Battle of Algodonal
| Battle of Algodonal | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Chaco War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Bolivia |
 Paraguay | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Enrique Peñaranda Walter Méndez[1] |
José Félix Estigarribia Rafael Franco | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 1016 men[1] | 4200 men[a][2] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
"Numerous" dead 155 captured[3] | 20 dead[3] | ||||||
The Battle of Algodonal was an engagement during the Chaco War between Paraguayan and Bolivian forces. It was part of a wider offensive by the Paraguayan 2nd Corps towards Carandaity, a Bolivian fortified position deep in the Chaco. The battle was a comprehensive Paraguayan victory over a Bolivian detachment.
Background
[edit]The Paraguayan II Corps, under Rafael Franco, which had previously captured Picuiba in 14-15 August, advanced thence to the west at speed, starting the Carandaitý offensive, covering 70 km in 6 days, in a desertic zone where any movement had to be careful, as positions a defender could set up ambushes in were plentiful. On 20 August, they arrived at Algodonal, a midway point to Carandaity, their ultimate goal. Carandaity was a Bolivian fortified position, with access to water, a scarce good in the Chaco, and its capture would allow the Paraguayan Army to attack and possibly capture the Bolivian oil wells in the foothills of the Andes.[4]
Engagement
[edit]Bolivian defenders in the region where caught by surprise by the fast strike of a whole enemy division from a desert region.[5] On August 20, the first Paraguayan troops arrived in the fort's vicinity and made contact with the enemy.[1]
On August 22, Algodonal fell. It was encircled after some delays in producing water for the rear guard for a march out of the fort meant it could no longer do so, and then surrendered. A large quantity of supplies and weapons (some new and still in boxes) was captured, and also 16 trucks.[6]
Algodonal would be abandoned by Paraguayan forces in September of the same year after a Bolivian attempt at encircling the position.[7]
Notes
[edit]- ↑ At the beginning of offensive operations in early August 1934.
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- 1 2 3 Rolón 1961, p. 337.
- ↑ Rolón 1961, p. 310.
- 1 2 Rolón 1961, p. 338.
- ↑ Querejazu 1975, p. 328; Rolón 1961, pp. 330–337.
- ↑ Rolón 1961, p. 333.
- ↑ Estigarribia 1969, p. 166; Rolón 1961, pp. 337–338.
- ↑ Estigarribia 1969, p. 175.
Sources
[edit]- Estigarribia, José (1969). The epic of the Chaco: Marshal Estigarribia's memoirs of the Chaco War, 1932-1935. University of Texas Press.
- Querejazu, Roberto (1975). Masamaclay: historia política, diplomática y militar de la Guerra del Chaco (in Spanish). Editorial Los Amigos del Libro.
- Rolón, Raimundo (1961). La Guerra del Chaco: Campaña de 1934 (in Spanish). Vol. I.