The Battle of Boquerón was a battle fought from September 7–29, 1932, between the Bolivian and Paraguayan armies in and around the stronghold of Boquerón. It was the first major battle of the
Chaco War
The Chaco War ( es, link=no, Guerra del Chaco, gn, Cháko ÑorairõDaniel Salamanca, which led to the escalation of what began as a border conflict into a full-scale war.
The assault on Boquerón was the first move of the Paraguayan offensive that was aimed to defeat the Bolivian army and capture territory before Bolivia had fully mobilized its army and resources. Paraguayan Lt. Col.
José Félix Estigarribia
José Félix Estigarribia Insaurralde (February 21, 1888 in Caraguatay – September 7, 1940 in Altos) was a Paraguayan military officer, politician and president. He was Commander in Chief of the Paraguayan Army during the Chaco War (19 ...
led the attack. The use of
mortars
Mortar may refer to:
* Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon
* Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together
* Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind
* Mortar, Bihar, a villag ...
, an unknown weapon for the Bolivian troops until then, would give the Paraguayans a decisive advantage during the siege.Severin, Kurt, ''Guns In the 'Green Hell' Of The Chaco'', Guns Magazine, Nov. 1960, Vol. VI, No. 11–71, pp. 20–22, 40–43
The first Paraguayan assault on Boquerón was repulsed. Both sides suffered from the lack of potable waterthe Paraguayans had to get it from Isla Poí ( to the east), and although the Bolivians had wells inside their compound, they were under heavy Paraguayan fire and were eventually contaminated by the bodies of fallen soldiers. Bolivian aircraft tried with little success to resupply their troops by dropping ammunition, food and medicinethe only supplies the Bolivians managed to get from the air drops were 916
cartridge
Cartridge may refer to:
Objects
* Cartridge (firearms), a type of modern ammunition
* ROM cartridge, a removable component in an electronic device
* Cartridge (respirator), a type of filter used in respirators
Other uses
* Cartridge (surname), a ...
s, a sack of bread and 110 pounds of dried meat. On September 12 a 3,500-man Bolivian relief column coming from the southwest was driven back near the outpost of Yucra. As the siege progressed the Paraguayans began to suffer from a shortage of water from Isla Poí due to over-extraction from the wells. In the face of these problems Estigarribia ordered an all-or-nothing attack on the stronghold on September 26. Three days later the remaining Bolivian defenders, consisting of 240 mostly wounded men, surrendered.