The Battle of Campichuelo was an action fought on 19 December 1810 between revolutionary forces led by

Manuel Belgrano Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano y González (3 June 1770 – 20 June 1820), usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano (), was an Argentine public servant, economist, lawyer, politician, journalist, and military leader. He ...

and royalist troops on the right bank of the

Paraná River The Paraná River ( es, Río Paraná, links=no , pt, Rio Paraná, gn, Ysyry Parana) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Br ...

, part of the

Paraguay campaign The Paraguay campaign (1810–11) of the Argentine War of Independence was the attempt by a Buenos Aires-sponsored militia, commanded by Manuel Belgrano, to win the Royalist (Spanish American independence), royalist Viceroyalty of the Río de ...

of the

Argentine War of Independence The Argentine War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de Argentina, links=no) was a secessionist civil war fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine patriotic forces under Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli and José de San Martín a ...

. It ended with a victory for the forces of Belgrano.

Antecedents

The

Primera Junta The Primera Junta ( en, First Junta) or ''Junta Provisional Gubernativa de las Provincias del Río de la Plata'' (''Provisional Governing Junta of the Provinces of the Río de la Plata''), is the most common name given to the first government of ...

sent an expedition to Paraguay in the belief that a majority of its population supported a rebellion against the rule of colonial Governor

Bernardo de Velasco Bernardo Luis de Velasco y Huidobro (20 August 1742 – ) was a figure in the Spanish American wars of independence, the last Spanish governor of Paraguay and a commander of royalist military forces in the war. He was deposed by the congress cele ...

. On 24 September they agreed to send General Manuel Belgrano, who had been appointed governor and captain general of the

Banda Oriental Banda Oriental, or more fully Banda Oriental del Uruguay (Eastern Bank), was the name of the South American territories east of the Uruguay River and north of Río de la Plata that comprise the modern nation of Uruguay; the modern state of Rio Gra ...

by decree of 4 September.

The battle

Because Paraguayan royalists had removed all boats on the

River Paraná A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wa ...

along its borders, Belgrano's forces had to build boats from leather, some canoes and large wooden rafts suitable to carry 60 men and four cannon, as the crossing was expected to be opposed. The river was 1000 meters wide at the crossing point, and the current would carry them a league and a half downstream, to Campichuelo hill. The passage started at 11:00 pm on 18 December, when a force of 12 men surprised the enemy, taking two prisoners and some weapons. The main crossing took place from 3:00 am until 6:00 am on 19 December under the command of Major General Machain, forcing the enemy to abandon their position.Instituto Nacional Belgraniano
/ref> Belgrano was operating from the former capital mission of Santa Maria de la Candelaria (

Misiones Province Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes ...

today) and nearby sites located in the Argentine province of

Corrientes Corrientes (; Guaraní language, Guaraní: Taragüí, literally: "Currents") is the capital city of the Provinces of Argentina, province of Corrientes Province, Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from ...

. Belgrano led a small force: 800 men, half cavalry and infantry, with six small-caliber cannon. They faced a 500-man royalist force led by Pablo Thompson. Belgrano issued a proclamation asking the royalists to join the revolutionary ranks; on their refusal he attacked and defeated the royalist forces.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campichuelo Amphibious operations involving Argentina Battles of the Argentine War of Independence Battles involving canoes Battles involving Paraguay History of Itapúa Department Conflicts in 1810 December 1810 events