Page:Letters from the Battle-fields of Paraguay (1870).djvu/242



212 UP THE URUGUAY RIVER.

attacked (December 5, 1864). On the river to the west lay the squadron of Admiral Tamandare_, and its fire did the most damage. Men say that only the strongest,, even threatening^ remonstrances made by the foreign gun-boats anchored off the Puerte de los Aguaderos, the French (senior), English, Italian, and Spanish, induced that officer to allow time for the women and children to escape. I hope to see this officially contradicted, for though Admiral Tamandare proved himself at first a mere faineant in the war, and afterwards a jealous opponent of the Commander-in- Chief Mitre, such a fletrissure should not be attached without ample reason to his name. On the northern heights were the ^^ rebel " batteries, commanded by General Flores and Colonels Caraballo (Carabajjo) and Goyo Suarez : the works were 400 metres long, and the flying artiller^^ could change position about the ridge-crest. The Brazilian General, Menna Barreto, occupied the southern flank of the doomed town, commanding the fords and passages, and completing the investment of the place : his head quarters were near the cemetery at San Solano, an underground salad ero built by an old Jesuit of that name. General Netto had also joined Flores with 1400 men : the total of the allied forces is estimated at 12,000 men, and the site of Paysandu is, as I have said, a perfect ball-trap.

The Commandante General al Norte del Rio Negro, Colonel D. Leandro Gomez, had charge of the defence. He was a noted Blanco, and brother of the Minister of War, Andres A. Gomez. Having been compelled by a council, of whom eighteen voted against twelve, to evacuate Salto, he was instructed by his party to hold Paysandu till the last, and daily to expect reinforcements. The notorious D. Juan Saa, an old lieutenant of Urquiza, and popularly known as " Lanza Seca,"^ was directed to march with 2500 men upon the beleaguered town. After crossing the