General Ignacio Zaragoza is the most prominent character of the Battle of Puebla, whose anniversary is commemorated every Cinco de Mayo.
But who was Ignacio Zaragoza? What’s behind the national hero of Cinco de Mayo? Here we share a brief biography highlighting the most relevant facts about his life.
Who Was General Zaragoza and What Did He Do?
Ignacio Zaragoza was born on March 24, 1829, in Bahía del Espíritu Santo, Texas, when the territory was still part of Mexico. His parents were Miguel G. Zaragoza and María de J. Seguín.
Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín studied in Matamoros and Monterrey.
From a young age, he joined the National Guards as a sergeant in Nuevo León, thus beginning his successful military career.
During the Comonfort coup d’état, he was in the capital of the Republic, where he started defending the Constitution of 1857 with a few riflemen from the north.
In 1860, he was the Chief of the forces besieging Guadalajara. He defeated the forces commanded by the conservative General Leonardo Márquez. At the end of that year, as Quartermaster, he served under General Jesús González Ortega at the Battle of Calpulalpan, which ended the Reform War.
In 1861, President Benito Juárez appointed him Minister of War and Navy, a position he left to take up the post of Commander of the Army of the East.
Zaragoza married Rafaela Padilla de la Garza in 1857, who was his great love. However, the marriage was short-lived as she died on January 13, 1862, from pneumonia.
Cinco de Mayo, the Battle of Puebla
In April 1862, Ignacio Zaragoza led the troops that fought the French army at the Summits of Acultzingo, preventing their incursion into the city of Puebla.
It was on May 5, 1862, that Ignacio Zaragoza went down in the history of Mexico by leading the Army of the East. That day, the French invaders under the command of General Charles Ferdinand Latrille, Count of Lorencez, attacked the city of Puebla.
“Our enemies are the foremost soldiers in the world, but you are the foremost sons of Mexico, and they want to snatch your homeland from you.” These were the words General Ignacio Zaragoza addressed to his soldiers on May 5, 1862.
Zaragoza devised a brilliant strategy, involving contingents from Generals Porfirio Díaz, Miguel Negrete, Felipe Berriozábal, and the cavalry of Colonel Antonio Álvarez.
ALSO READ. Cinco de Mayo deals. Chipotle, Taco Bell and other restaurant promotions
The eloquence, leadership, courage, and bravery of General Zaragoza enabled the Mexican armed forces to defeat what was considered the most powerful army in the world, that of France.
After the victory, General Zaragoza sent a telegram, which was summarized in the following expression: “the national arms have been covered in glory. The French troops behaved valiantly in combat and their leader clumsily.”
When Did Ignacio Zaragoza Die?
Ignacio Zaragoza died on September 8, 1862, succumbing to typhoid fever.
After his death, funeral honors were decreed throughout the country; he was buried in the San Fernando cemetery in Mexico City. On May 4, his remains were exhumed and transferred to the Zone of the Forts in Puebla, where they still rest.
