Viva Cinco de Mayo

The 5th of May, marks the victory in 1862 of the Mexican army, under the command of General Ignacio Zaragoza, over French troops at the Battle of Puebla. The day is observed by Mexican-Americans in states from Texas to California and in Mexico with celebrations and village programs.
The decades following the United States' war with Mexico (1846-48) found Mexico in a state of economic crisis. Mexican President Benito Juarez announced that the nation would suspend debt repayments to the English, Spanish and French. The English and Spanish backed off, but the French began an occupation of Mexico.

The Mexicans resisted, despite the fact thatthey were outgunned. Napoleon III reinforced French troops and dispatched 7,000 of them to Mexico City 225 miles inland in early April. The French were led to believe there would be little resistance. The only way to Mexico City was through the key cross roads City of Puebla. In order to carry out this plan Napoleon III assigned General Lorencez in charge of taking Puebla. Overconfidence was encouraged by both his advisors and the Mexicans who knew better as the French troops advanced inland.

Presidente Benito Juárez commanded General Ignacio Zaragoza to block the advance of the French Army at Puebla. Puebla with 80,000 inhabitants and over 150 churches, was surrounded by a chain of forts. On the north side were Forts Loreto and Guadalupe; on the south, Fort del Carmen; on the west, Forts San Xavier and Santa Anita. Zaragoza placed some of his 4,000 men in the forts, and held others in reserve in the city, where he had erected barricades in most of the streets as a last line of defense.

The Mexican troops consisted almost entirely of indigenous soldiers, severely under-equipped, using farm implents, and facing the best equipped Army in the world at the time.

Porfirio Diaz led a charge against the French infantry in front of Fort Guadalupe. In the afternoon the Mexicans were blessed with a heavy thunderstorm of rain that drenched the combatants, obscured visibility, and made the ground in front of the fort slippery.

La Batalla de Puebla raged on for two hours, after which time the French were forced to retreat to Orizaba.

The French expected a further attack that did not come, and instead the French spent the night nervously listening to the Mexicans cheering and celebrating their victory. Ironically this included singing 'Marseillaise,' which to the French was 'our Marseillaise,' an anthem of liberal revolutionaries everywhere.

The Battle of Puebla, though it ended in defeat for the French, it did not mean triumph for the Mexicans. The French eventually captured Puebla, marched on to Mexico City and ruled until 1867.

But the Cinco de Mayo battle was important for several reasons. The victory demonstrated to ordinary Mexican citizens that they could repel superior fighting power. It instilled national pride, improved the international stature of President Juarez and discouraged further American and European invasions of Mexico and Latin America.

For Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of cultural pride and a show of respect for the rights of people everywhere to enjoy in the fruits of self-determination.