South America

by W. H. Koebel

It is curious to remark that even with the astonishing proofs of their bravery and devotion which the army had shown, Lopez could never bring himself to repose any real confidence in his troops. The tasks which were set them were frequently superhuman. Indeed, as a rule they received the treatment of beasts rather than of men, and in order to insure the winning of his battles Lopez encouraged his officers to treat their men in a fiendish manner. Thus, when a body of men had been placed face to face with an infinitely superior force of the enemy, and were being mowed down in hundreds by deadly volleys at close range, a line of Paraguayans were frequently stationed at the rear of their own fighting forces, with the strictest orders to pour a volley into their comrades should they show any signs of retreat.

In circumstances such as these it is not to be wondered at that the ranks of the sublime Lopez dwindled and became thin to the point of extermination; nevertheless, the gaps were caused by death and disease rather than by desertion. One of the most pathetic circumstances of the campaign was the deep fidelity of the Paraguayans. This was as a rule sufficiently ill-requited, as will be evident from the fate of a number of troops who, having been made prisoners by the allies, succeeded after a time in escaping and in rejoining their suffering and starving comrades. In order to keep faith in this manner they had left a neighbourhood of peace and comparative plenty. But Lopez gave them no thanks. On the contrary, he ordered them to be executed for not having returned to their regiments before!

Towards the end of the war scarcely a man of mature age and whole body was left in the ranks. These were filled largely now by youths and, indeed, mere boys. Many children of twelve and fourteen were to be found in the later stages of the war carrying their rifles and fighting with the rest, while the women of the country, including in their numbers all those of good estate and of gentle birth were, under the guardianship of lancers, set to march through the desolate forest tracts and over the countryside in order to establish new agricultural colonies. Here they were made to dig the soil and to plant cereals and sweet potatoes in order that the armies might be fed; and should any one of these women on the march fall by the wayside, her body was transfixed by the spear of one of the escort as an example to the rest. Thus the roadway was littered with the corpses of these slain women.

All this while Lopez was sufficiently busy in his own way. His dreams of Empire appear to have died hard, and not until the very end came could he be brought to believe that his armies could effect no more. He permitted his own comforts to be very little affected by the dire hardships which his troops—and, indeed, the entire nation—were undergoing. Although he refrained as much as possible from entering into the neighbourhood of the battles themselves, he took an important share in the direction of the campaign, and it was undoubtedly owing largely to his crass ineptitude in all strategical matters that many of the disasters came about. Although some of his moves were of the nature to render surrender or death inevitable to the actual combatants engaged in the grim struggle, a capitulation on the part of one of his officers was, in the eyes of Lopez, an unpardonable crime, and not only was the offending officer himself wont to be executed on account of the deed, but on several occasions his family was made to share his fate.

Seeing that the male members and connections of his own family had suffered tortures and execution at his hands, and that even his sisters had been flogged by his orders, it was not to be expected that the average Paraguayan would meet with mercy from Lopez. Certainly it is no exaggeration to say that none was ever shown unless with some special object in view. There is no doubt that a Paraguayan field-officer had, if anything, rather more to dread from his own Dictator than from his official enemy.

The end of the war, unduly protracted, came at last. The capital, Asuncion, had fallen into the hands of the allies, and Lopez, failing any other refuge, had taken his place with the last remaining body of the defenders—a ragged and tragic army, many of whom were practically nude, and very few of whom could boast anything beyond the remnants of a shirt or a hide loin-cloth. Others flaunted a crude poncho or a leather cap, while many possessed no weapons but an old flint-lock rifle or a worn lance. Although nominally an army of a thousand and odd men composed this last hope, they were little more than fugitives. Nevertheless, these last atoms of the once great Paraguayan host turned and resisted grimly each time the pursuing forces came within reach of them and delivered an attack.

At last the few remnants of even this remnant found themselves at a spot—Cerro Cora, in the forests of Paraguay—where they were overtaken and brought to bay. There, in the face of an attack on the part of overwhelmingly superior Brazilian forces, the little party finally lost its grim determination and broke up, leaving Lopez, Madame Lynch, and their family to shift for themselves.

Madame Lynch escaped for the time being in a carriage. She had not, however, travelled far before her pursuers came up with her, and she was eventually brought back to Asuncion. Lopez, attempting to follow her from the battle-field on horseback, became bogged in the midst of some treacherous country. Here he was overtaken and, showing resistance, was slain by the pursuing Brazilians. With his death ended the first and last reason for the invasion of Paraguay.

The condition of Paraguay at the conclusion of the war was utterly deplorable. Indeed, the state of the country was one which very few lands have experienced since the beginning of history. The natural resources of Paraguay lay in agriculture. Since all the men had been engaged in fighting, and merely a few itinerant bands of weak women had been employed in this occupation in the meanwhile, the cessation of hostilities disclosed the fact that agriculture was to all practical purposes no more.