The Battle of Miranda was the final battle of the
Paraguayan War between Brazilian and Paraguayan soldiers from April 4 to 8, 1870 before the final organized Paraguayan force surrendered.
Background
Before the
Battle of Cerro Corá
The Battle of Cerro Corá was fought on 1 March 1870 on a hill-surrounded valley of the same name, in the north-east of Paraguay.
Background
In February 1870, an allied column under the command of colonel Bento Martins de Meneses, learned t ...
on 1 March 1870,
Solano López Solano may refer to:
Places
* California State Prison, Solano
* San Francisco Solano, a town in Almirante Brown Partido, Argentina
* Solano Avenue, a street in Berkeley and Albany, California, in the United States
* Solano castle, a colonial cast ...
had ordered general
Bernardino Caballero to look for cattle and horses in the , in Brazilian territory. The Paraguayan general and about 100 soldiers crossed the Paraguayan-Brazilian border across the
Apa River
The Apa River (Spanish: Río Apa, Portuguese: Rio Apa) is a river of Paraguay and Brazil. It is a tributary of the Paraguay River, which in turn is a tributary of the Paraná River. It starts in the Amambai Mountains of the Brazilian state of Ma ...
on February 12. The news of Solano López's defeat did not reach general Caballero, and he continued the search for provisions throughout March. During the Battle at Cerro Corá, a force detached from the column of general
José Antônio Correia da Câmara
José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ).
In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacu ...
, under the command of
Bento Martins de Meneses, was assigned to close the siege of López on the Apa River, to prevent the Paraguayan president from escaping there.
The Battle
With López's death, the war was officially declared over. However, colonel Martins' Brazilian forces turned against the Paraguayans who were in Brazilian territory. Bernardino Caballero was close to the Military Colony of Miranda on a farm known as ''Cândido Oliveira''. On 4 April 1870, Brazilian troops found them there and launched an attack, defeating them and some remaining fleeing the battlefield. In the rush to flee, general Bernardino Caballero lost his sword as colonel Martins' forces went after the Paraguayans. A division of these forces, under the leadership of major Francisco Marques Xavier, encountered general Caballero and 54 remaining of his column near the village of Bela Vista on the 8th. Brazilian troops were preparing to attack when the Paraguayan general decided to surrender after being convinced of the death of marshal Solano López. These were the last Paraguayans to surrender.
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Miranda
Conflicts in 1870
Battles of the Paraguayan War
Battles involving Brazil
Battles involving Paraguay
April 1870 events
1870 in Paraguay
History of Mato Grosso do Sul