Letters

Not a victory, not an end to colonialism

Editor:

It was worthwhile of Luìs Farìas to correct the common
misperception that the Cinco de Mayo celebration commemorates
Mexican independence ("Celebrating the victory at Veracruz, end of
colonial rule," May 5). However, a few corrections should be
noted.

The battle commemorated by Cinco de Mayo was not a "victory at
Veracruz," nor was it quite the "end of colonial rule." The
invading French had successfully landed in Veracruz several months
before the celebrated fifth of May, along with their Spanish and
English allies. The allies soon thought better of the whole thing
and wisely went home, but the French moved on toward the capitol,
following roughly the same route that Hernando Cortez had marched
centuries before.

On the fifth of May, 1862, the French found themselves in
Puebla, a town near Mexico City, face-to-face with a capable
Mexican army commanded by General Ignacio Zaragoza (who deserves
more mention than he usually gets on his day of victory).

The ensuing battle was a Mexican victory, justly celebrated ever
since, but it marked the beginning, not the end, of foreign rule.
The defeated French retreated to await reinforcements from home,
and mimicking Cortez once again, they made a second and successful
push to the capitol. Five more years would go by before the
Mexicans would finally drive the French away and execute their
puppet king Maximilian ­ a decent fellow by most accounts, but
never truly aware of what was going on in his new kingdom.

Larry Fish

Graduate Student

Education