Cinco de Mayo’s Hero

by Louie Bond

Texans love to celebrate their cultural holidays, but we don’t always know what events transpired on those historic days.

On September 16, Diez y Seis de Septiembre, we honor Mexico’s push for independence from Spain, while this month’s holiday, Cinco de Mayo, is an homage to a hero with Texas connections who defeated the French in a crucial battle. Sadly, he died of typhoid fever months later at only 33.

Born near Goliad at Bahía del Espíritu Santo in 1829 in what is now Texas, Ignacio Zaragoza moved to Matamoros (and later Monterrey) with his family as a young boy. He tried the seminary for a few years, but didn’t find his calling there, so he volunteered to serve in the Mexican army. He was rejected.

Zaragoza joined the Nuevo León militia and led a volunteer army that helped defeat Santa Anna in 1855 to help re-establish a constitutional democratic government in Mexico. A dedicated soldier, he even missed his own wedding in 1857, sending his brother Miguel as his proxy.

At the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, Zaragoza led Mexican forces to defeat a professional French army against all odds.

“Las armas nacionales se han cubierto de gloria (The national arms have been covered with glory),” a famous quote attributed to Zaragoza, is part of a two-sentence battle report he wrote to President Juárez to inform him of the victory. The quote accompanied Zaragoza’s likeness on Mexican 500-peso banknotes from 1995 to 2010.

Cinco de Mayo was celebrated in California soon after the news of the Puebla victory, quickly spreading to Texas and other states.

Cinco de Mayo has been embraced like other ethnic celebrations — St. Patrick’s Day, Mardi Gras and Oktoberfest — that have found acceptance in Texan cultural life.

When you raise your glass to toast our Hispanic heritage this month, send a special gracias up to the heavens for Ignacio Zaragoza. Visit the Zaragoza Birthplace State Historic Site near Goliad to see his recreated birth home and a 10-foot bronze statue (above) donated by the State of Puebla.