José E. Díaz

Who was José E. Díaz?

José Eduvigis Díaz was a celebrated Paraguayan general. Díaz was born in the town of Cerro Verá east of Pirayú in the department of Paraguarí. His parents were named Juan Andrés Díaz and Dolores Vera.

In 1852 he joined the militia and later led Battalion #40 of the police. He became the police chief in Asunción and first distinguished himself on raids across the Río Paraná at Corrientes in the spring of 1866 during the Paraguayan War. Díaz was the hero of the September 22, 1866 battle of Curupaity, leading a humiliating rout of the allied forces. Barely four months later, however, on February 7, 1867, he died on a mission entrusted to him by Francisco Solano López. He was hit by a shell shot by a Brazilian ship while scouting a river on a canoe; his leg was amputated by doctors, but they could not save him, and he was promoted to the rank of general an hour before his death.

In addition to the battle of Curupaity, Díaz participated in the battles of Corrales, Estero Bellaco, and Tuyutí, Boquerón, and Sauce.

After his death, his coffin was brought to Asunción, where the town accompanied it to its resting place in the Recoleta neighborhood. In 1939, Díaz's remains were deposited in an urn in the Pantheon of Heroes, along with the remains of Carlos Antonio López.