Battle of Cerro Cora

By 1870 Paraguay had lost its army, its capital and a large share of its people in five years of war against Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, but Francisco Solano Lopez refused to surrender. He retreated into the northern wilderness with a dwindling column of soldiers, officials and civilians, among them his partner Eliza Lynch and their children. On 1 March 1870 a Brazilian force surprised the camp at Cerro Cora on the Aquidaban stream. Lopez was cornered and killed near the stream, and his teenage son was killed in the same attack. His death ended the war.

Brazilian accounts credit the fatal lance thrust to a cavalry corporal known as Chico Diabo, celebrated in a popular rhyme, though the details of the killing, including whether Lopez was offered surrender, differ between accounts. Eliza Lynch is said to have buried Lopez and their son before she was deported, and her reputation in Paraguay has swung from foreign villain to national heroine. Lopez was rehabilitated as a national hero in the 1930s and his remains were moved to the National Pantheon of Heroes in Asuncion. The battlefield lies within Cerro Cora National Park, which also protects an area of forest and savanna.