Pikysyry campaign

Pikysyry campaign
	Part of the Paraguayan War
	; Crossing of the bridge over the Ytororó River, one of the defining moments of the campaign
Date	August 1868 – January 1869
Location	Current Central Department, Paraguay
Result	Allied victory Sacking of Asunción;
Belligerents
Paraguay	Empire of Brazil; Argentina; Uruguay;
Commanders and leaders
Francisco López; Francisco Resquín; Bernardino Caballero; George Thompson; José Bado; José Montiel; Julián Roa; Germán Serrano; Valois Rivarola; Juan Lanson;	Luís de Silva; Joaquim Lisboa; Manuel Osório; José Barreto; João Barreto; José Câmara; Salustiano Reis; Count of Eu; Alexandre Filho (WIA); João Sobrinho (DOW); Joaquim Neves (DOW); Fernando Machado (DOW); Jacinto Bittencourt; Secundino Tamborim; Domingos Seixas; Herculano Pedra; Juan Obes; Wenceslao Paunero; Emilio Mitre; Enrique Castro;
Strength
18,000; 30 guns	30,000 Brazilian soldiers; 5,000 Argentine soldiers; 1,000 Uruguayan soldiers; 26 guns
Casualties and losses
11,066 total casualties	8,669 total casualties

The Pikysyry campaign was the Paraguayan War's fourth phase. It lasted from August 1868 to January 1869 and was a comprehensive Allied victory.

After success in the Mato Grosso campaign and failure in the Corrientes campaign, the Paraguayan Army was pushed back into Paraguay itself. After years of fighting around the formidable fortress of Humaitá, Allied pressure on the fortress's defensive line forced it to be abandoned; a new defensive line was set up around the Pikysyry River. The Paraguay River remained blocked by a new coastal battery in Angostura; it was, however, bypassed by the advancing Brazilian troops, who marched through the Paraguayan Chaco and attacked the Paraguayan positions from the rear, seizing them.

With the defeat of the Paraguayan army, Asunción, the capital, was occupied and sacked in January 1869. Over the following months, the war became an irregular conflict, as Allied forces chased Paraguayan president Francisco Solano López and his remaining troops over the countryside.