Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Charge of the Cavalry at the Battle of Puebla

Unless I am about to be roundly refuted, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day, which rolls around again this September. Instead, this day celebrates the Battle of Puebla, at which the forces of General Ignacio Zaragoza routed the French army on May 5, 1862.

Heads up Spanish-phones (those people de habla Espanol), Cinco de Mayo falls on May 7 this year, unless you want to show up at work on Friday morning with a toilet seat wrapped around your neck.

Back to General Zaragoza.  In the mid-nineteenth century, Mexico was dead broke from two civil wars and Mexican President Benito Juarez stubbornly refused to pay his foreign debts. Britain, France, and Spain and didn't like this attitude and sent their naval collection agencies to Veracruz in 1861 to make him pay up. But six months later, Britain and Spain bailed and left the French on their own. Meanwhile, Abe Lincoln in the US of A was preoccupied with a civil war of his own, and not inclined to intervene in any mischief south-er than south. Napoleon III thought he'd just take a little advantage of that and landed a large force at Veracruz, and began a march toward Mexico City to make Mexico his own colonial conquest.

On their way they encountered trouble. His name was General Zaragoza. He hailed the French at Puebla, which is about 85 miles east of the capital. Although he was outnumbered two-to-one (some big fat liars say three-to-one), Zaragoza toppled the advancing French like Chuck Norris taking out Kermit the Muppet with a roundhouse kick. How did he do it? He told is rag-tag soldiers to visualize the French phalanx as piñatas filled with frogs. Then they just whacked the holy molé out of them. Or maybe that's not exactly the way it happened. Don't ask me. I'm not a military historian.

So, General Zaragoza was one badass dude.  The Battle of Puebla was a brilliant shot in the arm for the Mexicans. It didn't seem to do them a lot of good though, as the French eventually captured Mexico City, installed a new ruler and established the "Second Mexican Empire," which lasted the eons until 1867.

I just wanted you to know that this is what your margaritas and tacos are all about this weekend. Drink to the Mexican Patton. I'll bet you don't really give a rolling tortilla about all this history stuff, but there you go anyway. Happy Cinco  Siete de Mayo!