Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by UltimaRatio (talk | contribs) at 10:56, 27 May 2011 (Not decesive as the French conquered the city few month later...). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Battle of Puebla
Part of the French intervention in Mexico
Depictions of the battle showing Mexican cavalry taking over the French troops below the fort at Loreto
Date May 5, 1862 Location Puebla, Mexico Result Mexican victory
Belligerents
Mexico	France
Commanders and leaders
Ignacio Zaragoza	Charles de Lorencez
Strength
4,000 soldiers	8,000 soldiers
Casualties and losses
83 killed, 131 wounded, 12 missing	462 killed, ~300 wounded, 8 captured

The Battle of Puebla took place on 5 May 1862 near the city of Puebla during the French intervention in Mexico. The battle ended in a victory for the Mexican Army against the occupying French forces. The victory is celebrated today during the festivities of Cinco de Mayo, the 5th of May.

Background

The 1857-60 civil war in Mexico had disorganised the country's finances and the new President, Benito Juárez, was forced to suspend payments of foreign debts in 1861. In late 1861 Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, under the Treaty of London (1861) sent a joint expeditionary force to Mexico, alongside Spanish and English forces, to protect their interests and collect the debts owed by the previous Mexican government. The allied troops occupied the port city of Veracruz on December 8, 1861 and advanced to Orizaba. Napoleon III wanted to seize the opportunity presented by the U.S. involvement in the Civil War to set up a puppet Mexican regime. Napoleon's intrigues led to the withdrawal of the Spanish and British troops in April 1862. At the same time French reinforcements arrived.

Event

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Battle of Puebla" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The Battle of Puebla, May 5, 1862, was a single, important victory for the Mexican people over the occupying French Army.

The French Army at the time was led by General Charles de Lorencez. The battle came about by a misunderstanding of the French forces’ agreement to withdraw to the coast. When the Mexican people saw these French soldiers wandering about with rifles, they took it that hostilities had recommenced and felt threatened. To add to the mounting concerns, it was discovered that political negotiations for the withdrawal had broken down. A vehement complaint was lodged by the Mexicans to General Lorencez who took the effrontery as a plan to assail his forces. Lorencez decided to hold up his withdrawal to the coast by occupying Orizaba instead, which prevented the Mexicans from being able to defend the passes between Orizaba and the landing port of Veracruz. The 33 year old Mexican Commander General, Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín, fell back to Alcuzingo Pass, where he and his army were badly beaten in a skirmish with Lorencez's forces on April 28. Zaragoza retreated to Puebla, which was heavily fortified. Puebla had been held by the Mexican government since the Wars of Reform in 1860. To its north lie the forts Loreto and Guadalupe on opposite hilltops. Zaragoza had a trench dug to join the forts via the saddle.

Lorencez was led to believe that the people of Puebla were friendly to the French, and that the Mexican Republican garrison which kept the people in line would be overrun by the population once he made a show of force. This would prove to be a serious miscalculation on Lorencez's part. On May 5, against all advice, Lorencez decided to attack Puebla from the north. However, he started his attack a little too late in the day, using his artillery just before noon and by noon advancing his infantry. By the third attack the French required the full engagement of all their reserves. The French artillery had run out of ammunition, so the third infantry attack went unsupported. The Mexican forces and the Republican Garrison both put up a stout defense and even took to the field to defend the positions between the hilltop forts.

As the French retreated from their final assault, Zaragoza had his cavalry attack them from the right and left while troops concealed along the road pivoted out to flank them badly. By 3 p.m. the daily rains had started, making a slippery quagmire of the battlefield. Lorencez withdrew to distant positions, counting 462 of his men killed against only 83 of the Mexicans. He waited a couple of days for Zaragoza to attack again, but Zaragoza held his ground. Lorencez then completely withdrew to Orizaba.

Follow up

Although the French intervention was slowed by their loss at Puebla, the invasion continued. In September 1862 an additional 30,000 French troops arrived in Mexico under General Elie F. Forey. The following year, the French captured Puebla (May 17) and the capital of Mexico City (June 7), forcing Juárez's government into exile in northern Mexico, and the Austrian Archduke Maximilian became ruler of the short-lived Second Mexican Empire. "Some have argued that the true French occupation was a response to growing American power and to the Monroe Doctrine (America for the Americans). Napoleon III believed that if the United States was allowed to prosper indiscriminately, it would eventually become a power in and of itself."

Celebration

On September 16, 1862, President Juárez declared that the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla would be a national holiday, regarded as "Battle of Puebla Day" or Battle of Cinco de Mayo". Although today it is recognized in some countries as a day of Mexican heritage celebration, it is not a federal holiday in Mexico.

A common misconception in the United States is that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico's Independence Day, the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico. Grito de Dolores (Mexico's Independence Day) falls on September 16 (dieciséis de septiembre in Spanish),

Since the 1930s, a re-enactment of the Battle of Puebla has been held each year at Peñón de los Baños, a rocky outcrop close to Mexico City International Airport.

See also

• Cinco De Mayo
• List of battles of the French intervention in Mexico

References

1. Cinco De Mayo: Join In The Celebration On The Fifth Of May. The Bulletin. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By Cheryl VanBuskirk. May 7, 2009.
2. Cinco De Mayo: Join In The Celebration On The Fifth Of May. The Bulletin. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By Cheryl VanBuskirk. May 7, 2009.
3. Cinco de Mayo. Calendar Updates.
4. Statement by Mexican Consular official Accessed May 8, 2007.
5. Adam Brooks. . NBC 11 News. Retrieved 2008-09-18. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
6. Retrieved February 6, 2009.
7. Retrieved February 6, 2009.
8. The Battle of Puebla is re-enacted each year on Cinco de Mayo (May 5), but in Mexico City

External links

• French Intervention in Mexico: Battle of Puebla
• Phil's Findings: Did Battle of Puebla change the course of U.S. history? by PHILIP A. RUE

• Conflicts in 1862
• 1862 in Mexico
• 1862 in France
• Battles involving France
• Battles of the French intervention in Mexico
• Puebla (city)