The Three Battles of Puebla: myths and realities by Juan Miguel Zunzunegui Interpreted by Jorge Canavati

In a country where history is re-invented to mold heroes and villains according to the needs of the current regime and where history is written as the absolute truth in a free and obligatory textbook that is used as doctrine for the vast majority of the population, we all know about the ephemeral and false victory against the invading forces. But very few know the complete history; the history not told of the three battles of Puebla.

·????????In a country where education is dogmatic and the system of education does not teach one to think but to repeat, almost no one questions the “why.” If Mexico won against the French, then why was the French flag flying 11 months later in Mexico City and the country dominated by Napoleon III’s troops? It is really very simple, there is nothing to celebrate on May the 5th because a battle was won but the war was lost. ?

·????????The first battle of Puebla took place on May 5, 1862, against French troops that were advancing from Cordoba, Veracruz towards Mexico City. The French expeditionary forces were met by the army of the Zacapoaxtlas that forced the French to retreat (return) to Cordoba. A true victory would have meant to go after the French troops and force them back to sea. Instead, once the French retreated, the Mexican troops suspended the attack by order of (guess who?) Ignacio Zaragoza. General Zaragoza did not know how, did not want to, or could not consolidate the triumph. He sat at a table in his tent boasting victory. This, while brigadier general Porfirio Diaz insisted on pushing on to continue the attack. All in vain. ?Porfirio Diaz was the actual commander on the battlefield and followed orders to stand down.

·????????The invading forces withdrew, regrouped, recouped, and tripled in size. Once all this was done, the French forces attacked again confronting the Mexican army in the second battle of Puebla……this battle has never been talked about. Not a word, Lost in the history books. Why? Because the Mexican army lost this battle.?

·????????In March of 1863 the French forces marched on Puebla, taking the city. The French forces continued on to Mexico City which was taken on July 7, 1863. This occupation gave way to the short empire of Maximilian who accepted the “Throne of Moctezuma” on April 10, 1864.?A short two years later, in March of 1866 poor Maximilian lost the support of Napoleon III, who ordered his troops to leave Mexico. And with that the fate of emperor Max was sealed. A side note from me: Maximilian’s wife, Carlota (who went mad) was the sister to King Leopold of Belgium, the butcher of the Congo.

·????????Benito Juarez remained at the northern border with his republican government while two of his generals began to re-take Mexico. Mariano Escobedo to the North and Porfirio Diaz to the South. By March of 1867 the empire only controlled Querétaro which at one point was the capital, plus Puebla and Mexico City.

·????????General Mariano Escobedo took Querétaro, while in the East the third battle of Puebla took place. General Porfirio Díaz defeated the French forces, expelled them from the city and forced them out to the Gulf of Mexico. After this battle, General Diaz marched on to Mexico City where he defeated the last enemy troops. He pardoned the French and executed traitor Mexicans by firing squad.?On July 15 of 1867 the triumphant Diaz dismissed his troops and delivered the capital to President Benito Juarez.????

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So, the question remains: Why does the history of Mexico ignore the triumphs of General Diaz and the other two battles of Puebla? Simply because the historic discourse of Mexico makes Juarez a hero and Diaz a tyrant. In the political Manichean ways of Mexico the good guys are absolute, and the bad guys are absolute. This makes it impossible to talk about the negative aspects of Juarez and it prohibits us to talk about the heroic acts of General Diaz, like the role he played during the first battle of Puebla where all the credit went to General Ignacio Zaragoza. We cannot talk about the more than 30 victories General Diaz had against the French nor his incredible triumph during the third battle of Puebla.?Almost nothing is known about this battle, which was key to re-establishment of the Republic. Very little was gained on May 5, 1867, when Mexico sat on an ephemeral laurel that due to the divisiveness of the people turned into a defeat and conquest. While much was gained on the forgotten date of April 2, 1867, when an unnoticed and criticized hero defeated the invaders of Mexico.

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Mexico’s disunity of the past had to do with the invasion of France and far worse, the invasion(s) of the United States. In the 21st century, we have yet to build bridges for dialogue. We celebrate one battle of a lost war. In Mexico, stories and anecdotes are told and if we do not read, we are condemned to believe all of them.?

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