A second soldier met
with a similar fate for having, on his return from a reconnaissance,
stated that the enemy lay in great strength to the front. Lopez
conceived that a report such as this could serve no good end, and
ordered its maker to be executed forthwith.
It is curious to remark that even with the astonishing proofs of their
bravery and devotion which the army had shown, Lopez could never bring
himself to repose any real confidence in his troops. The tasks which
were set them were frequently superhuman. Indeed, as a rule they
received the treatment of beasts rather than of men, and in order to
insure the winning of his battles Lopez encouraged his officers to treat
their men in a fiendish manner. Thus, when a body of men had been placed
face to face with an infinitely superior force of the enemy, and were
being mowed down in hundreds by deadly volleys at close range, a line of
Paraguayans were frequently stationed at the rear of their own fighting
forces, with the strictest orders to pour a volley into their comrades
should they show any signs of retreat.
In circumstances such as these it is not to be wondered at that the
ranks of the sublime Lopez dwindled and became thin to the point of
extermination; nevertheless, the gaps were caused by death and disease
rather than by desertion.
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