| Battle of Paso de Mercedes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Paraguayan War | |||||||
 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Francisco M. Barroso |  José María Bruguez | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 12 ships with 60 cannons | 3,000 soldiers with 34 cannons | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 20 killed and injured | 2 killed and 8 injured | ||||||
The Battle of Paso de Mercedes was fought on 11 August 1865 during the Paraguayan invasion of the Argentine province of Corrientes.
The battle took place at Bella Vista along the Paraná River, west of Mercedes.
Following the Battle of Riachuelo, José María Bruguez, Paraguayan commander, moved his men and Major Aquino's batteries to Punta Mercedes, about 15 miles north of Stonehouse ( Corrientes), to kilometer 1157 of the Paraná River. in attempt to cut the fleet from their supply base downstream. He chose this position on 15 meter cliffs, as it afforded the guns a good angle on the passing fleet, from which he fired canister and grapeshot. [1] : 36
The Brazilian Navy fleet consisted of the Amazonas frigate (flagship), Apa, 6 gunboats: Ipiranga , Beberibe, Mearim, Araguary, Ivahy and Iguatemy; corvettes: Parnahyba, Belmonte, Maje, and Itajaí. Once past the gauntlet, Barroso continued another 9.6 km downstream, where he stopped for the night. Bruguez meanwhile, backed up batteries and headed once again down river to Punta Cuevas, 25 km south of the town of Bella Vista, where he repeated his action against the fleet in the Battle of Paso de Cuevas.
Corrientes, officially the Province of Corrientes is a province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by : Paraguay, the province of Misiones, Brazil, Uruguay, and the provinces of Entre Rios, Santa Fe and Chaco.
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In the Paraguayan War, the Battle of Yatay was fought on August 17, 1865, between the troops of the Triple Alliance and the soldiers of Paraguay near Paso de los Libres, Corrientes, Argentina.
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The Battle of Paso de Cuevas was fought on 12 August 1865 during the Paraguayan invasion of the Argentine province of Corrientes.
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The Battle of Corrientes was an episode occurred at the beginning of the Paraguayan War, in the second stage of the Paraguayan offensive, after the invasion of Mato Grosso, at the beginning of 1865.
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José María Bruguez was a Paraguayan general during the Paraguayan War. He was one of the most prominent Paraguayan generals of the war, being known for his artillery services during naval engagements of the war. He died during the 1868 San Fernando massacre after President Francisco Solano López accused Bruguez of conspiring against him.
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