In El Dorado Vol. VIII no. 4, I reviewed R. A. White's Paraguay's Autonomous Revolution to draw readers attention to the details he provides on the Paraguayan army under Francia. The purpose of this article is to review "The Rise and Fall of the Paraguayan Republic 1800 - 1870" by John Hoyt Williams, published by the Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas Press, Austin, 1979 and bring out further details on the Paraguayan army of this period. Nothing in this article is original, being drawn entirely from Williams or from the books by John Parish Robertson and his brother William that I have now been able to consult.

Williams is far less sympathetic to the Paraguayan rulers of the period of independence than White, plainly disliking Francia and frankly contemptuous of the Lopez', father and son. He adds some valuable details to the organization of the army under Francia and gives some useful material on the army under Lopez.

The early part of the book deals with the pre-independence era, bringing out just how few Spanish colonial officers and Spanish-born colonists there were in Paraguay. Out of a population of c. 120,000, only 200 were Peninsulares. A further 50,000 were Mestizos, there were 40,000 settled Indians and a further 20,000 nomadic Indians, along with 10,000 Pardos (of mixed African and Indian race). By no means all of the later were slaves although slavery existed.

Early Colonial Days

In the early days of the colony, defence was based on a militia, facing serious threats from the wild Indian tribes and the Portuguese. The City of Asunción had its own militia, the infantry commanded by 16 officers, the cavalry by a further 16 and the artillery by 3 officers. Francia's father, Garciá Rodríguez was a lieutenant of artillery in the city. All the officers were substantial men, drawn from the wealthy Creole elite.

Elsewhere, up to the governorship of Pedro Melo de Portugal (1778 -1782), the militia was formed by small urban units, untrained and often poorly armed. All males aged 16 - 45 were liable for service. Melo de Portugal reformed the system - and it is interesting to compare his reforms with those carried out elsewhere in the Spanish colonies, notably Mexico, which are well known. There is a strong similarity. He introduced the "filiardo" system, of semi-professional units available for more than local use. In 1790 there were 4 cavalry regiments of 2,884 men, one battalion of infantry, numbering 568 and a company of artillery 70 strong - all on paper. In practice about half these units really existed. 28 small, old cannon were available, scattered across the 27 forts and guard posts.

Further reform of the filiardo system in 1800 reduced the cavalry to 2 volunteer regiments of 1,200 each, with 2 artillery companies all of which were kept up to full strength, officered by creoles with permanent salaries and under the "fuero militar". The officers were usually drawn from the prominent Creole families, the Yegros, Montiel, Cavañas and Iturbe. There were also some professional advisers. However, the numbers were still inadequate for defence, pay was late and equipment poor. There was much discontent amongst the men and inspections revealed serious shortcomings.

In 1806 Governor Velasco, an experienced brigadier, was called upon to serve as Major and sub-inspector against the British attack along with a contingent of troops from Paraguay. Around a thousand were sent - the 1st Filiardo Regt. - and took part in the campaign against the British at Buenos Aires and Montevideo, losing some 70% of their strength.

García Rodriguez de Francia, father of the future ruler of Paraguay, was probably born in Brazil and emigrated to Paraguay in 1750. In 1758 he entered the militia, becoming a sub-lieutenant by 1763, stationed in Asunción and transferring to the artillery. He rose to become Captain and then Commander. He was able and was frequently employed on inspections and tours of the frontier, becoming chief of the gunpowder factory in the capital and also founding the fort of San Carlos on the Río Apa. He commanded the fort at Remolinos and the vital fort of Borbón in the Northern Chaco, collaborating in border disputes, helping to map the area, and eventually becoming the administrator of the Indian pueblo of Ygarón in 1787. He was very unpopular and left in 1796 to rejoin the military. In 1806 King Charles IV ordered that all artillery officers were to be of the Spanish regular army, not Creole militia, and Francia retired in disgust, dying in 1807.

His son José Gaspar Rodriguez was born in 1766, his mother being from the Yegros family. He chose a career in law after study at the University of Córdoba, becoming a doctor of theology and teaching for a while.

Independence Movement

When the independence movement gathered pace in Buenos Aires, Paraguay remained loyal, dominated by the small number of Peninsulares and united in dislike of the Porteños. When General Belgrano invaded with his well-armed army of 1,500 men, Velasco called on the ill-armed but well mounted militia, raising 6,000 of them. In the battle that followed, the Peninsulares ran away after Belgrano's initial success, leaving the militia under the Creoles to win the day. The Filiardo colonels Manuel Atancio Cavañas and Manuel Gamarra chased Belgrano out with their 2,000 horse. To cut a long story short, the Peninsulares were arrested, Velasco was deposed and a 5 man junta appointed to rule in his place.

A Congress was summoned from all Paraguay. The army dominated - and this Francia opposed. Because of his ability he was able eventually to dominate the government, and he began to dismantle the old Creole-dominated army, sending suspect officers to distant garrisons, selecting loyal offices for promotion, and creating his Horse Grenadier Company as a guard. It became his hobby, as he personally supervised its training and exercise, arranging its equipment and taking part in the exercises. John Parish Robertson gives an account of his dress when he took part in these affairs.

He wore a Spanish general's blue coat laced in gold, a cocked hat with a red feather and cockade, white silk breeches, waistcoat and stockings and (what Robertson found most ridiculous) never wore boots, but instead attached spurs to his gold-buckled shoes. He wore a knot of silk ribbons in the national colours, red, blue and white, on his left breast in the fashion he had observed in a print of Napoleon and a blue silk sash with tassels. He carried a steel scabbarded sabre and had crimson velvet holster covers and also retained his yellow, gold topped cane with black tassels.

Robertson and his brother were to write the definitive account in English of Francia and to irrevocably condemn him to be remembered as a terrifying ogre, half comic caricature, half grim paranoiac. In truth, they wrote pure propaganda, having been thrown out of Paraguay as merchants when they failed to deliver Francia's hoped for British acceptance of Paraguay's independence and assistance to free the river trade from the Porteño dominance. In revenge at having been denied the chance to make their fortunes out of Paraguay's backwardness, they wrote their tirades to try and have the British government assist in the overthrow of the dictatorship and the opening up of Paraguay forcibly to British trade on unfavourable terms.

John Parish Robertson certainly knew Francia well and claimed to have been present when the dictator personally fitted out one of his grenadiers with a locally-made short-tailed coat, musket, brown leather belts and cartouche box and fur grenadier cap - and that is as much detail as Robinson gives on the uniform, claiming to find it ridiculous that Francia should take such a close interest in his soldiers.

According to Robertson, Francia was general, colonel, paymaster, quartermaster and head tailor, devising his grenadier's hats, coats and trimmings, fitting them, storing and distributing them himself. When he went out "measuring his city", he always had an escort of three dragoons and two foot soldiers behind.

Francia faced a number of serious problems; apart from the opposition to his rule from the Creoles, the Porteños overtaxed or blocked Paraguayan trade and the Portuguese and

Indians were attacking the frontiers. A Portuguese invasion of Candelaría was driven off, but Indians captured Fort Borbón and it took a major expedition to recapture it. By 1813, Francia was confirmed as one of the two consuls who ruled in Paraguay, with control over half the arms and ammunition of the country and with new infantry battalion under his direct command. By 1814 he was building up his power further - suspect officers were sent to the distant garrisons, loyal officers were selected for duty in the capital and his grenadier company was established as a guard. He established a salaried army of company-sized units, replacing the old filiardo system which he regarded as dangerous under its existing officers.

Instead the filiardo units were integrated in the urban militia, militia and regular troops took over defence and security. In the capital were 16 companies of regulars, 8 of infantry, 2 of artillery, 3 of hussar and 3 of mounted grenadiers. There were three main barracks. 70% of all the regulars were stationed in the capital, with smaller garrisons in Pilar, Ytapúa and Concepción. No officer was given a large command - they were rotated between stations regularly, the highest rank they could aspire to was captain and there was early, mandatory retirement.

To safeguard trade through the troubled area of Candelaría, huge regular patrols of 400 horse accompanied caravans of traders as far as the River Uruguay. From 1833, escorts were provided for Brazilian caravans.

Larger centres outside the capital were governed by "comandantes", the most senior being those who looked after areas of vital frontier or commercial centres. They had the title of subdelegado and there were three of them, in Pilar, Ytapúa and Concepción. Another was established in Santiago at a time of crisis. The Ytapúa sub-delegate also had responsibility for the Candelaría Missiones area claimed by Paraguay while the Concepción sub-delegate looked after the Northern frontier. These men were military officers with the rank of captain usually and had defence, commerce and governmental responsibilities. Selected for their reliability, they still only served for a maximum of four years usually. They had usually already served as a military or political officer in one of the partidos or small towns. After their duties as sub-delegates, they were retired to some sinecure well away from Asunción. As delegates, they had to report regularly to Francia in detail, daily, while Francia sent the most detailed orders three times a week.

In the last article, I drew attention to the lancer companies raised by Francia and which were paid at a lower rate then the rest of the army. I suggested that they might be police - but this is not the case. Williams also mentions them - they were raised by Francia as an escort and were Pardo, or black, units; this explains the lower rate of pay. They were free but blacks in general were still regarded as of lower status even if they were not slaves -and slavery still existed in Paraguay. Parts of the 2nd and 3rd infantry battalions were also Pardo as were some other cavalry units but the officers were mostly non-Pardo.

More Paraguay Military

The Army of Paraguay From the Colonial Period (Part I)
The Army of Paraguay From the Colonial Period (Part II)
The Paraguayan Army 1816-1840 Budget and TO&E
The Army in Paraguay 1810-1840 During the Rule of Dr. Francia