Battle of Puebla
The battle of Puebla was a battle that took place on May 5, 1862 in the vicinity of the city of Puebla, between the armies of the Mexican Republic, under the command of Ignacio Zaragoza, and of the Second French Empire, led by Charles Ferdinand Latrille, Count of Lorencez, during the Second French Intervention in Mexico, the result of which was an important victory for the Mexicans since with forces considered inferior they managed to defeat one of the most experienced armies. Despite its success, the battle did not prevent the invasion of the country, although it would be the first battle of a war that Mexico would ultimately win. The French would return the following year, with which a second battle was fought in Puebla in which 35,000 Frenchmen faced against 29,000 Mexicans (a defense that lasted 62 days) and they would manage to advance to Mexico City, which allowed the establishment of the Second Mexican Empire.
Finally, after losing 11,000 men due to guerrilla activity that never ceased to subsist, the French withdrew unconditionally from the country in 1867 by order of Emperor Napoleon III before the threat of Prussia in Europe and the threat to invade if he did not withdraw from Mexico.
Background
After President Benito Juárez announced that he would not pay the foreign debt, in October 1861, France, England, and Spain signed the London Convention, in which they agreed to send military contingents to Mexico to claim their rights as creditors for a debt that amounted to around 80 million pesos at the time, of which approximately 69 million would correspond to England, 9 million to Spain and 2 million to France.
The European contingent was made up as follows:
- Spain: 5789 men in charge of General Juan Prim.
- France: 3000 men led by Rear Admiral Edmond Jurien de la Gravière.
- United Kingdom: 700 Marines under the command of Comodoro Dunlop.
- Total estimated: 9489 in total army consisting of the 3 empires
Shortly after meeting, the representatives of the three countries sent an ultimatum to the Mexican government asking for the payment of their debts; otherwise, he would invade the country. Juárez, who ruled a country just beginning to rise from economic prostration, responded with an appeal for an amicable settlement, and invited them to a conference. He accompanied that message with the repeal of the decree that suspended payments. At the same time, in view of the real possibility of a military invasion that sought to reach Mexico City, he ordered the transfer of supplies and the fortification of Puebla, as well as the creation of a unit, which was designated as the Eastern Army, which was placed under the command of General José López Uraga. In view of the deficient performance of this command, he was dismissed and Zaragoza was appointed in his place, who left the Ministry of War and went to Puebla to organize opposition to the French advance with about 10,000 men; minimum quantity if one takes into account the vast territory that had to be covered.
The representatives accepted the call and in February 1862 met with Juarista Foreign Ministers, Manuel Doblado, and War Ministers, Ignacio Zaragoza, at the La Soledad hacienda, near Veracruz. Thanks to his ability as a negotiator for Doblado, the preliminary Treaties of La Soledad were signed, in which recognition was obtained as an interlocutor for the Juárez government and respect for the integrity and independence of the country was guaranteed. In addition, it was agreed that the negotiations on the debt would take place in Orizaba, where the allied forces would be established, in addition to Córdoba and Tehuacán, to avoid the harshness of the tropical climate of the port; if no agreement was reached, they would withdraw to the coast to begin hostilities.
On March 5, while negotiations were still taking place in Orizaba, a French military contingent arrived in Veracruz under the command of Charles Ferdinand Latrille, Count of Lorencez, who took over command from Jurien de la Gravière and headed for Tehuacán. The conservative general also arrived Juan Nepomuceno Almonte, who immediately proclaimed himself "supreme chief of the nation" and he began to rally conservative troops, remnants of the War of the Reform, to support the French.
In April 1862 the tripartite alliance broke up because Spain and England realized that France had a hidden interest, of a geopolitical nature, under the economic claim: to overthrow the republican government of Mexico to establish a monarchy favorable to its colonial policy, with a view to counteracting the growing power of the United States.[citation needed] From the instructions of Napoleon III given to the military chief of the expedition, it is known that The French imperialist objective was to expand their domains by establishing a protectorate, whose administration would serve to expand markets, support the colonies in the Antilles and South America and, in this way, guarantee the supply of raw materials in France. Spanish (Prim) and English (Charles Wyke) representatives negotiated with the Juarista government separately and ultimately accepted the Mexican government's moratorium proposals, and reembarked their troops. France's position, in contrast, presented by the diplomat Dubois de Saligny, was to demand immediate payment of the debt, which included an exaggerated charge by the House of Jecker for the damage caused during the War of the Reform, and to have total and absolute control of customs, as well as direct intervention in the economic policy of the country.
At the end of April, Lorencez ignored the Treaties of Soledad and set off, together with his troops, towards Puebla, with the ultimate goal of conquering Mexico City. The French military was surrounded by an aura of invincibility in combat since they had not been defeated since Waterloo, almost 50 years earlier, with resounding victories in the battles of Solferino, Magenta and Sebastopol. This attitude was evident in the following message, which Lorencez sent to Count Jacques Louis César Alexandre Randon, French Minister of War, shortly after the battle of Las Cumbres: "We are so superior to the Mexicans in organization, discipline, race, morals and refinement of sensitivities, which I beg you to announce to His Imperial Majesty, Napoleon III, that from this moment on and in command of our 6,000 brave soldiers, I already own Mexico”. The confidence of the French high command was not only due to an impeccable military record, but also to the general fragility of Mexico and its institutions. With an economy destroyed by almost 50 years of civil wars, with a weak state and a population divided by factional strife, the conquest of the country seemed a feasible undertaking with a small contingent.
Upon learning of the advance, General Alejandro Constante Jiménez, in command of 2,000 soldiers, joined General Zaragoza, who left Puebla with 4,000 soldiers to meet the French, who were already engaged in skirmishes with guerrillas. The Mexican commander had faced various problems in forming his army. Given the lack of volunteers and the fact that hostilities were still taking place with conservative groups remnants of the War of Reform, they had resorted to the levy. Although there was a young but experienced officer corps, most of the troops lacked minimal discipline, and were poorly equipped and fed. In the days before the battle, Zaragoza repeatedly requested the high command in Mexico City to urgently send financial resources, since he could not even afford food for the troops. To make matters worse, the explosion of a powder keg in the tithe collection office of the town of San Andrés Chalchicomula (today Ciudad Serdán), which occurred on March 6, had killed 1,322 soldiers of the Oaxaca Brigade sent by General Ignacio Mejía to join the to the Army of the East.
On April 28, the Army of the East ran into Lorencez's column at a mountain pass in the Cumbres de Acultzingo, on the border between Veracruz and Puebla, which represented the first formal warfare encounter. Zaragoza did not intend to cut off the invaders, but rather to warm up his soldiers, many of them inexperienced, and at the same time cause the enemy the maximum possible losses. In the so-called Battle of Las Cumbres, 500 Frenchmen died, while the Mexican casualties amounted to only 50. Despite this favorable balance, Zaragoza still had mistrust about the actual performance of his troops in combat in the open field. After the withdrawal of the Mexicans, the French took control of the pass, thus isolating the center of the country from the main port on the Gulf, and they had a free route to Puebla.
The Battle
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With the Acultzingo pass secured, on May 2, 1862, the main column of the French expeditionary army left San Agustín del Palmar, in Veracruz, to cross the Sierra Madre Oriental and head towards Puebla, an obligatory step to reach the capital of the country and that it was also one of the strongholds of the Conservative Party, where they expected to be received "with a shower of roses", as Saligny assured Napoleon III in a letter. On the night of May 3, General Zaragoza arrived in Puebla, leaving a cavalry brigade behind him to harass the invaders. The members of the Army of the East organized themselves through the deserted streets of the city, since the majority of the population was in favor of the invasion.
Zaragoza established his headquarters a few meters from the battle line, where he established the plan for the defense of the square (see table above), which consisted of concentrating the supplies in the south and east of the city, hoping to avoid for the French to reach the urban area of Puebla.
On May 4, Mexican scouts returned with news that a column of "conservatives on horseback," led by Leonardo Márquez and José María Cobos, was marching through the Atlixco area to join up with the Lorencez forces in the attack on Puebla. Zaragoza sent a brigade of 2,000 men under the command of Tomás O'Horán and Antonio Carbajal, in order to stop him, which they succeeded in doing. Although his forces had diminished, the Mexicans prepared for the defense of Puebla. They had two battle artillery batteries and two mountain artillery, covering the forts with 1,200 men and forming another 3,500 into four infantry columns with a battle battery and a cavalry brigade on the Amozoc road side.
...The enemy is encamped in three quarters of this city's claw. I have my camp in the subsidiaries of her and in the same direction. The Army Corps ready to attack and resist. General O'Horan warned me that yesterday he beat at Atlixco 1,200 reactionaries, whose population abandoned after some resistance. It seems that the rest of the reactionary chusmas are in Matamoros preparing their march for this course. Everything I say to you for the knowledge of the President of the Republic..— I. Zaragoza.
The Mexican right wing was covered by troops from Oaxaca led by Porfirio Díaz. The center of the line was occupied by Felipe Berriozábal and Francisco Lamadrid with the troops of the State of Mexico and San Luis Potosí. The left leaned on the Acueyametepec hill located in the north of the city and on whose summit the Forts of Loreto and Guadalupe were located, with General Miguel Negrete at the head of the Second Infantry Division. The surplus artillery was placed in the forts and redoubts within Puebla, being commanded by General Santiago Tapia.
At 9:15 a.m. on May 5, the French appeared on the horizon, advancing from the nearby Hacienda de Rementería, crossing fire with the retreating cavalry guerrillas who did not withdraw until they the French lines were formed and ready to advance. The battle began in earnest at 11:15 in the morning, announcing itself with a cannon shot from the Guadalupe Fort and accompanied by the pealing of the city bells. At that moment, a surprise maneuver took place: the French column, which had been advancing in order from east to west, divided into two: the first, made up of approximately 4,000 men and protected by its artillery, made a violent turn to the right and he headed towards the forts; while the second column, made up of the rest of the infantry, remained as a reserve.
The conservatives Almonte and Antonio de Haro y Tamariz, who were accompanying the French, had suggested that the attack be directed to the vicinity of the former Convento del Carmen, in the south of the city, taking as precedent what happened in the site during the War with the United States. Lorencez, confident in the superiority of his troops, as well as in the help he expected from Márquez's contingent, ignored the advice and decided to concentrate the attack on the forts, where the Mexicans had the advantage. Zaragoza noticed the maneuver and quickly reconsidered his battle plan, mobilizing the troops towards the slopes of the hill. the 6th Battalion of the National Guard of the State of Puebla, under the command of then Colonel Juan Nepomuceno Méndez, was the first corps of the Army of the East to face the French, locating itself in the line between the forts, and repelling their attack. Zaragoza made Berriozábal's forces advance at a fast pace between the rocks, placing them between the hollow that separates Loreto and Guadalupe. Meanwhile, General Antonio Álvarez with his brigade protected the left flank of the redoubts.
The Mexican battle line formed an angle that extended from Guadalupe to a place known as Plaza de Román, facing the enemy positions. Zaragoza arranged for General Lamadrid to defend the road that connected the city with the Amozoc sentry box with troops from San Luis Potosí and two pieces of artillery. The right of the Mexican battle line was closed by Porfirio Díaz with the Oaxaca Division, aided by the Toluca and Oaxaca Lanceros squadrons.
The French continued their advance, placing their batteries in front of Guadalupe, while returning Mexican fire from that position.
At that moment the Zouaves, the elite French infantry regiment, began their ascent up the hill towards Guadalupe, losing sight of the Mexican riflemen. Suddenly, they appeared shooting in front of the fortification. However, the fire launched by the Mexicans stopped them dead in their tracks. At that moment, Berriozábal's soldiers received them with their bayonets, so they had to withdraw in good order until they were out of range. They recovered quickly and launched again trying to take the fort.
The French supported by the 1ster and 2nd Marine Regiments, they pounced on the rest of the Mexican line, being received with the bayonet. The French column was repulsed in Guadalupe and Loreto, and the attacks of other deployed French columns were also repulsed. At that moment, the Mexican Colonel José Rojo advised Antonio Álvarez that it was time for the Mexican cavalry to go into action to achieve a complete victory. He ordered the Carabineros de Pachuca to charge the remains of the column, firing their carbines and launching saber blows at the French, being totally repulsed.
At half past two in the afternoon, when a victory for the Mexicans began to take shape, Lorencez prepared to launch the last assault, directing the Cazadores de Vincennes and the Zouaves Regiment towards Guadalupe, while starting up a second attack column made up of the remains of the battle corps —except the 99th Line, which remained in reserve in the French camp—, to attack to the right of the Mexican battle line.
Faced with this situation, the Sappers of San Luis Potosí, under the command of General Lamadrid, came out to meet them, waging a terrible bayonet fight. A house located at the foot of the hill was the target. The French took it and took refuge in it, being evicted by the sappers; they recovered it and were expelled again by the troops of Lamadrid. A Mexican corporal named Palomino mixed in with the Zouaves and fought with them hand to hand, taking possession of his standard as booty of war when its bearer fell dead. This moment meant a mental blow in favor of the defenders.
Late in the afternoon a downpour fell on the field, making it difficult for the French troops to advance. Zaragoza ordered the San Luis Potosí Reform Battalion to come out to help the forts. In Loreto there was a 68-pound cannon that caused enormous havoc in the French ranks. The Zouaves made a desperate infantry charge to seize that piece. The Mexican artilleryman, surprised by the speed of the French, had in his hands the cannonball that he did not manage to place in the muzzle. A zouave appeared in front of him and behind it the rest of the corps that, once seized of that fort, would raise French morale and the victory achieved could be lost. The gunner hurled the bullet at the French soldier, who, mortally wounded by the blow to the head, rolled into the pit on the parapet. After this assault was repulsed, the French fell back being pursued by the Reforma Battalion.
Meanwhile, when the second column reached Fort Guadalupe protected by a line of riflemen, Porfirio Díaz came to the aid of the Rifles of San Luis Potosí, who were about to be surrounded. He moved the Guerrero Battalion in a column, under the orders of Colonel Jiménez and won the ground from the French. To support him, he sent the rest of the troops from Oaxaca, with colonels Espinoza and Loaeza at the head, with which it was possible to expel the enemy from the vicinity. The success encouraged Díaz, who detached the Morelos Battalion with two artillery pieces on the left, while on the right the Rifles of San Luis Potosí recovered from the fight, preceded by a charge by the Oaxaca Lancers, engaging in close combat. to body that pushed back.
At that moment, after being repelled for the last time, the French troops began to flee, completely dispersed. They retreated to the Los Álamos hacienda, to finally retire towards Amozoc.
Consequences
While the battle was being fought, in the National Palace and in Mexico City in general there was an atmosphere of tense waiting. The last thing that was known about Puebla was the telegram sent by Zaragoza around 12:30 p.m., in which he warned that artillery fire had begun on both sides. Then silence. Given the uncertainty, the government had hastily sent General Florencio Antillón in command of the Guanajuato Battalions, leaving only 2,000 men of the Capital Cuiraceros Regiment and a few hundred poorly armed militiamen as guardians of the capital. If the Guanajuato troops were lost, the capital would be left unprotected.
At 4:15 p.m. the news was finally received:
... On the field at two and a half.— Two and a half hours we beat. The enemy has thrown a multitude of grenades.— His columns on the hill of Loreto and Guadalupe have been rejected and surely attacked with four thousand men. All his momentum was on the hill.— At this time the columns are withdrawn and our forces are advancing on them. Start a strong waterfall. - I. Zaragoza
Zaragoza later sent another telegram in which he said that the French had begun the retreat towards Amozoc, but without mentioning the final outcome of the battle. Finally, at 5:49 in the afternoon another part was received, addressed to the Minister of War, which caused jubilation (and great relief) in the National Palace:
... The weapons of the Supreme Government have been covered with glory: the enemy has made supreme efforts to take over the Cerro de Guadalupe, which attacked on the east of the left and right for three hours: he was rejected three times in complete dispersion and at this time he is formed in battle, strong of more than 4,000 men, in front of the hill of Guadalupe, out of fire. I don't beat it, as I wish, because the Government knows (that) I don't have enough force for it. I calculate the loss of the enemy, which reached the pits of Guadalupe in their attack, in 600 or 700 between dead and wounded; 400 we will have had. Please note this part to the C. President. - I. Zaragoza
Two hours after the previous report was sent to the Ministry of War, the President of the Republic received the following:
... Mr. President.-I am very happy with the behavior of my generals and soldiers. They've all behaved. - The French have taken a very severe lesson; but in the gift of truth I will say: that they have been beaten as bravos, dying a large part of them in the pits of the trenches of Guadalupe. Be for good, sir. President. I wish that our dear homeland, today so unfortunate, be happy and respected by all nations..— I. Zaragoza
The final balance of casualties of the battle was 476 for the French expeditionary force: 172 dead or missing and 304 wounded; as well as 83 dead, about 132 wounded and 12 missing for the Army of the East.At 7 pm on May 6, General Antillón and his troops arrived in Puebla; Zaragoza expected a new attack from Lorencez, but this, on May 8, ordered the withdrawal to San Agustín del Palmar, being "greeted" by the Republican artillery and the Carabineros War Band, who played "Escape".
On September 5, 1862, while still quartered in Puebla, General Zaragoza contracted typhus and died three days later. He was replaced in command of the Army of the East by General Jesús González Ortega, who would be in charge of defending the city since the return of the French, regrouped and with reinforcements, was expected, which happened in March of the following year. Historians agree in pointing out Zaragoza's talent as an organizer and motivator of his troops. Before the battle, he harangued them by telling them that although the French were considered "the first soldiers of the world," they were "the first children of Mexico," which had such an effect on the morale of his soldiers that his determination to defend the square against the invaders made up for his material and discipline deficiencies. In addition, he was not afraid to make risky decisions, such as dispensing with the 2,000 troops that O'Horan took to beat Leonardo Márquez, and during the battle he acted calmly and effectively. He is considered a national hero and in his honor, some time later, Juárez renamed the city Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza.
Part of the responsibility for the outcome of the battle can be attributed to Lorencez, for deciding to attack Loreto and Guadalupe first instead of attacking the city. This action is not meaningless if one takes into account that the French general was confident of victory because of what had happened at the Summits, in addition to the fact that under the military logic of his time, the enemy had to be attacked first in their positions. stronger. In any case, arrogant by the superiority per se of the French, he did not count on the iron Mexican resistance and made blunders: thus, for example, his order to place his cannons in battery at two kilometers and a half from the fortifications of Puebla, which was described by Napoleon III himself as nonsense since the bullets reached their targets, but without force. The count was repatriated and replaced by Frédéric Forey in command of the expeditionary troops. When the defeat of the French army was learned in France, it caused pain, hysteria and tears, even more so when the stories came that the Zacapoaxtlas indigenous people (which was actually the sixth National Guard Battalion of the State of Puebla) had attacked with machetes, an unknown weapon in Europe, and ate the corpses. The rest of Europe, with disbelief, surprise and astonishment, commented on how the French army, undefeated since the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, had been defeated in Mexico, an army considered the best in the world, the victor in the conquest of Algeria and of French Indochina (today Vietnam), had been defeated by a tropical country, using warfare tactics rarely used in Europe, such as Guerrilla Warfare.
Awards
On May 21, 1862, President Juárez published the decree of decoration to the victors of the battles of April 28 in the Summits of Acultzingo and May 5 in Puebla, and both were considered victories against the French expeditionary army.
On May 30, the members of the Eastern Army were awarded the "diplomas de Concurrencia" to the same battles, as stipulated in the fourth article of the aforementioned decree.
On November 29, Juárez traveled, accompanied by his ministers of War, Miguel Blanco Múzquiz, and of Foreign Affairs and the Interior, Juan Antonio de la Fuente, to Puebla for a series of ceremonies and recognitions for the defenders of the city. He met with González Ortega, and finally, on December 4, in the middle of a great ceremony at the Fort of Guadalupe, he formally presented the medals to the victors of the battles of April 28 and May 5 of that year., and left the next day for Mexico City. Likewise, on March 2, 1863, on the eve of the start of the Siege of Puebla, a second ceremony was held in Guadalupe, in which he awarded more medals.
Meaning
With the exception of the Grito de Dolores, the commemoration of the Battle of Puebla is the most significant date in the Mexican civic calendar, as it was one of the few victories against an invading foreign army. Symbolically, it represents the achievement of a great undertaking by the Mexicans, which can be achieved if the divisions are forgotten and these are overcome the shortcomings, as evidenced by the fact that the victory was achieved, with courage and dedication, despite that they had everything against them: numerical and material inferiority, morale diminished by the Chalchicomula tragedy, and the sympathy of some sectors of the elites and the political class towards the invaders. In return, the Republicans responded quickly to the situations that the battle was raising (they mobilized the bulk of their troops from the urban center of Puebla towards the forts) and knew how to take advantage of the French mistakes. Weeks before the battle, Juárez had declared the death penalty for Mexicans who joined the invaders, but also an amnesty for the enemies of the republic in the Reform War if they joined him in defending the country from invasion. The most famous case is that of the conservative general Miguel Negrete, who abandoned the conservative party and made himself available to Zaragoza with the following sentence: "I have a country rather than a party."
May 5 is an endearing date for Mexicans; It is celebrated in the main cities of the country with parades and festivals. That day, protests are taken throughout the country by young people who are doing their National Military Service.
However, the memory of the battle does not end with the protocol. In some parts of the country, popular festivals are held in which the battle itself or some of its aspects are recreated, as in the case of Peñón de los Baños, in Mexico City, or in Huejotzingo, in Puebla; places where there is a peculiar fusion of carnival elements with the civic festival. Even in a fully religious celebration such as the Morismas de Bracho, in Zacatecas, which are traditionally held on the last weekend of August, where thousands of people represent combats between Moors and Christians, participants appear wearing uniforms taken from the battle of Puebla; for example, the Moorish contingent adopted the uniform of the French Zouaves; likewise, the Christian army adopted the uniform of the sapper regiment, and the Christian war bands wear the Mexican uniform used on May 5. Both troops simulate combat to the sound of French marches.
In the United States, May 5th is "Latino Heritage Day," which celebrates immigration from Mexico. This has given rise to the belief, erroneously, that the anniversary of the battle is the day of the Independence of Mexico.
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