Figure 1.--As the war began to go against Paragauy, President López basically drafteed every adult male and then turned to the children. The populatioin remained loyal in part becaude of his afinity toward the Amer-Indian population. Few adult males survived the War, including President López. Many boys died as well. Here are CDV portraits of two surviving Paraguayan child soldiers photograpghed (c1868-70).

There were child soldiers in all four of the combatant countries. But Paraguay was a small country fighting much larger countries. Brazil and Argentina were the two most powerful countries in South America with the largest populations and economies. As a result, these two countries had the two largest and best equipped armies. Brazil even caused a stir in the United States when in began purchasing modern naval vessels in Britain. The Brazilian Empire commissioned the iron-clad battleship Riachuelo making Brazil the most powerful naval power in the Americas (1883). This led to first real American naval appropriations since he Civil War and eventually the construction of battleships. Paraguay could not match Argentine or Brazilian armaments. All it had was its people. And here it had a far smaller population to recruit from. This inevitably meant that it many more children it its army that its opponents. And as casualties mounted this meant an increasing reliance on children and old men. The result was the Battle of Acosta Ñu/Campo Grande also referred to the Children's Battle (Batalla de los Niños) (1869). It was the last major battle of the Paraguayan War, After te Battle, Paraguay could no longer field an army. he Paraguayan Army consisted of 3,500 poorly armed troops. primarily boys 9-15 years old along with old men and the walking wounded from earlier combat. Boys in armies were not unusual at the time was not unusual, although as young as 9 years old was. Many boys fought in the American Civil War (1861-65). And drafting boys was unusual. Most boys in wars at the time were volunteers. Many men and boys escaped into the countryside, but there an casual devotion to Lopez, particularly among the Guaraní. The Paraguayan boys faced 20,000 well-armed and experienced Argentine and Brazilian soldiers. 【Doratioto, p. 488.】 .

Sources

Doratioto, Francisco. Maldita Guerra: Nova história da Guerra do Paraguai (in Portuguese) (3 ed.). São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2022).

Created: 4:14 AM 3/24/20251
Last updated: 4:14 AM 3/24/2025