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The Battle of Puebla
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The Battle of Puebla took place on May 5 (cinco de mayo), 1862. It was a battle during the French intervention in Mexico.
During the French-Mexican War, an outnumbered Mexican army under General Ignacio Zaragoza defeated a French army attempting to capture Puebla, a small town in east-central Mexico. The war was against the French forces sent by Napoleon III to establish a French satellite state in Mexico.
In 1861, the liberal Mexican Benito Juarez became president of a country in financial ruin, and he was forced to default on his debts to European governments. In response, France, Britain, and Spain sent naval forces to Veracruz to demand reimbursement.
Britain and Spain negotiated with Mexico and withdrew, but France decided to use the opportunity to carve a dependent empire out of the Mexican territory. Late in 1861, a well-armed French fleet stormed Veracruz, landing a large French force and driving President Juarez and his government into retreat.
Certain that French victory would come swiftly in Mexico, six thousand French troops under General Charles Latrille de Lorencez set out to attack the town of Puebla. Led by General Zaragoza, the two thousand Mexicans fortified, or strengthened, the town and prepared for the French attack.
On May 5, 1862, Lorencez (France)drew his army, supported by heavy artillery, before the city of Puebla and they began their assault from the north.
The Battle of Puebla lasted from daybreak to early evening, and when the French had finally retreated, they had nearly 500 casualties compared to the fewer than 100 Mexicans killed.
Although this was not a strategic victory in the overall French-Mexican War, Zaragoza's victory at Puebla tightened the Mexican resistance.
After the war:
- The city of Puebla was later renamed Puebla de Zaragoza in honor of General Ignacio Zaragoza.
- Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, who had been appointed emporer of Mexico by Napoleon, was captured and executed by President Juarez's forces.
Today, Mexicans celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla as Cinco de Mayo. It is primarily celebrated in the state of Puebla, where it is called El Dia de la Batalla de Puebla (The Day of the Battle of Puebla).
Extra fact about Cinco de Mayo:
It is commonly mistaken for the Mexican Independence Day, which is actually September 16.
La Batalla de Puebla
(The Battle of Puebla)
By: Lauren Cookston