LOPEZ, Francisco Solano, Paraguayan President: b. Asuncion, 24 July 1827; d. near the Aquidaban, 1 March 1870. He was the son of Carlos Antonio Lopez (q.v.). He was edu cated in Paris and in his 18th year his father made him a brigadier-general in the war against Rosas, the dictator of Buenos Aires. He after ward filled some of the principal offices of state, and was sent to Europe in 1853, accredited to the chief courts there. He negotiated treaties with England, France and Sardinia. In 1855 he returned to Paraguay, became Minister of War, and on the death of his father, in 1862, President for 10 years. He had aimed at the foundation of a great inland empire, and as his military preparations were now complete, and his army superior to that of any of the South American states, he began hostilities against Brazil in 1864 by taking possession of the province of Matto Grosso. He was made marshal of the army by Congress and extraor dinary powers were granted him. In 1865 he
demanded permission of Argentina to cross her territory in order to invade Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Permission being refused he seized Corrientes and had a measure of success in his early campaigns. The Argentine Republic and Uruguay allied themselves with Brazil, and after five years' conflict Lopez was reduced to extremities, and was finally surprised on the banks of the Aquidaban by a troop of Brazilian cavalry and slain. Lopez recruited his forces by a conscription of all males between 12 and 70 years. The latter part of his career had been stained by many cruelties and wanton murders. (See PARAGUAY — HISTORY). Consult Thomp son, 'The War in Paraguay' (1869) ; Master man, 'Seven Eventful Years in Paraguay' (1869) ; Burton, 'Letters from the Battle Fields of Paraguay' (1871) ; Washburn, 'History of (1871) ; Schneider, 'Der Krieg der Triple-Allianz' (1872-75).