the attack anyway, trusting in the moral strength of his soldiers.^[9] When theBattle of Paraguarí started, Belgrano's troops had an initial advantage, but eventually Velazco's numerical superiority prevailed, thanks to the intervention of the Paraguayan patriots, around 3,500 men, resulting in the combined Paraguayan forces vastly outnumbering the Belgrano's. Even with casualties of ten dead and 120 taken prisoner, Belgrano wanted to keep on fighting, but his officers convinced him to retreat. His intent to continue was actually based on sound military tactics: while the Paraguayan forces outnumbered his, he knew that they were barely armed, while his troops had full equipment and supplies.^[10]

The army left for Tacuarí, being closely watched by the combined armies ofFulgencio Yegros andManuel Atanasio Cabañas. Those two armies consisted of nearly 3000 troops, while Belgrano was left with barely 400. They were attacked from many sides during theBattle of Tacuarí on March 9. Greatly outnumbered and losing an unequal fight, Belgrano was requested to surrender, but refused to do so. He reorganized his remaining 235 men and ordered his secretary to burn all his documents and personal papers to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. He arranged for the troops and artillery to fire constantly, forcing the Paraguayan troops to disperse. When the fire stopped he requested an armistice, telling Cabañas that he had arrived in Paraguay to aid and not to conquer, but considering the open hostility he had found, he would leave the province. Cabañas accepted, on the condition that they left Paraguay within a day.^[11]

The Paraguay campaign was a complete defeat for the Primera Junta from a military point of view. For Paraguay, the defeat of Belgrano resulted in independence from Buenos Aires, and was followed for independence from Spain. Paraguay and Buenos Aires maintained good relationships later, thoug not being part of the same political entity anymore.

• Manuel Belgrano
• Argentine War of Independence
• History of Paraguay

• Luna, Félix (2004).Grandes protagonistas de la Historia Argentina: Manuel Belgrano (in Spanish).Buenos Aires: Grupo Editorial Planeta.ISBN 950-49-1247-8.
• García Mellid, Atilio (1964).Proceso a los Falsificadores de la Historia del Paraguay, Volumen I (in Spanish).Buenos Aires: Ediciones Theoria.
• Thompson, George (1869).The War in Paraguay. With a historical sketch of the country and its people and notes upon the military engineering of the war. London: Longmans, Green and Co.
• Bray, Arturo (1954).Hombres y Epocas del Paraguay, Primer Volúmen (in Spanish). Asunción: Ediciones Niza.
• Mitre, Bartolomé (2011).Historia de Belgrano y la Independencia Argentina, Dos Volúmenes (in Spanish and English). U.S.: Nabu Press.ISBN 9781247596389.
• Vittone, Luis (1976).Dos Siglos de Política Nacional (in Spanish). Asunción: Imprenta Militar.
• Moreno, Fulgencio R. (1926).Estudios sobre la Independencia del Paraguay, Volumen I (in Spanish). Asunción: Ediciones América.

• Campaigns of the Argentine War of Independence
• Wars involving Paraguay
• Conflicts in 1811
• Argentina–Paraguay relations

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• CS1 Spanish-language sources (es)