In this colony, to the east of Mexico City, every year the historic battle is relived in which the national army, under the command of General Zaragoza, defeated its French enemy in the city of Puebla. Get to know this party!
In the colony of Rock of the Baths, east of Mexico City, commemorates the Battle of Puebla happened on May 5, 1862. That day several hundred people turned to the streets of the colony and the Cerro del Peñón to represent that glorious battle that raised the name of Mexico, when the liberal troops, under the command of General Zaragoza, defeated the "invincible" army French of Napoleon III.
In the government of Benito Juárez, and due to the bankruptcy of the country, the congress issued in 1861 a decree by which the debt contracted with the European powers was suspended for two years. England, Spain and France then formed a triple alliance with the purpose of putting pressure on the Mexican government and collecting the payment of the debts corresponding to each of those countries. Thus, in January 1862, the troops of the triple alliance landed in Veracruz and entered Mexican territory; but in April, due to the difference of interests between the three invading nations, Spain and England decided to withdraw, since the French intentions to establish a monarchy in Mexico were clear.
The French troops, under the command of General Lorencez, undertake the invasion towards the center of the country, and after some skirmishes in El Fortín and a confrontation with the Mexican troops in Acutzingo, they are defeated on May 5th in Puebla by the forces of Ignacio Zaragoza.
The victory of the Mexican troops was the result of the defensive strategies drawn up by Zaragoza in the forts of Loreto and Guadeloupe, as well as the courage and courage of generals, officers and troops, who with much less military resources than their adversaries achieved victory.
Written history details the participation of the different troops of the Mexican contingent that faced the French, but among all of them stands out the 6th National Battalion of Puebla, or the zacapoaxtlas, for being the one who formed the line where the hand-to-hand fight took place.
However, why commemorate on the Rock a battle that took place in the City of Puebla?
The old Rock
At the beginning of the 20th century the Consulate river separated Saint John of Aragon del Peñón, but some time later a bridge was built that allowed communication between both towns.
How it got to the Rock
The celebration of May 5th it predates 1914, just like carnival. The tradition came from San Juan de Aragón, who received it from Nexquipaya, Puebla, through Texcoco. It turns out that several inhabitants of Aragon were originally from Nexquipaya and still had families there, and one of their traditional festivals consisted precisely in representing the historic battle.
Mr. Fidel Rodríguez, a native of Peñón, tells us that around 1914 the neighborhoods of the town were divided, and relations between families were not good. For this reason, a group of people decided to promote the celebration of this civic festival with the purpose of unifying families and neighborhoods; thus, the group went to observe how it was organized in San Juan de Aragón.
Later, Mr. Timoteo Rodríguez, together with Mr. Isiquio Morales and Teodoro Pineda, got together with the closest families in order to carry out their own representation; Later, Timoteo Rodríguez himself, Isiquio Cedillo, Demetrio Flores, Cruz Gutiérrez and Teodoro Pineda began the Patriotic Board in charge of organizing the celebration. This board functioned until 1952.
Since then to date, some modifications have been made both in the costumes and in the representation. At that time slingshots were used to represent the confrontations, although there were already some shotguns; Before there were almost no horses and then they used donkeys; the costumes of the French have been modified, and blacks or zacapoaxtlas were not painted.
Organizational history
In 1952, Mr. Timoteo handed over the weapons to Mr. Luis Rodríguez Damián and left the responsibility of the party to a group of enthusiastic people. At that time the Peñón de los Baños Improvement Board and for forty years Mr. Luis served as its president, until 1993, the year in which he died, but not before constituting the "Cinco de Mayo Civil Association", the body responsible for holding the event and which is chaired by Mr. Fidel Rodríguez. As you can see, this is a tradition that comes from grandparents to parents and from parents to children.
Some of the tasks that the association is responsible for are obtaining permits from the political delegation and the Secretary of Defense; Likewise, two months before the members go out every Sunday, accompanying each other with chirimía music, to promote the party and to collect money, house by house, to cover part of the expenses. In this sense, the delegation supports with an amount of money. The collected is used to pay the musicians, buy the gunpowder and pay for the food.
Characters
Currently all participants are given a script to perform their role. The main characters are Manuel Doblado, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Juarez, General Prim, Admiral Dunlop, Mr. Saligny, Juan Francisco Lucas, chief of the Zacapoaxtlas, the General Zaragoza and Gral. Gutiérrez. This is the group of generals who represent the La Soledad, Loreto and Guadalupe treaties.
The shotgun is an indispensable element in the representation. The Zacapoaxtlas paint their skin with soot, wear white breeches, huaraches and the capisayo, which is the black shirt with an embroidery on the back with the image of an eagle, and legends such as ¡Viva México !, the year of the battle, the current year and below the name of "Peñón de los Baños". The hat is half-woven palm, some wear the traditional rose and bandana on their hats. The Zacapoaxtlas are “armed to the teeth”; many bring pirate pistols, shotguns, and machetes. They also carry their barcina, which is a type of backpack where they carry gorditas, chicken feet, vegetables, or something to eat; they also wear a güaje with pulque. Before, the zacapoaxtlas only went out with a bandana. As those from Zacapoaxtla were brown, now they paint to differentiate themselves from the French.
Another character that makes an appearance is "the naca", who represents the soldadera, the companion of the zacapoaxtla. She carries even the son, loaded with the shawl; He can also carry a shotgun and everything necessary to support the soldier.
There are young people who come from the Romero Rubio, Moctezuma, Pensador Mexicano and San Juan de Aragón colonies, and they are proposed to leave French.
Party
In the morning a few blacks (zacapoaxtlas) and French gather, and along with the music they take a tour of the streets.
At eight in the morning the flag ceremonies at the Hermenegildo Galeana school. This event is attended by representatives of the political delegation, the generals, the organizers, the police and the army. After the parade through the main streets of the Rock. The school sector, the delegation authorities, the association authorities, the contingent of the Zacapoaxtlas, the French, the Zaragoza army, the mounted, the Pentathlon and the firefighters participate in this.
At the end of the parade the first performance of the battle in the Carmen neighborhood. For an hour there are shots, thunder and shoves. After this first battle there is a two hour break. Some people invite musicians to their houses to play some pieces for them and offer them food.
At four in the afternoon the Loreto treaties Y Guadeloupe, in the street of Hidalgo and Chihualcan. Here begins the representation of the generals, where war is declared to Mexico. All the generals participate and then there is a comeliton; all the people go up to give what they have to feed the troops: they bring them fish, ducks, guts, gorditas "so they don't go badly eaten into battle."
Later, General Zaragoza passed review the troops; performs hygiene supervision; some are ordered to get a haircut "so they don't go lousy"; primarily first-time entrants have their hair cut.
After the treaties, the contingents climb the hill to carry out the last performance of the battle, which lasts about two hours. The French troops go up the side of the airport, while the Zacapoaxtlas troops go up the Consulate River. Once up, the Zacapoaxtlas harassed the French troops and the cannons were detonated; when they are about to defeat them, they come down from the hill and chase them through the Carmen neighborhood, where another confrontation occurs, then the pantheon is turned around and the French are shot there.
When they fight, the Zacapoaxtlas take a small radish that they carry in their knapsack, chew it and spit it or throw it at the French to show their hatred.
After the confrontations, all the troops are offered a refreshment and are thanked. All the generals take part, and that is where the effort involved in the party is valued, when the participants, full of satisfaction, express the phrase "My general, we comply!".
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