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May 05, 2005
Recordar la Batalla de Puebla (or Happy Cinco de Mayo!)
[FYI: My knowledge of Spanish is vestigial at best. Other than learning a few cuss words as a kid, four years of Latin under the merciless tutelage of a Hungarian priest is the closest I've come. Thus I defer to my trusty Babel Fish to translate my desired title: Remembering the Battle of Puebla.]
So… it's 1862 and you are General Ignacio Zaragoza. You've been ordered to stop an advancing army of some 6000 French soldiers with your ill-equipped force of some 4000 peasant troops. The French Army is reputed to be the best in the world, and rightly so: they haven't suffered a defeat in almost fifty years; not since Waterloo. What are you going to do?
Forget too, that your own national army, loyal to an aristocracy that feels put out at the reigns of power being handed to a democratically elected native Mexican (i.e. Mexican Indian), stands ready to welcome the invading French forces. Forget too that that same aristocracy has practically invited the French to overthrow the government (and restore them to power). What are you going to do?
Need a hint? (The suspense is killing you isn't it?)
You will man the forts at the City of Puebla on the 5th of May… and when the French engage, you will kick their ass!
So what if three days later they will send in their Foreign Legion to roll over you, and march on to Mexico City, seize control of your country, install an Austro-Hungarian prince as Emperor (instead of restoring the Mexican aristocracy - oh the irony!), and be in control for a few years? For that one shining day in May, the best army in the world will be halted, forced to withdraw and re-estimate its adversary: an army of peasants; an ultimate underdog!
Ok, so it may not have been an ass-kicking per se; more like a battlefield bitch-slap. The Mexicans won the battle, but not the war. But no one on earth would have expected such an inexperienced assembly to have caused more than half a step's delay to the advance of such an experienced professional force.
So raise a glass to this brief triumph of the human spirit in the face adversity, and give a cheer, "Happy Cinco de Mayo!"
Posted by Tacitus at May 5, 2005 05:09 PM
Comments
Otherwise known as 05/05/05. One of those almost once-in-a-lifetime opportuntities where numbers match up for mysterious (and spooky!) reasons. Spoooooky! Yeah, I wanted to post about it too, but I didn't. Fuego! Hasta siempre Comandante! And other Spanish exclamations. A very happy Cinco de Mayo to you too!
Posted by: Rob at May 6, 2005 04:02 AM