| kingscarbine | 09 Nov 2010 3:06 a.m. PST |
Thanks John. Are the minis old FK15? |
| John the Greater | 09 Nov 2010 7:37 a.m. PST |
"Thanks John. Are the minis old FK15?" Yes, I made their day when I ordered over 1,000 figures all at once. |
| Cuirassier | 11 Nov 2010 6:25 p.m. PST |
John the Greater, Thanks for sharing the link. "You highlight one of the frustrating things about tracing units for the Brazilians as they kept merging units and recycling the unit numbers. Thus the 24th Voluntarios in December of 1868 is different from the 24th in May of 1866". The Brazilian regular army had 22 line infantry battalions at the beginning of the war. It was a relatively small army. The fatherland was in need of volunteers. Thousands of volunteers answered the call. More than 50 volunteer battalions were created in 1865. This created much confusion. The Brazilian army had two 1st battalions, two 2nd battalions and so on. Some of those volunteer battalions were poorly trained, poorly equipped and under strength. A few of them were dissolved even before the major battles of 1866 and the soldiers were absorbed into other units. Some volunteer battalions were pretty banged up after the major battles of 1866. Some of them were disbanded and the survivors were absorbed into other volunteer units. By late 1866, all volunteer units were renumbered. There were 22 line battalions (1st to 22nd) and 34 volunteer battalions (23rd to 57th). Late in 1868, after hard fighting in december, many volunteer battalions were disbanded and again the survivors were absorbed into other units. Would you like some assistance in tracing the volunteer battalions? |
| John the Greater | 15 Nov 2010 7:44 a.m. PST |
Cuirassier: Any assistance you can render will be greatly appreciated. The situation in Brazil in 1864 was similar to the US at the beginning of the Civil War -- a small regular army spread over an immense country. I don't want to stretch the Civil war comparison, but the Volunteers did in Brazil what the volunteers did in the US by allowing the military to grow quickly. I have tried to trace units through various orders of battle that I have obtained, but several reorganizations took place between First Tuyuti and the final campaign in 1869-1870. This makes it a bit tough to determine which units were disbanded or consolidated. |
| kingscarbine | 15 Nov 2010 9:16 a.m. PST |
Have looked in Internet Archive? link
link |
| kingscarbine | 15 Nov 2010 11:04 a.m. PST |
What company makes suitable ships for the war? |
| Cuirassier | 15 Nov 2010 2:06 p.m. PST |
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| Editor my Arse | 16 Nov 2010 1:08 a.m. PST |
Unfortunately photos are also forbidden in quite a few museums. The FEB museum for one. |
| John the Greater | 16 Nov 2010 7:51 a.m. PST |
Great pictures Cuirassier, and thanks for the links kingscarbine. This whole string has been an absolute gold mine. I still have a couple hundred unpainted figures for the War -- time to get back to work painting them up. |
| Coconuts | 18 Nov 2010 10:07 a.m. PST |
<<I didn't ask them why they thought that a book on castles of the Cathars was mainstream (yes, they have published that)but one on the largest war ever in South America was a niche.>> If some SS were quartered in the Cathar castle and a UFO containing nazi aliens landed nearby I think it would make Osprey's day. Many MAA and other volumes could be made from something like that. This is a very interesting thread though; I like the biblex webstore! |
| Cuirassier | 19 Nov 2010 9:57 a.m. PST |
I didn't forget you, John. ;-) The best Brazilian memoir of the war was written by Lieutenant Dionisio Cerqueira. This memoir is a gem! It was last published by BIBLIEX in 1980. "Retirada da Laguna" by Alfredo d'Escragnolle Taunay can be downloaded for free here (Portuguese only): link Take a look at this photo (click on the image): picture Taunay is the one with the red arrow above his head. |
| John the Greater | 19 Nov 2010 2:28 p.m. PST |
Cuirassier: Thanks, I downloaded the document and now am prepared for a weekend of translation. Alas, the only first person account in English by an actual participant is George Thompson's "The War in Paraguay". (OK, Washburn and Masterson have their books but they deal mostly with their mistreatment at the hands of Lopez) By the way, where was the picture taken and who are all those guys? |
| John the Greater | 19 Nov 2010 2:42 p.m. PST |
By the way, there is an interesting book entitled (in English) "Prince of the people: the life and times of a Brazilian free man of colour" by Eduardo da Silva. It is a biography of one Candito da Fonseca Galvao who derved in the 24th Volunteers, the Zouaves of Bahia. The secion on the War is pretty short as he was wounded in a skirmish shortly after the Battle of Tuyuti. Try Google Books if you don't want to buy it (I paid $9 USD on Amazon.com) |
| Cuirassier | 19 Nov 2010 4:52 p.m. PST |
That picture was taken in Paraguay in 1870. The one marked by the blue arrow is Conde D'Eu (Prince Gaston, Count of Eu). Click on the images to enlarge them. picture Here's a bigger pic: picture Gaston d'Orléans (28 April 1842 – 28 August 1922), born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, the first son of Louis, the Duke of Nemours and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Kohary. His full name was Louis Philippe Marie Ferdinand Gaston d'Orléans. He was a French prince and military commander who fought in the Spanish-Moroccan War and the War of the Triple Alliance. Gaston was married to Princess Isabel, heiress to the Brazilian Imperial throne. On 22 March 1869, Conde D'Eu was assigned to lead as commander-in-chief of the allied armies, after the Marquis of Caxias renounced that position. link Photo of Conde D'Eu in 1870: picture |
| Cuirassier | 19 Nov 2010 5:08 p.m. PST |
More interesting books published by BIBLIEX. link General Sampaio was the commander of the 3rd Brazilian Infantry Division and was mortally wounded at the first Battle of Tuyuti. link link link |
| Cuirassier | 21 Nov 2010 8:30 p.m. PST |
Brazilian uniforms during the War of the Triple Alliance Click on the images to enlarge them. Heavy infantry: picture Light infantry: picture Volunteers (infantry): picture At the start of the war, some Volunteer Corps (battalions) had its own uniforms. The uniform of the Volunteer battalions was standardized by 1867 (a good example of the standard uniform is the third soldier from the left). Horse artillery: picture Foot artillery: picture Engineers: picture Cavalry: picture |
| kingscarbine | 22 Nov 2010 5:03 a.m. PST |
Great thread! Thanks for the links Cuirassier. I think the Empress Moniatures H4 head set can be useful for converting Brazilian infantry from ACW figures: link |
| John the Greater | 22 Nov 2010 7:34 a.m. PST |
As always, thanks for the links and pictures. The uniforms of the early war volunteers would make for great painting. In addition to the zouaves there is the colorful "Garibaldi" battalion. Is there a good biography of Gen. Osorio? I like the fact that his troops considered him so lucky. It was said by one of his men that he led from the front and at the end of the battle he shook the bullets out of his poncho. |
| Cuirassier | 23 Nov 2010 2:26 p.m. PST |
"Is there a good biography of Gen. Osorio?" BIBLIEX again… link AND link |
| John the Greater | 24 Nov 2010 8:51 a.m. PST |
Thanks for the links, as always. I love the title of the bio: "The Liberal Sword of the Empire". He is one of my favorite characters of the War. |
| Cuirassier | 24 Nov 2010 9:17 a.m. PST |
Some of these books have sample pages available for viewing at Google Books. link link link |
| Cuirassier | 24 Nov 2010 4:48 p.m. PST |
Here we go… ;-) Only the most relevant events in the history of the unit will be mentioned here. 1st Volunteer Corps Recruited in the Imperial Court (Rio de Janeiro) in 1865. First commander: Lieutenant-Colonel João Manoel Mena Barreto Strength in february of 1865: 743 men New commander appointed in june: Lieutenant-Colonel Carlos Betbezé de Oliveira Nery Battle of Estero Bellaco (May 2, 1866 link ): The CO was wounded and replaced by Captain Justiniano de Albuquerque. The battalion suffered 145 casualties at Estero Bellaco. A new commander was appointed to the 1st: Major Caetano da Costa Araújo e Melo. Battle of Tuyuti (May 24, 1866 link ): The newly appointed CO was wounded and the battalion suffered more than 90 casualties. New CO: Major Francisco de Assis Guimarães Battle of Punta Ñaro or Boqueron (July 16, 1866): The battalion was kept in reserve for most of the action and suffered very few casualties. Battle of Isla Carapá (July 18, 1866): The battalion lost 29 men. December 20, 1866: The unit was renumbered from 1st to 23rd Volunteers. June 30, 1867: Lieutenant-Colonel Carlos Cirilo de Castro was appointed the commanding officer. August, 1867: The CO got sick (later died of cholera) and was replaced by Major João Pinto Homem. Battle of Itororó (December 6, 1868 link ): The 23rd lost 23 men. Battle of Avaí (December 11, 1868 link ): The battalion suffered few casualties. Battle of Lomas Valentinas – The first attack on December 21, 1868: The battalion suffered 122 casualties. The 23rd received soldiers from other volunteer units in the beginning of 1869. Strength in January 6, 1869: 50 officers and 687 men. Combat of Tupium: 19 casualties (including the CO) New commander: Major Augusto Rodrigues Chaves Battle of Peribebuí: 75 casualties March 19, 1870: Return to Rio de Janeiro with 38 officers and 473 men. The 23rd Volunteers was disbanded later in the same month. To be continued… |
| Cuirassier | 26 Nov 2010 4:19 p.m. PST |
More pics from the Brazilian National History Museum. Click on the images to enlarge them. picture
picture Dom Pedro II
picture Dom Pedro II in 1875
picture Dom Pedro II's throne in the Imperial Senate
picture War of the Triple Alliance
picture
picture
picture
picture
picture
picture Dom Pedro II wore this poncho during the surrender of Uruguaiana
picture
picture
picture Along with Robles's troops, a force of 10,000 men under the orders of lieutenant-colonel Antonio de la Cruz Estigarriba crossed the Argentine border south of Encarnación, in May 1865, driving for Rio Grande do Sul. They traveled down Río Uruguay and took the town of São Borja on June 12. Uruguaiana, to the south, was taken on August 5 without any significant resistance. The Brazilian reaction was yet to come.
The allied troops united under the command of Mitre in the camp of Concordia, in the Argentine province of Entre Ríos, with the field-marshal Manuel Luís Osório at the front of the Brazilian troops. Part of the troops, commanded by the lieutenant-general Manuel Marques de Sousa, baron of Porto Alegre, left to reinforce Uruguaiana. The Paraguayans yielded on September 18, 1865. Dom Pedro II in the 1880's
picture Rudder of the frigate Amazonas (Brazilian flagship during the Battle of Riachuelo link )
picture
picture
picture Piquissiri maneuver (Osório leading the way) link
picture
picture Brazilian commanders during the war
picture Osório (Marquês do Herval – Marquis of Erval)
picture Duke of Caxias
picture Andrade Neves (Barão do Triunfo – Baron of the Triumph)
picture Joaquim José Inácio de Barros (Visconde de Inhaúma – Viscount of Inhaúma)
picture José Antônio Correia da Câmara (segundo Visconde de Pelotas – Second Viscount of Pelotas)
picture Battle of Riachuelo (painted by Victor Meirelles)
picture
picture
picture
picture
picture
picture
picture Brazilian uniforms (Empire and early Republic)
picture
picture
picture
picture Dom Pedro II's imperial throne in the Supreme Military Tribunal
picture
picture |
| John the Greater | 29 Nov 2010 7:14 a.m. PST |
Great stuff. At some point I will have to sit down and do a second edition of my book. The first one took four years (curse this need to have a full-time job!) You have provided vast amounts of additional material. By the way, I meant no disrespect to the 1st Bn of the Volunteers. It was Francisco Pereira da Silva Barbosa who called them "ill trained", not me. |
| kingscarbine | 30 Nov 2010 8:47 a.m. PST |
I have an old booklet with lots of b/w images that you can still get for only €6.00. Found it on-line: link |
| Cuirassier | 30 Nov 2010 7:06 p.m. PST |
"By the way, I meant no disrespect to the 1st Bn of the Volunteers. It was Francisco Pereira da Silva Barbosa who called them "ill trained", not me." No disrespect taken at all, John. Remember when I asked you if you would like some assistance in tracing the volunteer battalions? That's why I've posted the War record of the 1st Volunteers and I will continue to do so with the other volunteer battalions. After some hard training, the 1st Volunteers became one of the best infantry units of the Brazilian army. |
| VictorBarone | 02 Mar 2011 5:18 a.m. PST |
Hello, im a brazilian wargamer (living in Campo Grande – Mato Grosso do Sul). Very good see other brazilians here. I´m very interested in Paraguayan War wargaming. Recently
I talk with some wargamers in Argentina. They have a very focused 25mm line in this period. You can see thumbnails of the photos on Facebook. Here – link I'm going to Buenos Aires at the end of this month and intend to buy some minis. PS: Brazilian colleagues, let's narrow contact? I'm waiting. If you guys want make contact please add me on MSN (victor.barone@globo.com). A hug. |
| John the Greater | 02 Mar 2011 8:55 a.m. PST |
Great pictures. I am hosting a 1st Battle of Tuyuti game (15mm) on March 12. I'll post pictures in a couple of weeks. Your brazilian compatriots have been an absolute treasure trove of information. |
| Cuirassier | 03 Mar 2011 7:11 p.m. PST |
John, My apologies for not posting more about the Brazilian Volunteer Battalions. Real life has a way of getting in the way sometimes. :-) Have you ever seen this photo before? Click on the image to enlarge it… link This photo of Brigadier (General of Brigade) Sampaio was taken in 1866, a few months before the Battle of Tuyuti. As you know, Sampaio was mortally wounded leading the 3rd Brazilian Infantry Division during the battle. |
| Cuirassier | 03 Mar 2011 7:21 p.m. PST |
Victor, O meu e-mail para contato é frenzou@yahoo.com.br Grande abraço. |
| John the Greater | 04 Mar 2011 7:28 a.m. PST |
Have you ever seen this photo before? I haven't seen the phote before. I have seen a drawing of Gen. Sampaio but this is the first phote. Thanks. Sampaio's bravery leading his division at Tuyuti was notable. The 3rd division bore the brunt of the Paraguayan attack and had the casualty list to prove it. |
| John the Greater | 04 Mar 2011 11:50 a.m. PST |
For "phote" read "photo". |
| diflin | 20 Dec 2012 3:26 a.m. PST |
Nice to see such interest in the Great Paraguayan War. Just for the record it was the late Dave Allsop who decided to design the 15mm figures for Freikorps,(the first figures made for this period),he was ahead of his time. The little pamhlet we produced was just to give something to get the interest going, at that time there was virtually nothing available in English. So now we even have people producing more figures,scales and publications,I know that Dave would have been delighted to see this. |
| kingscarbine | 05 Jan 2013 3:26 a.m. PST |
I have that pamphlet. It was the only info I had for sometime. Then I found an illustrated booklet in Portuguese possibly printed in the 1940's with much more info and lots of period illustrations, photos and maps. |
| VictorBarone | 17 May 2021 2:16 p.m. PST |
Hello friends,
I am the author of Borders of Blood, a book recently released by Caliver Books – tinyurl.com/6h83289z
BoB is a wargame system dedicated to War of the Triple Alliance.
This is our Fanpage on Facebook – link
Take care! |
| VictorBarone | 21 May 2021 3:26 p.m. PST |
"Borders of Blood is a well-presented set of wargames rules, specifically for Wargaming the Parguayan War of 1864 – 1870, dovetailing almost exclusively with the War of Triple Alliance figure range by Perry Miniatures. Rulesets can either offer something so intriguing, inspiring, or unique that they cause you to venture into a new period – think SAGA, Sharp Practice, or Frostgrave – or they offer a service to gamers who are already ‘into' a period or conflict. Borders of Blood is definitely a solid entrant in this latter category." Joe Smalley review on Wargames Illustrated link |
ponders nirvana.
