What happened on Cinco de Mayo 1862?
May 5, 2009
What happened on Cinco de Mayo 1862?
Cinco de Mayo as it is said in Spanish (May 5th) is a national holiday in Mexico and is celebrated widely in the U.S. and is more of a Holiday among Mexican Americans in Texas for some reason than here in Mexico.
Is that who I think it is celebrating Cinco de Mayo in Dallas in 2007?
Some people mistakenly think it’s the Mexican Independence day but that would be the 16th of September when Mexico gained its Independence from Spain a full 50 years before in 1810.
No, Cinco de Mayo celebrates the defeat of the French Army at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. France at the time was under the rule of Louis Napoleon III.
History shows that after the Mexican President Benito Juarez on July 16th of 1861, had made the decision to suspend payment of debts for 2 years, to the 3 major European powers it owned money to at the time.
The French did not accept this offer of temporary suspension of payment as the English and Spaniards did and so French troops were ordered to Mexico City and Mexican President Benito Juarez sent General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin to fortify the City of Puebla 100 miles to the east of Mexico City in defense of the oncoming French troops.
On May 5th a poorly equipped and a much outnumbered Mexican army along with help from the Mesitozo and Zapotec Indians were able to defeat the French at the forts of Loreto and Guadalupe in the city of Puebla.
Here’s how they did it. The young General Zaragoza ordered his cavalry to the flank of the French army and the French chased them (as planned) only to be ambushed. The French infantry was left to fight in a muddy battlefield that gave the Mexicans the advantage needed to gain defeat.
The victory was one of great magnitude since the Mexican army was outnumbered, but through the leadership of General Zaragoza, was able to defeat the ominous French army giving a big moral boost to Mexicans everywhere.
The French did however regroup a year later and invaded Mexico City again. But, that’s another story.
