The 5th of May is not Mexican Independence Day. Mexican independence day is September 15. Mexico declared its independence from mother Spain on midnight, the 15th of September, 1810. In Mexico, the celebration of Cinco De Mayo is a more regional celebration and it is also celebrated more here in the US. Cinco de Mayo is not an American holiday although it could be.

Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of the courage of the Mexican people during the battle (La Batalla de Puebla) on May 5th, 1862. 4,000 Mexican soldiers, untrained commoners, and US soldiers defeated the French army and Mexican traitors(exiled Mexican Conservatives) of 8,000 at Puebla, Mexico 100 miles east of Mexico City on the morning of May 5, 1862. The "Batalla de Puebla" did not win the war but it showed the courage and strength of the Mexican troops and became a symbol of unity and patriotism.

After Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821, the country was faced with many problems. There were internal power struggles and during the dictatorship of Santa Anna, Mexico went to war with the United States in 1846. This war and the years of fighting put Mexico in a very bad financial position. It was bankrupt. Mexico had to give away a huge portion of its land to the United States. That land is now known as Texas. In 1855, Benito Juarez became the Minister of Justice. Juárez issued a series of reforms (called Ley Juarez):

• Abolished fueros and the use of special military and ecclesiastical courts in civil cases.
• All church property except buildings used for worship was confiscated without any compensation. Money from sale of these properties were confiscated.
• Non-civil marriages were declared annulled.
• Separation of church and state was proclaimed.
• Cemeteries were now public property and burial fees abolished.

In 1861, he took control of the capital and put these laws into effect. These laws caused civil unrest and a civil war broke out. This created a national debt. Benito Juarez had to take action and on July 17, 1861, he issued a statement that all foreign debts payment would temporary be stopped for two years. After two years, payments would resume. The English, Spanish and French were not very happy about this. The French had landed in Mexico (along with Spanish and English troops) five months earlier on the pretext of collecting Mexican debts. The English and Spanish quickly made deals and left. The French did not agree and did not leave together with the English and Spanish. They had a different motive. Their intention was to create an Empire in Mexico under Napoleon III.

Under Emperor Napoleon III, who detested the United States, the French came to stay. They brought a Hapsburg prince with them to rule the new Mexican empire. His name was Maximilian; his wife, Carolota. Napoleon's French Army had not been defeated in 50 years, and it invaded Mexico with the finest modern equipment and with a newly reconstituted Foreign Legion. The French were not afraid of anyone, especially since the United States was embroiled in its own Civil War.

The French Army left the port of Vera Cruz to attack Mexico City to the west, as the French assumed that the Mexicans would give up should their capital fall to the enemy -- as European countries traditionally did. Under the command of Texas-born General Zaragosa, (and the cavalry under the command of Colonel Porfirio Diaz, later to be Mexico's president and dictator), the Mexicans awaited. Brightly dressed French Dragoons led the enemy columns. The Mexican Army was less stylish.

General Zaragosa ordered Colonel Diaz to take his cavalry, the best in the world, out to the French flanks. In response, the French did a most stupid thing; they sent their cavalry off to chase Diaz and his men, who proceeded to butcher them. The remaining French infantrymen charged the Mexican defenders through sloppy mud from a thunderstorm and through hundreds of head of stampeding cattle stirred up by Indians armed only with machetes.

Union forces were then rushed to the Texas/Mexican border under General Phil Sheridan, who made sure that the Mexicans got all the weapons and ammunition they needed to expel the French. American soldiers were discharged with their uniforms and rifles if they promised to join the Mexican Army to fight the French. The American Legion of Honor marched in the Victory Parade in Mexico, City.

When the battle was over, many French were killed or wounded and their cavalry was being chased by Diaz' superb horsemen miles away. The Mexicans had won a great victory that kept Napoleon III from supplying the confederate rebels for another year, allowing the United States to build the greatest army the world had ever seen. This grand army smashed the Confederates at Gettysburg just 14 months after the battle of Puebla, essentially ending the Civil War.

It might be a historical stretch to credit the survival of the United States and to the eventual defeat of the Confederate army to those brave 4,000 Mexicans who faced an army twice as large in 1862. But having Mexicans and Americans fighting together to expel the French... that just sounds great. That's why Cinco de Mayo is such a party -- A party that celebrates freedom and liberty. There are two ideals which Mexicans and Americans have fought shoulder to shoulder to protect, ever since the 5th of May, 1862. CINCO DE MAYO!! Let's celebrate! I'll have a double Sauza Commemartivo margarita on the rocks.