Trujillo, Manuel (1846–1945)

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Trujillo, Manuel (1846–1945)

Manuel Trujillo (b. 1846; d. 1945), Paraguayan naval officer and memorialist. Born in Asunción, Trujillo entered the armed forces at an early age, joining in the military buildup ordered by President Francisco Solano López in the early 1860s. He was stationed at the state shipyard and arsenal, working under the direction of British engineers hired by the government to help construct a Paraguayan navy.

During the War of the Triple Alliance (1864–1870), Trujillo fought in half a dozen battles, from the seizure of the port of Corrientes (April 1865) to the fall of Angostura (December 1868). He served aboard several Paraguayan steamers, including the Yporá and the Igurey, and thus was in a good position to observe naval tactics after the disastrous experience at Riachuelo in June 1865.

Trujillo published a brief account of his war experiences, Gestas guerreras, in 1911. Owner of a general store in later life, he was much in demand at veterans' conventions as one of the oldest survivors of the conflict.

See alsoSolano, Francisco; War of the Triple Alliance.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

E. A. M. Laing, "Naval Operations in the War of the Triple Alliance, 1864–70," in Mariner's Mirror 54 (1968): 253-280.

Additional Bibliography

Leuchars, Chris. To the Bitter End: Paraguay and the War of the Triple Alliance. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002.

                                    Thomas L. Whigham

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Trujillo, Manuel (1846–1945)

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