Pikysyry maneuver

Pikysyry maneuver
Part of the Paraguayan War
Passagem do Chaco, oil on canvas by Pedro Américo
Date 21 December 1868 Location Formosa province, Argentina Result Allied victory
Belligerents
Paraguay	Empire of Brazil  Argentina  Uruguay
Commanders and leaders
Solano López George Thompson	Marquess of Caxias Juan Andrés Gelly
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}