May 5 is celebrated in Mexican-American communities throughout the United States as well as certain parts of Mexico itself. It is actually a bigger deal in the United States (especially in Los Angeles) than in Mexico, as I can vouch from personal experience growing up in a predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood in North Hollywood, California). Mexico understandably puts a bigger emphasis on Mexican Independence Day—which takes place on September 16—or the anniversary of the 1910 Mexican Revolution.

In other words, contrary to common misconception, Cinco de Mayo is not one and the same as Mexican Independence Day (which was gained at the expense of Spain). It commemorates a Mexican force’s unlikely victory over a different Western European colonial power, France, in an 1862 engagement known as the Battle of Puebla.

The Origin of Cinco de Mayo

Subsequent to its internecine War of Reform in 1858, Mexico was dead broke, so newly-elected President Benito Juárez decided to suspend all foreign debt payments for two years. This did not sit well with Spain, the United Kingdom, and France, and all three nations sent joint forces to collect. The Spaniards and the Britons soon cut deals with Juárez, but French Emperor Napoleon III, a nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, decided to continue the punitive military mission.

Thus the stage was set for the battle, which took place in the eponymous city that in the present day and age is the fourth largest city in Mexico (located about 62 miles southeast of Mexico and about 140 miles west of the port city of Veracruz).

The Battle of Puebla

The battle pit 3,791 Mexican soldiers under the command of General Ignacio Zaragoza against 5,730 French troops commanded by General Charles Ferdinand Latrille, Comte (Count) de Lorencez. Not only did Count Lorencez’s troops enjoy a 1.5-to-1 manpower advantage, but they........

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