Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín (March 24, 1829 – September 8, 1862) was a Mexican military officer and politician. He is best known for leading a Mexican army of 3,791 men which defeated a 5,730-strong force of French troops at the battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862 during the second French intervention in Mexico. The Mexican victory is celebrated annually as Cinco de Mayo.

Early life

thumb|left|House where General Zaragoza was born in [[Mission La Bahia|Bahía del Espíritu Santo in what is now Goliad, Texas]]

Zaragoza was born in the Mexican province of Texas, in the village of Bahía del Espíritu Santo, in the state of Coahuila y Tejas (now Goliad, Texas, in the United States) on March 24, 1829. When the French left Mexico in defeat, Zaragoza became a legend as one of the few Mexican generals to have success in battle against the then-greatest army in the world.

Personal Life

In 1857 he married . They married in Monterrey with his brother acting as proxy because Zaragoza was away on military duty. The couple had four children, three of whom died in infancy. Rafaela herself died on January 13, 1862 mere months before Zaragoza's triumph at Puebla. Since 1979 their remains have being together at a mausoleum in Puebla Also by decree, the state Coahila was renamed Coahuila de Zaragoza in 1864. The change was later ratified by the Congress of the Union in 1868.

His famous quotation, Las armas nacionales se han cubierto de gloria ("The national arms have been covered with glory"), is used to remember the battle, and comes from the single-line letter he wrote to his superior, President Juárez, informing him of the victory. The quotation was included, along with Zaragoza's likeness, on Mexican 500-peso banknotes from 1995 to 2010 (Series D).

There is a municipality in the Mexican state of Chihuahua that is named after Zaragoza.

There are urban localities named after Zaragoza in the Mexican states of Chiapas, Chihuahua, Puebla, and Tlaxcala.

Calzada Ignacio Zaragoza is one of the main avenues of Mexico City, crossing the city from center to the southeast, and at its intersection with Avenida Río Churubusco it becomes Mexican Federal Highway 150D. There is also a subway station on Line 1 of the Mexico City Metro named after Zaragoza.

In the film Cinco de Mayo La Batalla (2013), Zaragoza was portrayed by Kuno Becker.

See also

  • Zaragoza Birthplace State Historic Site
  • Monument to Ignacio Zaragoza

References

Sources

  • Texas General Land Office, "The Texas Hero of Cinco De Mayo: Ignacio Zaragoza, and the Origins of the Celebration." Medium, Medium, April 29, 2020
  • Strong, W.F. "The Hero of Cinco De Mayo". Texas Co-op Power Magazine, May 2021.
  • Herz, May, et al. "General Ignacio Zaragoza: Cinco de Mayo Hero". Inside Mexico, January 1, 1962.