Saturday, May 05, 2007

Viva Cinco de Mayo


First, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day, it celebrates a victory of the Mexican militia in Puebla over a larger French Army while we were having our Civil War. This victory delayed the short-lived French conquest of Mexico. That was a good thing for freedom loving Americans as France planned to assist the Confederacy after a quick Mexico conquest.

There seems to be some disputes about the actual battle. Traditionally, Indians assisted by stampeding cattle through the French assault. Peasants armed with machetes drove back the French infantry and the Mexican cavalry also drew off and defeated the French cavalry. The wiki disputes all of those accounts in favor of a typical battle.

Cinco de Mayo is more a Mexican celebration in Mexico and the United States celebrating Mexican culture.

I need to get some things for my new aquarium where my fish keep mysteriously dying and I have a pg guppy. For lunch I might take my parents to Mi Tienda. They have a fantastic food court with free samples, great prices on sea food and fresh fruit drinks in a fiesta atmosphere.

1 comment:

Colin Theriot said...

I came across your site while doing a blog search for Cinco De Mayo.

I was one of the Americans who was unaware that May 5 wasn't the Mexican Independence day. I was very interested to learn otherwise. Great article.