Pikysyry maneuver | |||||||
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Part of the Paraguayan War | |||||||
Passagem do Chaco, oil on canvas by Pedro Américo | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Paraguay | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
2,000 men[1]: 95 | 8,000 men[1]: 95 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
600 killed, 200 captured[1]: 95 |
The Pikysyry maneuver was a tactic used by Brazilian marshal Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of Caxias, during the Paraguayan War to outflank the Paraguayan southern defense line along the stream of Pikysyry consisting of 142 gun platforms along a line 9.1 km long, built by the British engineer Lt. Col. George Thompson. Just to the north were the batteries of Angostura, protecting the River Paraguay. Marshal Caxias decided to attack from the Paraguayan rear by constructing a 10.7 km road on the Chaco side of the river starting at Santa Theresa.[1]: 88–91