Battle of Corrientes
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| Battle of Corrientes | |||||||
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| Part of the Paraguayan War | |||||||
_pour_l'armée_d'opération._-_D'après_les_croquis_envoyés_par_M._Paranhos_Junior.jpg) Arrival of Brazilian reinforcements at Corrientes (Paraná) – L'Illustration, 1866. | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
Reinforcements:  Uruguay | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Wenceslao Robles | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
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37,000 soldiers 5 warships |
 10,000 soldiers 4 frigates Reinforcements: 1 ironclad | ||||||
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The Battle of Corrientes occurred at the beginning of the Paraguayan War during the second stage of the Paraguayan offensive, after the invasion of Mato Grosso at the beginning of 1865.
The invasion of Corrientes, which took place between 1865 and 1866, was the second phase of the Paraguayan War, during which the Paraguayan army occupied the province of Corrientes. In a way, the Paraguayan occupation of Rio Grande do Sul and the subsequent siege of Uruguaiana, in Brazil, can also be included in this phase.
As a result, Argentina and Uruguay entered the war, which previously only referred to Paraguay and Brazil, signing with the latter a secret pact that was called "Triple Alliance". The invasion resulted in absolute failure for the attacking army, and gave rise to the invasion of Paraguayan territory by the armies of the allied countries.
On April 13, 1865, a Paraguayan fleet of five ships (Tacuarí, Paraguari, Marques de Olinda, Ygurey and Ypora) under the command of Pedro Ignacio Meza went down the Paraná River until reaching the port of Corrientes, where they captured two ships that were under repair, the 25 de Mayo and the Gualeguay. The following day, a contingent of 3,000 men led by General Wenceslao Robles, travelled by river, disembarked at the port and occupied the city without resistance.
The day after the arrival of the party at Corrientes, the people of the town were summoned to elect a provisional government in place of the one of which all the members have fled the night before the entry of the Paraguayans [1]
News of the invasion arrived with considerable impact in Buenos Aires, also thanks to the fact that the Paraguayan declaration of war had been hidden from the Argentine public. President Bartolomé Mitre, in the midst of a violent demonstration against Paraguay, delivered a famous speech in which he said:
"Gentlemen, after the provocation was launched, after the insult perpetrated on our flag by the tyrant of Paraguay, whoever governs you cannot tell you anything other than that the proclamations and demonstrations will be translated into facts, and that in twenty-four hours we will be in the barracks, in fifteen days on the battlefield and in three months in Asunción".
Corrientes Governor Manuel Ignacio Lagraña, who remained loyal to Mitre, had left the city shortly before Robles arrived; for that reason, the Paraguayans set up an assembly on April 19, which appointed the regency a triumvirate formed by Teodoro Gauna, Víctor Silvero and Sinforoso Cáceres.
Since the occupation of Corrientes was in López's plans to not reveal the right flank of the expedition destined to invade Brazil, General Robles accumulated an army of 20,000 men before leaving to the south, leaving a garrison of 1,500 soldiers in the city, then supplemented by another 2,000 who landed with heavy artillery.