|
Cinco de Mayo the Battle of Pueblo |
|
|
|
The Mexican dictator General Antonio
López de Santa Anna returned to power in 1853 and Benito Juárez
was one of a group of liberals expelled from the country. Arriving
in New Orleans in October 1853, he joined forces with such kindred spirits
as Melchor Ocampo and José Guadalupe Montenegro to organize
a Revolutionary Junta aimed at the overthrow of Santa Anna.
The following year the coalition of Mexican liberals, impervious through their idealism to Santa Ana's brides, overthrew the dictator, General Santa Ana, to establish a republic. In 1857, disputes over a new constitution led to a civil war and the establishment of rival governments. In 1859, the United States formally recognized the liberal administration of Benito Juárez
as the legitimate government of Mexico. American president James Buchanan sanctioned shipments of war materiel to the Juárez military, as well as the participation of American mercenaries in the republican cause. France, Spain, and Great Britain, however, favored the conservative regime in Mexico. In late December 1860, the liberal forces defeated the conservatives, and a triumphant Juárez reclaimed Mexico City on January 1, 1861. Mexican conservatives or "Club de Notables" then allied with French emperor Napoleon III, who desired to incorporate Mediterranean states and former Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the Americas into a French-led federation (giving rise to the concept of a Latin America). The United States Civil War provided an opportunity for Napoleon III to intervene in Mexico, and the new republic’s large foreign debt supplied the excuse. When the Juárez government suspended its debt payments in 1861, Spain, France, and Britain sent an expeditionary force to demand redress. On December 8th, 1861 the European powers landed and occupied Veracruz, Spain arrived first. By April 11, 1862 after realizing France's intent was far greater then debt collection, England and Spain withdrew their support and departed with the payment warrants the Mexican government had offered them. |
|
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 Juárez commanded General Ignacio Zaragoza to block the advance of the French Army at Pueble. 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 were severely under-equipped and faced 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. |
|
||||
|
|||||
|
Some people
mistakenly think Cinco de Mayo is Mexico's Independence Day, but the
country actually declared its independence on |
Despite tremendous odds, the
Mexican Army, made up of largely humble indigenous Indians, defeated the most powerful fighting unit in the world! |
|
|||||||
| Four days after the victory on May 9th, 1862, President Juarez officially made the "Batalla de Puebla" (the Battle of Puebla) Battle of Puebla a holiday to remember when the civilian army defeated the great army of Napoleon III. | ||||||||
| The Mexicans had won the battle, | ||||||||
|
but not the war. |
||||||||
| Following fresh reinforcements, in June 10,
1863, French troops occupied Mexico City, and from there secured most of
the central region of the country. In early 1864, Napoleon III established
a regime in Mexico under Maximilian, the archduke of Austria.
By 1865, the French had forced Juárez and his men to the Mexican-U.S.
border. They went north and requested assistance from the Californians and
other Mexican-American societies to help them with volunteers and
financial support. The monetary and human cost of the intervention, however, aroused opposition within France. Also, with the end of the American Civil War in April 1865, the United States government turned its attention to the situation. In May, General Philip Sheridan led 50,000 American soldiers to face down French troops across the Mexican border. On the diplomatic front, Secretary of State William Seward intensified pressure for a French withdrawal. Realizing the futility of the Mexican morass, and facing growing unpopularity with the French people, Napoleon III agreed in February 1866 to remove his troops, a task completed in March 1867. President Juárez reestablished Republican government in Mexico, and had two months later put Maximilian who had refused to relinquish his title as Emperor on trial. |
||||||||
| The Last Hurrah of the | |||||||||||||
|
Last Battle for Mexican Independence |
|||||||||||||
| Maximilian, the idealistic young aristocrat and his wife,
Carlota, were crowned in Mexico City on June 10, 1864. Almost immediately,
Maximilian's policies antagonized his backers, as he upheld Benito
Juarez's land reforms, educated the Indians and the poor, and encouraged
Confederates to immigrate to Mexico. Too late, he acknowledged that his
government was bankrupt. When the French finally left Mexico in March
1867, Maximilian remained behind, refusing to desert "his
people" when Juarez and his army returned.
Ferdinand Maximilian was born at Schonbrunn Palace in , the second son of Archduke Franz Karl and Archduchess Sophie of Austria. His elder brother Franz Joseph was heir to the Habsburg crown, the oldest ruling European Dynasty. It is said young Max grew up 'full of curiosity, with a romantic and imaginative nature' In the end, Benito Juarez regained power and had to complet his task of restoring rule to the Mexican people by putting Maximilian on trial for crimes against the Mexican people. A few days later Maximillon and his Mexican generals Miguel Miramón and Tomás Mejía, were led up to the hill top square, Cerro de las Campanas, Queretaro. Seven uniformed men armed with rifles lined up; To each the Emperor handed an ounce of gold and he asked them to take good aim for his heart and make a clean death. He asked that the men not deface him, so his mother, the Archduchess, could see him once more in his coffin. The last words of Maximilian were in Spanish: "I die in a just cause. I forgive all, and pray that all may forgive me. May my blood flow for the good of this land. Long live Mexico! Long Live Independence!," |
|
|
|||||||||||
|
Return to Cinco
and Mexican Bay Links Page Main Page
to restore full menu optionsMain |
A celebration
of "Si se Puede" and the first step in the
eventual joint international success of the United States supporting
self determination for its southern neighbor. 
