Cinco de Mayo

May, 5th commemorates the sacrifice and the victory of the brave, courageous and tenacious Mexican army against the oppressive French army in 1862 at the "Battle of Puebla." The Mexican army overcame the odds of 6,000 French troops . Although, in America Cinco de Mayo has been confused; this celebrations is not the independence of Mexico. Cinco de Mayo is an exclusive Mexican party. 

In 1831, Mexico was a country in financial ruin. Britain, Spain and France decided to intimidate Mexico by sending naval forces in Veracruz. Britain and Spain showed nobility to Mexico, but France, ruled by Napoleon III (1808-1872), used this unique advantage to expand its empire in the Americas.

Late in 1861, a well-armed French fleet stormed Veracruz, landing a large French battalion, forcing president Juarez and his government to retreat.

General Latrille de Lorencez (1814-1892) was in charged of 6000 French troops. The war field was Puebla de Los Angeles, a small town in east-central Mexico. Whereas, President Juarez recruited 2000 loyal, brave and proud soldiers - many of them indigenous or mixed ancestry.

The Mexican troops were led by Texan born General Ignacio Zaragoza (1829-1862), the vastly outnumbered and poorly supplied Mexicans fortified the town and prepared for the French assault.On May 5, 1862, the unthinkable happened, the Mexicans forces achieved the victory.The bloody battle lasted from daybreak to early evening, and the French army finally retreated with only 500 soldiers remaining. Fewer than 100 Mexicans were killed on the battle-field.

Although,not a major strategic win in the overall war against the French, Zaragoza’s success at Puebla represented a great symbolic victory for the Mexican government and bolstered the resistance movement.

 Six years later—thanks in part to military support and political pressure from the United States, which was finally in a position, after the end of the Civil War, to aid its' besieged neighbor—France withdrew. The same year, Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, who had been installed as emperor of Mexico by Napoleon in 1864, was captured and executed by Juárez’s forces. Puebla de Los Angeles was renamed for General Zaragoza, who died of typhoid fever months after his historic triumph.