Today is the celebration of Cinco de Mayo; the commemoration of the Mexican victory over the French in 1862’s
Battle of Puebla,
not Mexico’s Independence Day.
(That would be on
September 16th).
For some, the date is used to enjoy cheap margaritas and getting wasted. For our part, we’re going to reproduce part of last year’s Cinco de Mayo post and look at several other important military battles in the history of Latin America:
* Battle of Crête-à-Pierrot (1802) - One of the first major battles in the Haitian Revolution. Though the French would win the battle, Haitian rebels ultimately prevailed after the French suffered massive losses.
* Battle of Chacabuco (1817) - Despite being outnumbered by nearly a 3:1 margin, Jose de San Martin and Bernardo O’Higgins led Chilean forces against the Spanish in this battle fought just outside Santiago.
* Battle of Boyacá (1819) - El Libertador Simón Bolivar commanded about 3000 soldiers including “a small British Legion” in this battle which would assure independence for Nueva Granada.
* Battle of Ayacucho (1824) - This was the decisive battle for Peru’s independence; as a result of the Independence army’s victory, Spanish forces agreed to leave Peru.
* Battle of Cerro Corá (1870) - The final battle in the brutal War of the Triple Alliance which would lead to Brazilian occupation of Paraguay for several years.
* Battle of Celaya (1915) - “The single bloodiest battle of the Mexican Revolution” which led to the beginning of the end for Pancho Villa’s forces.
* Battle of Carrizal (1916) - Battle between U.S. Expeditionary Forces and Pancho Villa’s troops nearly led to a war between Mexico and their northern neighbors.
*
Battle of Yaguajay (1958) - A turning point in the Cuban revolution; the battle was won by rebel forces led by Fidel Castro and would soon lead to the end of Fulgencio Batista’s rule in Cuba. Image- Everyday Weekender
Sources- History.com, The Latin Americanist, Vivrlatino, PBS, Wikipedia
Today is the celebration of Cinco de Mayo; the commemoration of the Mexican victory over the French in 1862’s Battle of Puebla, not Mexico’s Independence Day. (That would be on September 16th).
2 comments:
A small correctin. The Mexican side in the Battle of Carrizal were not Villa's forces, but Federal Army troops.
This is so good, I like to read information like this one where a nation was able to defeat other who wanted to be despotic, that's the reason that they now are really free and they have reached excellent things throughout time.
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