Juarez
Puebla
New leadership taking over Mexico's future after the War of Reform ends in 1860 with the ouster of legendary politician and general, Antonio de Padua Maria Severino de Santa Anna y Perez de Lebron (he flees to exile in Cuba), Juarez starts a new batch of dark days for his country in 1861 when he is forced to suspend interest payments on the state's debts for two years. The decision causes Spain, France, and the United Kingdom to form a Tripartite Alliance that invades Mexico at the port of Veracruz to force its government to renegotiate new terms for paying off its outstanding debts and for giving reparations to abused foreign citizens living in the country. A tenuous alliance at best of often enemies, the coalition breaks up when Spain and Great Britain receive the payment promises they were seeking, but France, in the form of Emperor Napoleon III decides to use the debt as an excuse for gobbling up Mexico and turning it into a puppet regime under the dubious direction of Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian (of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, he is the younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria). He also intends to use the country as an outlet for receiving Confederate goods like cotton and tobacco, while supplying the South with weaponry. War with Mexico sought and found (though negotiations between France and Mexico continue), in April of 1862, the expeditionary force of 38-year-old General Charles De Lorencez begins making preparations for marching on Mexico City (following the same path that American General Winfield Scott took to victory in 1847 during the Mexican-American War).
Napoleon III
Maximillian I
General de Lorencez
Misunderstandings once again a catalyst for battle, the truce in place between Mexico and France breaks when French troop movements back to Mexico's east coast are interpreted as a sign that hostilities have begun again, and de Lorencez gets upset at Mexican protests over his movements and decides to not fall back, but instead, occupies the town of Orizaba, a move which forces 33-year-old Mexican General (born in Texas, he resigns as the country's Secretary of War to fight the French) Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin to fall back to Acultzingo Pass. Unwilling to risk battle in the open with the French, when a bloody small skirmish called the Battle of Las Cumbres takes place on April 28 that puts French troops in the first line of Mexican entrenchments, Zaragoza retreats into the nearby fortified city of Puebla.
Zaragoza
Las Cumbres
Located in the eastern-central region of Mexico and bordered by the states of Veracruz (north and east), Hidalgo, Tlaxcala, and Moreles (to the west), and Guerrero and Oaxaca (to the south), the city of Puebla is founded in a mountain valley of in 1531 by Toribio de Benavente and Juan de Salmeron to protect the trade route between Mexico City and the port of Veracruz. Protected on its northern side by two hill top forts named Loreto and Guadalupe (connected by a trench along the ridge line between the forts), foolishly believing that the citizens of the city are friendly towards the French and will rise up in revolt when French troops arrive, ignoring the advice of his staff officers, de Lorencez presses forward and attacks the city on May 5, 1862, from the north.
Contested Area
Puebla
Scheduling a morning attack, the battle goes bad for the French almost immediately as instead of attacking, the Europeans try and intimidate the Mexican force in front of them with screeching bugles and bayonet drills. No uprising in answer, morning becomes afternoon before the French launch their attack at the twin forts and their connecting defensive positions, up the slopes of steep Cerro de Guadalope, the worst spot for the attack to take place. Hubris. Up and then down, up and then down, up and then down ... though they outnumber the Mexican force (Zaragoza has 4,500 men to de Lorencez's 6,500 soldiers) and have superior weapons, three times de Lorencez's soldiers are stopped at the trench (firing away at the defensive position in front of Puebla so repeatedly that they run out of artillery ammunition before the infantry can begin its third attack), while future Mexican president, Brigadier General Porfirio Diaz stops a French flanking attack. Afternoon rains turning the field of battle into a quagmire, the French finally withdraw after the failure of a the third charge and the subsequent actions of Zaragoza who launches flanking attacks to the right and left with his cavalry, while troops concealed along the road into Puebla reveal themselves and begin sniping on the retreating French. Victory, at a cost of 83 dead soldiers (the French lose almost a thousand men), Zaragoza has defeated the French for the first time since Napoleon I's debacle at Waterloo (he will not enjoy his triumph for long, dying from typhoid fever later that same year).
At The Trench
Mexican Snipers
Diaz
Battle won, but the war will end up being lost (with reinforcements, the French will finally take Puebla in 1863) and it will take Juarez until 1867 to oust the French and their Austrian lackeys from the country (a fifteen man firing squad will execute Emperor Maximilian I and Generals Miramon and Mejia at 6:40 in the morning of June 19, 1867). Throughout the bloody years, the Battle of Puebla is used as a rallying call to what determined men can do, and on May 9, 1862, Juarez declares that henceforth, the anniversary of the clash will be a Mexican national holiday (it is not Mexico's Independence Day, that day is considered to be September 16, 1810 with the "Cry of Delores," when Roman Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rings the bell of his church to call the local people to arms to break away from Spain.).
Third Battle Of Puebla - 1863
Execution Painting By Edouard Manet
The Emperor's Clothing
Celebrated mostly in the state of Puebla, the annual anniversary of the clash includes military parades, recreations of the battle, and lots of music, dancing, and food. Growing from word-of-mouth of the victory passing to the Mexican communities in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, the celebration of the battle, pushed by Chicano activists in the 1960s, will transform in the United States into a kind-of annual St. Patrick's Day for Mexican culture and heritage featuring parades, block parties, mariachi music, folk dancing, and lots and lots of delicious eating. Celebrated by more people in the States than it is in Mexico, there are huge festivals for the day, every year, in Houston, Chicago, and Los Angeles. 5/5/1862 ... shocking the world, a rag-tag force of Mexican warriors stop the French at the town of Puebla, remember that as you start munching today on your refried beans, rice, and beef enchiladas!
Battle
Celebration!
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