THE ARMY OF PARAGUAY
1824 - 1825
BY MICHAEL PIPOH
 |
Source: "Essai Historique sur la Revolution du Paraguay et le Gouvernement Dictatorial du Docteur Francia" By MM. Rengger et Longchamps, Libraire Charles Hoffman, Stuttgart 1829. In 1824, the Army consisted of 5,000 troops of the line and about 20,000 militiamen. All troops of the line were white with exception of the lancers who were recruited from mulattos. There were only white officers, all of them having started their career as private soldiers. Only Docter Francia had the authority to appoint officers. The troops of the line consisted mainly of cavalry, only a few companies of Chasseurs formed the infantry. The troops were divided into companies of 60 - 100 men, with 3 to 4 non commissioned officers and an ensign or lieutenant in command of each company. Equipment for the cavalry was:
The uniform consisted of a blue coat with coloured cuffs, white trousers and a round hat (chapeau rond). Infantry and Cavalry had different laces, the Lancers had a white coat without buttons, a red waistcoat, white trousers and a red bonnet de police. The cockade coloure were; red, blue, white. The Dragoons and the Grenadiers a Cheval had a parade uniform, but I found no other details in the book. In 1821 a "Corps de jeune gens" (cadets) was created, sorry, I found no details on the Artillery in the book. Back to Table of Contents -- El Dorado Vol VII No. 1 © Copyright 1996 by The South and Central Military Historians Society This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. |