Page:Letters from the Battle-fields of Paraguay (1870).djvu/384



354 THE humaitA "quadrilateral."

make their cause,, despite the want of gros bataillons^ please the gods. But Fate was resolved not to countenance such an anachronism.

This cemetery was evidently the site for a citadel : a strong central work surrounded by mines, and able to sweep the whole enceinte, which now utterly lacks defence. Com- manding the rear of the batteries, both those of the river- side and of the interior, it could have converted what is now a feeble partly entrenched camp, an Aldershott or a Curragh, into a place forte. There was every facility for making the work, and the waste of labour which raises entrench- ments of sods and palm-trunks round eight and a half miles of enceinte, would have been well employed upon a refuge where the soldier, driven from his outer defences, could have found shelter and could still have baffled his enemy.

We then visited the place to the north-east of the church, where, on July 16, 1868, the gallant General Osorio first entered Humaita. Further north there is a still weaker point, and as a rule the entrenchments opposite the swampy grounds were quite neglected. It had been reported that boats full of armed men were crossing from Humaita to the Gran Chaco, and orders were at once issued to bombard the stronghold, whilst Osorio, with a vanguard of 10,000 men, was directed to make a reconnaissance in force. Compelled by the " wolves^ mouths "'â– ' to dismount his ca- valry, the General crossed the ditch and climbed the parapet, despite the frantic efforts of the few besieged. He sent at once to Marshal Caxias for reinforcements, but none were forthcoming ; the only shadow of an excuse being that the forces were much scattered, and that the over-cautious vete Â« ran would not risk all fortunes upon a single throw. Osorio, furious with disappointment, seized a musket from a soldier, and as usual joined personally in the affray ; but he presently found himself compelled to retire. The Para-

THE humaitA "quadrilateral." 355