By: Jesse Greenspan
The annual Mexican holiday marks the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla.
Often mistaken for Mexico’s Independence Day, Cinco de Mayo actually commemorates a dramatic underdog victory that reshaped the course of North American history. Observed each year on May 5, the holiday marks Mexico’s 1862 triumph over French forces at the Battle of Puebla.
Read on to learn how this unlikely battlefield success became an enduring symbol of resistance and a celebration recognized around the world.
The so-called War of Reform broke out in 1858 soon after liberals drafted a new constitution aimed at reducing the power and influence of the Catholic Church. During the armed conflict, Mexico had two governments: a conservative one in Mexico City led by General Félix Zuloaga and a liberal one in Veracruz led by Benito Juárez, president of the supreme court. The conservatives, who had the support of the pope, won a series of initial skirmishes, but the liberals controlled the ports and were therefore better able to equip their troops. They emerged victorious in January 1861 when they retook Mexico City. The country remained starkly divided, however, with conservatives plotting their revenge.
Benito Juárez, circa 1860, was a member of the Indigenous Zapotec tribe who became the Mexican president and led troops at the Battle of Puebla.
After the War of Reform, Mexico had virtually no money in its treasury and owed tens of millions of dollars to foreign debtors. The sale of expropriated church property brought very little relief. As a result, newly elected President Juárez suspended payment of all foreign debt for two years, a move that prompted an immediate backlash from Spain, France and Great Britain. With the United States too consumed by the Civil War to enforce the Monroe Doctrine, troops from those three European powers began arriving in Veracruz in late 1861. Spain and Great Britain almost immediately withdrew, but about 6,000 French troops pushed inland toward the capital, backed by Mexico’s vanquished conservative leaders.
In 1862, the French had one of the best armies in the world. Arriving at Puebla on May 4, they were coming off a series of victories in Southeast Asia and Northern Africa and were loaded with firepower, including long-range rifles that put the Mexicans’ creaky muskets to shame. They were so overconfident, in fact, that they didn’t even bother to properly prepare their artillery. On the morning of May 5, the French tried to intimidate the Mexicans with screeching bugle calls and advanced bayonet maneuvers. But after a full day of fighting, including three unsuccessful uphill charges, they were forced to retreat due to heavy casualties.
Mexico’s victory at Puebla slowed but did not stop France’s assault. In the wake of the battle, an infuriated Emperor Napoleon III ordered that almost 30,000 more troops be sent to Mexico. This time around, under a new commander, they were able to overrun Puebla and easily conquer Mexico City. Juárez and his supporters then fled to the mountains to conduct guerrilla operations, while Napoleon III installed Ferdinand Maximilian von Habsburg, second in line to the Austro-Hungarian throne, as Mexico’s ruler.
Back in France, Napoleon III was growing increasingly concerned that Prussia, fresh off victories against Denmark and Austria, would next try to reclaim the perpetually disputed territories of Alsace and Lorraine. Meanwhile, the American Civil War had wrapped up, and U.S. officials were exerting diplomatic pressure on the French and supplying weapons to Juárez’s army. With his coffers running low, Napoleon III decided in 1866 to end France’s occupation of Mexico. Maximilian unwisely stayed and briefly fought on, surrendering only after his troops were routed at Querétaro. On June 19, 1867, he and his top generals were executed by a firing squad.
Ferdinand Maximilian von Habsburg became the Mexican emperor in 1864 after France won its war in the country. His reign ended in his execution three years later. Credit: GL Archive/Alamy Stock Photo
Porfirio Díaz, Mexico’s longest-serving president, was a relatively unknown cavalry commander until the Battle of Puebla, where he outflanked the French on their third charge and sent them into a disorderly retreat. Over the next few years, he won battles at Oaxaca and elsewhere. Following the war, however, Díaz became so disillusioned with his onetime friend Juárez that he unsuccessfully ran for president against him. He later launched a couple of coup attempts, finally seizing power in 1876. Except for one four-year break, his reign lasted until 1911, when he was finally deposed by the Mexican Revolution.
Porfirio Díaz in exile in Paris, circa 1900. He distinguished himself during the Battle of Puebla and later became the longest-serving president of Mexico before he was deposed.
Juárez declared Cinco de Mayo a holiday immediately after the Battle of Puebla, but for many Mexicans, it has always taken a backseat to such events as Mexican Independence Day, which commemorates the start of hostilities against Spanish rule on September 16, 1810. In the United States, on the other hand, Cinco de Mayo gained traction during the 1960s, when Chicano activists began looking for a way to honor their history and culture. Today, the biggest Cinco de Mayo celebrations are held in U.S. cities with large Hispanic populations, such as Los Angeles, which every year attracts hundreds of thousands of people to its Fiesta Broadway festival.
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Jesse Greenspan is a Bay Area-based freelance journalist who writes about history and the environment.
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