Battle of Acosta Ñu | |||||||
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Part of the Paraguayan War | |||||||
Battle of Campo Grande, by Pedro Américo. |
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Belligerents | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Bernardino Caballero | Count d'Eu | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
3,646, 12 cannon | 1st and 2nd Corps | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
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The Battle of Acosta Ñu or Campo Grande (Guaraní: Acosta Ñu ñorainõ) was a battle during the Paraguayan War, where, on August 16, 1869, between the Triple Alliance and Paraguay. The Paraguayans used many boys in the fighting, wearing false beards and carrying old weapons.
In the middle of 1869, the Paraguayan Army was on the run and Asunción was under allied occupation. Francisco Solano López, the Paraguayan president, refused to surrender and fled, vowing to keep fighting to the end. The Brazilian commander Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of Caxias suggested that the war was militarily over, but Pedro II, the Brazilian emperor, refused to stop the campaign until López surrendered. Caxias resigned and was replaced by the Emperor's son-in-law, Luís Filipe Gastão de Orléans, Count of Eu.
Count d'Eu and the main Allied troops advanced and took Caacupé on August 15, though López had already fled to Caraguatay. In an attempt to block the Paraguayan Army from retreating to Caraguatay, the Count of Eu sent the 2nd Corps via Barrero Grande, while the 1st Corps pursued López.