Battle of Fort Coimbra

Battle of Fort Coimbra
Part of the Mato Grosso Campaign
Paraguayan drawing published in El Cabichuí , depicting cannons firing on the fort and the Brazilian withdrawal.
Date 27–29 December 1864 Location New Fort Coimbra, Mato Grosso, Brazil 19°55′14″S057°47′32″W / 19.92056°S 57.79222°W / -19.92056; -57.79222 Result Paraguayan victory
Belligerents
Empire of Brazil	Paraguay
Commanders and leaders
H. Portocarrero	Vicente Barrios
Strength
125 regulars 65 irregulars 11 guns 1 gunboat	3,200 soldiers 12 guns 11 warships
Casualties and losses
None	200 casualties

The Battle of Fort Coimbra (Portuguese : Ataque ao Forte Coimbra; Spanish : Combate del Fuerte de Coimbra) was the opening move of Paraguay's Mato Grosso Campaign. It was made of five infantry battalions and two dismounted cavalry regiments, totalling 3200 men, with twelve rifled guns, a French-equipped rocket battery and the support of 11 warships, all under colonel Vicente Barrios's command. ^[1]

Background

Though the fort's commander was captain Benito de Faria, lieutenant colonel Hermenegildo Portocarrero, commander of all artillery in Mato Grosso and of the Lower Paraguay Military District, happened to be there on a routine inspection, and took over its command in view of the Paraguayan attack. He replied to the Paraguayan demands with a letter stating "only through luck and the honor of arms will we deliver the fort". The fort then held 11 functioning bronze smoothbore guns, plus another 20 in need of repairs, and a garrison of 125 regular officers and men, 30 national guardsmen, some customs guards, 6 prisoners and 24 "tame Indians". ^[1]

Battle

For two days the Paraguayans attacked intensely. The fort's troops' families aided with reloading and the wounded. Lacking the resources necessary to resist the attack and with no reinforcements available nearby, the fort was orderly evacuated between 28 and 29 December by the gunboat Anhambaí .During the action, the Paraguayan forces suffered circa 200 casualties from failed assaults and reconnaissance actions, ^[2] and the Brazilians suffered no losses. ^[3] The fort (and its guns) ^[4] fell under enemy control, and remained under it until April 1868, when the Paraguayans abandoned it, taking away its guns and stores. ^[5]

Aftermath

After the war ended (in 1870), the fort began to be rebuilt. ^[1] It had suffered extensive damage during the conflict, with its walls being almost completely destroyed by Paraguayan artillery fire. ^[6]

References

Citations

1. "Forte de Coimbra" (PDF). DaCultura (in Portuguese). 1 (2). Fundação Cultural do Estado da Bahia. 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 October 2010.
2. Benítes 1919, p. 31.
3. Souza 1919, p. 11-12.
4. Barreto 1958, p. 303.
5. Sousa 1885, p. 135.
6. Garrido 1940, p. 163.

Sources

• Sousa, Augusto (1885). "Fortificações no Brazil" [Fortifications in Brazil]. Revista Trimensal do Instituto Histórico Geographico e Ethnographico do Brazil (in Portuguese). 48. Brazilian Historic and Geographic Institute.
• Benítes, Gregorio (1919). Guerra del Paraguay: las primeras batallas contra la Triple alianza [Paraguayan War: the first battles against the Triple Alliance] (in Spanish). Talleres Gráficos del Estado.
• Souza, Antonio F. (1919). A invasão Paraguaya em Matto-Grosso [The Paraguayan invasion in Matto-Grosso] (in Portuguese). J. Pereira Leite.
• Garrido, Carlos M. (1940). "Fortificações do Brasil". Subsídios para a história marítima do Brasil (in Portuguese). Vol. 3. Impr. Naval.
• Barreto, Aníbal (1958). Fortificações no Brasil (Resumo Histórico) [Fortifications in Brazil (Historical Summary)] (in Portuguese). Biblioteca do Exército.