Francisco Isidoro Resquín Xara was a Paraguayan general during the

War of the Triple Alliance 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 wa ...

Francisco Solano López Francisco Solano López Carrillo (24 July 1827 or 1826 – 1 March 1870) was a Paraguay, Paraguayan statesman, Officer (armed forces), military officer and politician who served as President of Paraguay between 1862 and 1870, of which he serve ...

thought highly of him and his writings are one of the main primary sources on the conflict.

Biography

After completing his first studies at the school of his teacher Téllez in

Asunción Asunción (, ) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the north ...

, 1 in 1841, during the government of

Carlos Antonio López Carlos Antonio López Ynsfrán (November 4, 1792 – September 10, 1862) was leader of Paraguay from 1841 to 1862. Under his presidency, he undertook a process of economic and political modernization for Paraguay, and ended the isolationist poli ...

, Resquín joined the

Paraguayan Army The Paraguayan Army () is the ground force branch of the Armed Forces of Paraguay. It is organized into three corps and nine divisions, and several commands and direction. It has gone to war on many occasions, notably in the War of the Triple A ...

. In 1849 he was a captain and in 1859, was promoted to colonel. With his hierarchy, he was part of General López's entourage in his mediation before the

War between the Argentine Confederation and the state of Buenos Aires The war between the Argentine Confederation and the state of Buenos Aires also called Argentine Unification War was a conflict of the prolonged Argentine Civil War. It began with the secession of Buenos Aires from Argentina, and lasted from 1852 ...

. Upon his return he was appointed commander of the Concepción garrison, where he organized a cavalry corps that would have an outstanding performance in the Mato Grosso campaign. When General

Wenceslao Robles Wenceslao Robles was a Paraguayan general of the Paraguayan War who led the Battle of Corrientes and was described as "the oldest and the most forgotten of the generals of the war of 64/70". Biography Wenceslao Robles was born at Santísima Tri ...

fell from grace, in June 1865, Resquín was promoted to brigadier general and appointed commander of the South Division. By order of the Marshal he retreated to Paraguay by crossing the

Paraná River The Paraná River ( ; ; ) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. ...

with his troops and more than one hundred thousand heads of cattle from the

Corrientes Province Corrientes (, ‘currents’ or ‘streams’; ), officially the Province of Corrientes (; ) is a Provinces of Argentina, province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia, Argentina, Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by (from the north, cl ...

that were herded by his army. His performance in the

Battle of Tuyutí The Battle of Tuyutí (Tuiuti in Portuguese) was a Paraguayan offensive in the Paraguayan War targeting the Triple Alliance encampment of Tuyutí. It is considered to be the bloodiest battle ever in South America. The result of the battle was ...

earned him the National Order of Merit and the functions of Chief of the General Staff of López. He fought in the

Battle of Lomas Valentinas The Battle of Lomas Valentinas (also known as the Battle of Itá Ybaté) was fought in the Central Department of Paraguay on December 21–27, 1868. The Paraguayan Army, led personally by president Francisco Solano López, was decisively defeat ...

on December 26, 1868. 1 He established the Headquarters in Ascurra, Resquin assumed command of the 1st Army Corps and organized the withdrawal of López, his cabinet and entourage. He was promoted to major general in

San Estanislao San Estanislao de Kostka, usually referred to as San Estanislao and colloquially as Santaní, is a city and district in the department of San Pedro, Paraguay. History San Estanislao was founded on November 13, 1749 by Father Sebastián de Yeg ...

, Resquin continued in the vanguard of the retreat to organize the camp at Cerro Corá.

Juan Crisóstomo Centurión Juan Crisóstomo Centurión y Martinez (27 January 1840 – 12 March 1902) was a Paraguayan Army officer and politician. He served with distinction in the Triple Alliance War, and afterwards held a wide variety of positions in the Paraguayan g ...

affirmed that with regard to the events of Cerro Corá, the Historical Relationship of Resquín is inaccurate and has little value because it is that of However, the Paraguayan historian

Juan E. O'Leary ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philippi ...

affirms that: He remained a prisoner of war in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

until his return to Paraguay, when President

Juan Bautista Gill Juan Bautista Gill García (''Juan Bautista Gill Garcia del Barrio'') (October 28, 1840 – April 12, 1877) was President of Paraguay from November 25, 1874 until his assassination on April 12, 1877 by Juansilvano Godoi and Major Jose Dolores M ...

entrusted him with the organization of the first postwar Paraguayan army. General Resquín died in

San Pedro de Ycuamandiyú San Pedro de Ycuamandyyú () is a city and district in Paraguay. It is the capital of the department of San Pedro. The conquistador Aleixo Garcia, the first European to cross Paraguay and reach the Inca empire in 1524, is believed to have been ...

in 1882. He was the only Paraguayan general of the war who left written testimony, his work was titled ''Historical Data of the Paraguayan War against the Triple Alliance''. A witness portrays him like this:

References

Bibliography

*''Fundadores del Partido Liberal''," Pesoa, Manuel, Asuncion: Archivo del Liberalismo, 1990 {{DEFAULTSORT:Resquín, Francisco Isidoro 1824 births 1882 deaths Paraguayan military personnel 19th-century Paraguayan writers Paraguayan military personnel of the Paraguayan War Military personnel from Asunción Paraguayan prisoners of war