Antonio de la Cruz Estigarribia was a Paraguayan Lieutenant colonel who was notable for his service in the

Paraguayan War The Paraguayan War, also known as the War of the Triple Alliance, was a South American war that lasted from 1864 to 1870. It was fought between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina, the Empire of Brazil, and Uruguay. It was the deadlies ...

. He served as one of the main Paraguayan commanders during the Invasion of Rio Grande do Sul, organizing the

Battle of São Borja The battle of São Borja was fought on 10 June 1865 at the beginning of the Paraguayan invasion of Rio Grande do Sul during the Paraguayan War. Battle Even after the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Riachuelo, the Paraguayan soldiers cont ...

and the

Siege of Uruguaiana The siege of Uruguaiana was an engagement in the Paraguayan War that began in late August 1865, and ended on 18 September that year when the Paraguayans were forced to surrender due to low food supplies. Paraguayan forces surrendered in spite ...

before his surrender.

Biography

Estigarribia entered military service in October 1853 and was appointed Commander of the Cavalry Barracks. He served as an assistant to

Francisco Solano López Francisco Solano López Carrillo (24 July 1827 – 1 March 1870) was President of Paraguay from 1862 until his death in 1870. He was the eldest son of Juana Pabla Carrillo and of President Carlos Antonio López, Francisco's predecessor. ...

in the mediation he rehearsed in 1859 between the

State of Buenos Aires The State of Buenos Aires ( es, Estado de Buenos Aires) was a secessionist republic resulting from the overthrow of the Argentine Confederation government in the Province of Buenos Aires on September 11, 1852. The State of Buenos Aires was nev ...

and the

Argentine Confederation The Argentine Confederation (Spanish: ''Confederación Argentina'') was the last predecessor state of modern Argentina; its name is still one of the official names of the country according to the Argentine Constitution, Article 35. It was the name ...

. Estigarribia was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel at the initiative of Solano López, he received command of a Paraguayan division and when the

broke out in 1864, which would become a war against the Triple Alliance, Estigarribia would later considered one of the most respected officers in the Paraguayan army.''Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture''
/ref> Once the city of Corrientes was occupied, Estigarribia advanced from Encarnación at the command of his division, some 12,000 men, and after occupying Santo Tomé he divided his forces: with his column he crossed the

Uruguay River The Uruguay River ( es, Río Uruguay, ; pt, Rio Uruguai, ) is a major river in South America. It flows from north to south and forms parts of the boundaries of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, separating some of the Argentine provinces of La M ...

, he occupied

São Borja São Borja is a city in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. São Borja is the oldest municipality in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul and was founded in 1682 by the Jesuits as the first of the Seven Points of the Missions, and name ...

on 12 June 1865, and advanced to occupy

Uruguaiana Uruguaiana is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is located on the eastern shore of the Uruguay River bordering Argentina. Opposite to Uruguaiana, and joined to it by a road/railway bridge, lies the Argentine city of P ...

on August 5, in Brazilian territory, while a second column of about 3,000 men under the command of major Pedro Duarte, occupied

Paso de los Libres Paso de los Libres is a city in the east of the province of Corrientes in the Argentine Mesopotamia. It had about 44,000 inhabitants at the , and is the head town of the department of the same name. The city lies on the right-hand (western) sh ...

, on the Corrientes side of the river.Zenequelli, Lilia, ''Crónica de una guerra, La Triple Alianza'', Dunken, 1997.

Bartolomé Mitre Bartolomé Mitre Martínez (26 June 1821 – 19 January 1906) was an Argentine statesman, soldier and author. He was President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868 and the first president of unified Argentina. Mitre is known as the most versatile ...

, the commander-in-chief of the allied army, advanced from Concordia with an army with Argentine contingents commanded by Wenceslao Paunero, the Uruguayan contingents commanded by

Venancio Flores Venancio Flores Barrios (18 May 1808 – 19 February 1868) was a Uruguayan political leader and general. Flores was President of Uruguay from 1854 to 1855 (interim) and from 1865 to 1868. Background and early career In 1839, he was made politi ...

and the Brazilian contingents commanded by Pedro Duarte, considered that he could defeat Flores before Paunero's division joined him and asked Estigarribia for reinforcements to He attempted an attack but received the answer: Nor did Solano López send the requested reinforcements and the allied army finally defeated Duarte's division at the

Battle of Yatay In the Paraguayan War, the Battle of Yatay was fought on August 17, 1865, between the troops of the Triple Alliance (Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay) and the soldiers of Paraguay near Paso de los Libres, Corrientes, Argentina. The Battle of Yat ...

with which Estigarribia was isolated. During the

, on August 19, Flores sent a request for Estigarribia to surrender, stating that: Estigarribia answered that: Estigarribia haughtily rejected two new intimations, coming to compare himself with the king of Sparta

Leonidas I Leonidas I (; grc-gre, Λεωνίδας; died 19 September 480 BC) was a king of the Greek city-state of Sparta, and the 17th of the Agiad line, a dynasty which claimed descent from the mythological demigod Heracles. Leonidas I was son of King ...

, who died fighting in the

Battle of Thermopylae The Battle of Thermopylae ( ; grc, Μάχη τῶν Θερμοπυλῶν, label=Greek, ) was fought in 480 BC between the Achaemenid Persian Empire under Xerxes I and an alliance of Greek city-states led by Sparta under Leonidas I. Lasting o ...

. But at the beginning of September the situation became desperate due to the lack of food and when the commander of the Paraguayan division of the allied army wrote to him rejecting the charge of treason and accusing López of betraying his homeland for carrying out a policy. oppressive towards his people, Estigarribia replied Rendiçao_de_uruguaiana_1865_victor_meirelles

Rendiçao_de_uruguaiana_1865_victor_meirelles

On September 5 and 7, Estigarribia met with leaders of Paraguayans in exile,

Juan Francisco Decoud ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

Benigno Ferreira Benigno Asunción Ferreira (January 13, 1846 – June 14, 1920) was President of Paraguay November 25, 1906 – July 4, 1908. He was a member of the Liberal Party. The general and doctor Benigno Ferrerira was one of the main protagonists in the p ...

and Jaime Sosa. On September 11, the civilian population was authorized to leave. On September 18, while the allied army was taking positions for an assault, Marques de Souza sent it a final summons that was accepted by Estigarribia with no further condition that the superior commanders could return to Paraguay or withdraw wherever they wished and that the Uruguayan soldiers and officers that formed in their ranks were not handed over to Flores. While many imprisoned Paraguayan soldiers were turned into slaves in Brazil or incorporated into the allied armies, Estigarribia remained in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

for the rest of his days alive. The news of "the shameful news of the surrender of Uruguaiana" was received with fury by Solano López who declared that Estigarribia "will answer before God and the Homeland for the only act that we record with shame in history ", criticizing the abandonment of the troops of yatay who remained " without the aid under the main body of the command of Lieutenant Colonel Estigarribia, only separated by the width of the river, time and means of passage "Orden del día del mariscal López. Cuartel general de Humaitá, October 6 1865. “Partes oficiales”, e
Uruguayana
/ref> A witness portrays him like this:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Estigarribia, Antonio de la Cruz 1825 births 1870 deaths People from Paraguarí Department Paraguayan military personnel Paraguayan military personnel of the Paraguayan War Prisoners who died in Brazilian detention