On 17 December 1851, the Brazilian fleet commanded by Grenfell was near the cliff of Acevedo in the river Paraná, with the intention to break through the Argentine defenses at the Tonelero pass.

[3] To oppose the passage, there were 16 artillery pieces and 2,000 soldiers commanded by Lucio Norberto Mansilla, son-in-law of the leader of the Argentine Confederation, Juan Manuel de Rosas.

For one hour the Argentines fired more than 450 cannon rounds in the direction of the Brazilian ships, causing little damage to the warships, but killing four sailors and wounding another five.

The warships fired back, although they failed to cause any major damage to the Argentine forces, only killing eight and wounding twenty.

The squadron landed the troops at Diamante, Entre Ríos and part of the ships returned to bring the other battalions that stayed behind in Colonia.