An alternative view Fortress of Humaitá



passage of humaitá armoured squadron of brazilian navy. engraving blanchard of sketch josé paranhos, (1819-1880), brazil s foreign minister. in propaganda coup, paranhos drew sketch imagination , sent french magazine l illustration, journal universel, predicting war on in month.



lópez @ cerro leon @ time [when marques de olinda arrived @ asunción], , hesitated whole day whether should break peace or not... [h]e knew assemble every man in country , raise large army; knew brazilians long time recruiting large force together, , did not think wish carry on war long. said, if don t have war brazil, shall have 1 @ less convenient time ourselves. therefore sent ... tacuarí (the fastest steamer on river plate) ... bring asunción.



as against that, none of sources cited in article establish why lópez declared war without waiting ironclads completed , delivered. according burton general opinion single ironclad @ disposal paraguayans have cleared river . went further:



the war, indeed, altogether premature: had cuirassed ships , whitworths ordered marshal-president begun campaign, might have supplied place of mexico third great latin empire.



instead, @ stage of war paraguay s wooden vessels, 1 of had been built warship, defeated brazilian wooden flotilla @ battle of riachuelo; hence river paraguay blockaded brazilian navy; , armoured ships had ordered neither delivered nor paid for. brazil negotiated shipbuilders transfer , complete work-in-progress, and, eventually, used these selfsame ironclads defeat humaitá.








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