Story about the Battle of Puebla

Story about the Battle of Puebla

May 5, 1862 - the day Mexico defeated the French army

More than a century and a half ago, in the vicinity of the Mexican city of Puebla, a confrontation took place between local troops and the invading army of the Second French Empire, in a battle that reminded many of the glorious military deeds of antiquity Greco-Roman. We refer to the Battle of Puebla, a brief halt in the taking of Mexico by the Europeans, in what is known today as the Second French Intervention in Mexico.

The opposing forces could not be more disparate. In one corner, led by Ignacio Zaragoza, a military man barely 33 years old, were the 4,500 men of the Mexican army; in the other, under the command of the Count of Lorencez and relative of the Empress Charlotte, Charles Ferdinand Latrille, were the 6,500 of the disciplined and best equipped French imperial army.

The first, armed in the south and east of the outskirts of the city, in the forts of Loreto and Guadalupe; and the seconds advancing on them from the nearby Hacienda la Rementería. It is in part the disparity of the armies that made the Mexican victory so glorious and unexpected.

The advance of the French had been whipped by Mexican cavalry guerrillas along the way. Around 9 o'clock in the morning, they could already be seen on the horizon, but the battle had its formal start a couple of hours later, under the ringing of the city bells and a first cannon shot from the fort Guadeloupe.

The first hours of battle

Ignoring the recommendations of his allies (the Mexican conservatives who longed for the return of a monarchy) and relying on the numerical superiority of his side, the French commander led his troops, divided into two columns, directly towards the forts. In the space between them they came face to face with the 6th Battalion of the National Guard of the State of Puebla, under the command of Colonel Juan Nepomuceno Méndez, and there the first exchange of shots.

As the Mexicans reorganized their strategy, forming an angle between Fort Guadalupe and the Plaza San Román, the French installed their batteries in front of the fort, returning enemy fire received. Then, the Oaxacan troops commanded by Porfirio Díaz mobilized to close off the right flank of the battlefield, suddenly leaving the French at a dead end.

The French Zouaves, his elite infantry, then tried to take Fort Guadalupe, without success. They were met at bayonet point by the Mexican riflemen and had to retreat after a couple of attempts. Meanwhile, something similar was happening between Guadalupe and Loreto, where the French column was resisted by the front. Creole and decimated by a cavalry counterattack, which entered firing their carbines and brandishing their greats.

Three hours of battle had elapsed, but already the French defeat was beginning to be glimpsed on the horizon. In the grip of a growing desperation to deliver a decisive blow to the enemy, Lorencez was encouraged to a new assault towards Fort Guadalupe, in charge of the Zouaves themselves and the Hunters of Vincennes; and at the same time he sent a second column of his forces to attack the Mexican lines from the right.

This second front was received by the Sappers of San Luis Potosí, commanded by General Lamadrid, and a fierce hand-to-hand fight was instantly launched between both sides. The French and the Mexicans took successive turns in a house on the slope of the hill, until victory favored the defenders: a corporal Mexican mixed with the enemy troops and managed to capture the banner of the Zouaves, dealing a tremendous emotional blow to the troops invasive.

The rain that announces victory

By late afternoon, the rain swept across the battlefield, making the French advance even more difficult. The last French attempt to conquer key pieces in the territory corresponded, again, to the Zouaves. Determined to conquer a 68-pound cannon installed in Loreto, from where it raged among the invading troops, made a desperate infantry charge, which was on the verge of having success. But at the last minute, the Mexican gunner managed to hold his position.

On the other side, the troops of Porfirio Diaz came to the aid of the San Luis de Potosí riflemen, about to be surrounded and shot by the second front of the French, and stopped the advance of the invaders in their tracks, through a bloody hand-to-hand fight of the spearmen oaxaqueños. Repelled again and totally demoralized, the French then undertook the withdrawal, dispersing towards the Los Alamos ranch, from where they retreated towards Amozoc.

By 6 p.m., the battle was over. The victory favored the Mexican defenders, whose casualties were 83 dead, 132 wounded and 12 missing, compared to the almost 200 dead, 304 wounded and 127 captured from the French side. It was a very severe lesson for the Europeans, although it did not prevent in the long term neither the invasion of Mexico, nor the installation of the Second Mexican Empire. But the importance of this heroic feat is still celebrated today, every May 5 in Mexican territory.

References:

• "Narration" in Wikipedia.
• "Battle of Puebla" in Wikipedia.
• "5 historical data of the battle of Puebla" in National Geographic in Spanish.
• "May 5: what was the Battle of Puebla and why was it key in the history of Mexico" in Infobae.
• "May 5, 1862, Battle of Puebla" (video) in the Secretariat of Culture of Mexico City.
• "Battle of Puebla" in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.

What is a story?

A story or narration is a set of real or fictional events organized and expressed through the language, that is, a story, a chronicle, a novel, etc. Stories are an important part of culture, and telling and / or listening to them (or, once the writing, reading them) constitutes an ancestral activity, considered among the first and most essential of the civilization.

Follow with: