Puebla Tehuacán

Battle of Puebla (5 de Mayo)

Background (read)




The Battle


The city of Puebla is in a strategic site, surrounded by a strong hold located at the top of the hills overlooking the city. It was there that a Mexican born in Texas when it was still a province of Mexico, General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin, under the command of a army of 4500 poorly armed Mexican men so convincingly defeated an army of 8000 well armed French soldiers. The Mexicans organized their defense in the strengths of Loreto and Guadeloupe.

The small cavalry of Zaragoza managed to prevent the regiment "Dragons" advance and took position to defend the infantry, which began its load on the strength of Loreto defended by only 500 soldiers who had to undertake the withdrawal until the strong hold of Guadeloupe. There the familiarity of the border made the difference: while artillery attacked the fort causing serious damage, Mexican troops located at the top of the hill shot mercilessly eliminating many of the French. The irregularity of the terrain hampered the progress of the French and much of the enemy troops were disbanded when the inhabitants of the city staged a stampede of cattle to help the cities defenders. In addition and helping to seal the fate of the French, a storm broke and the mud prevented any attempt to march on the part of the French, who finished playing removal and retreated to Orizaba.

Mexico won the battle at Puebla but not the war. Five months after the battle, in September, General Zaragoza, who used to raise the morale of the Mexican troops by visiting the wounded and sick, fell ill with typhoid fever and died on September 11, 1862. Mexico was then without the overall guidance of General Zaragoza, the French troops reinforced with 30.000 French soldiers, defeated the Mexican forces in Puebla and in 1864 had occupied Mexico City. The president Benito Juarez continued at the head of the government in exile and reorganized Mexican troops, which then destroyed the dreams of the French and Maximilian in 1867.
(Maximilian)

Why is the battle of Puebla celebrated on the fifth of May?


The Battle of Puebla was the first time that the imperial troops of Napoleon III fell overdue demonstrating that they were not invincible; they were defeated by a group in military and numerical disadvantage for more defilement of Napoleon III. However the Battle of Puebla is not a public holiday throughout the country, in Puebla for obvious reasons it is celebrated each year on Cinco de Mayo, sometimes even recreating the battle. In the United States the celebration takes place only in the southern states that were part of Mexico, like California, New Mexico and Texas, with particular strength in the latter. The obvious reason is that Zaragoza was born in what is now the town of Goliad Texas, before Presidio's Bay of the Holy Spirit when the province was part of the state of Coahuila and Texas.

The Celebration was inspired by citizens at the end of the decade of the 1960s, when they were looking for a celebration that highlighted their backgrounds. September 16 seemed to be the obvious choice however there were two problems: it appeared very early in the school calendar and the authorities had suspected that it was seditious activities. The fifth of May became the next option, a day that would not arouse suspicion by the authorities since their main hero was born in the territory of the American Union. Over the years the celebration exceeded academia and joined American popular culture and for many of the communities with Mexican American heritage it is an important way to pay tribute to General Zaragoza's legacy.

The celebration surpasses that of the Mexican Independence Day, something very logical if one notes that the bulk of Méxican Americans born in the United States, while not naturalized Mexican residents still celebrate the Mexican Independence Day. Because of the size of the celebration for Cinco de Mayo, many Mexican Americans recognize the day and in recent years the original message of the celebration is becoming lost.