French troops under the command of Charles de Lorencez repeatedly failed to storm the forts of Loreto and Guadalupe situated on top of the hills overlooking the city of Puebla, and eventually retreated to Orizaba in order to await reinforcements.

Foreign Minister Manuel Doblado invited the commissioners to travel to Orizaba with two thousand of their own troops for a conference while requesting that the rest of the tripartite forces disembark from Veracruz.

[14] The proposal to disembark most of the troops was rejected, but negotiations then resulted in an agreement, ratified on January 23, to move the forces inland and hold a conference at Orizaba.

[15] On April 9, 1862, agreements at Orizaba between the allies broke down, as France made it increasingly clear that it intended to invade Mexico and interfere in its government in violation of previous treaties.

Colonel Gonzales, Manuel Castellanos, Desiderio Samaniego, Padre Miranda, and Haro Tamariz, and General Antonio Taboada arrived in Orizaba to support Almonte.

Juan Almonte and Antonio de Haro y Tamariz had advised Lorencez to attack an orchard of the Convento del Carmen opposite the fortified heights of Guadalupe and Loreto, which was not done.

To contain a Mexican force which was threatening the left, he charged L’Heriller to protect with four battalions of marine infantry the convoy which he placed at a convenient location.

[25] The two battalions of zouaves now set their backpacks on the foot of the hill and began their ascent marching in columns by division and between them carrying ten pieces of horse artillery.

[27] The strategy of attacking the most difficult, fortified, and heavily armed point caught the attention of General Zaragoza, as it now seemed that the French had tossed aside the military maxim of achieving a victory with the least amount of losses possible in favor of bravado.

[19] At the onset of battle, French soldiers underestimated the defensive capacity of the Mexican positions, to the point that many didn't bother to properly assemble their weaponry.

They were forced to retire, however, as a result of significant casualties, following a full day of warfare that included three miserably failed uphill attacks.

[32] General Diaz with portions of his brigade and other troops and two pieces of artillery checked and drove away the French columns which were marching against the Mexican positions.

[35] The Battle of Puebla was an inspirational event for Mexico during the war, and it proved a stunning revelation to the rest of the world which had largely expected a rapid victory for French arms.

Slowed by their loss at Puebla, the French forces retreated and regrouped, and the invasion continued after Napoleon III determinedly sent additional troops to Mexico and dismissed General Lorencez.

The political decision taken by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to implement the "Good Neighbor Policy," which was intended to promote links with Latin American nations and people, was one of the key factors in the popularization of "Cinco de Mayo" in the United States.

[41] A comparable phenomenon can be found in the evolution of St. Patrick's Day from an ecclesiastical holiday marking the arrival of Christianity in Ireland to a largely secularized celebration of Irish American culture.

Cinco de Mayo is day of celebration for the Hispanics is a tradition that takes place on May 5 to mark the date that Mexico defeated the Second French Empire in the Battle of Puebla in 1862, under the command of General Ignacio Zaragoza, a Texas native.

[51][citation needed] Since the 1930s, a re-enactment of the Battle of Puebla has been held each year at Peñón de los Baños, a rocky outcrop close to Mexico City International Airport.

[52] What most do not realize is that the “Battle of Puebla” is celebrated just as much if not more in the United States than it is in Mexico, some say it is a way that Mexican Americans can show patriotism towards their roots and traditions, but it has also always been overshadowed by occasions like September 16 Independence Day, which marks the beginning of hostilities against Spanish control in 1810.

[45] Contrarily, Cinco de Mayo became popular in the United States in the 1960s when Chicano activists started seeking for a means to celebrate their heritage.

The largest Cinco de Mayo festivities currently take place in American cities with sizable Hispanic populations, such Los Angeles, Houston, and San Antonio.

It is a common misconception among non-Mexicans nationals that Cinco de Mayo commemorates the declaration of Mexican independence, which occurred around 50 years before the Battle of Puebla.