Third Battle of Puebla

The Battle of 2 de Abril was fought on April 2, 1867, in and around the city of Puebla, Puebla. It was one of the major military actions in the Franco-Mexican War between elements of the Mexican Army of the Republic commanded by General Porfirio Díaz and troops at the service of the Mexican Empire composed by Mexican imperialist soldiers.

The campaign of Puebla includes the siege of Puebla, the battle of April 2 and the capture of the forts of Loreto and Guadalupe. The battle, also known as the Third Battle of Puebla, was the end of a siege on the city of Puebla, which started on March 9 of the same year. Despite being one of the major campaigns in the war of intervention, the number of casualties was low due to the decision of Porfirio Díaz to not execute all the prisoners and release most of them under a signed promise that they will not take up arms again against the republic.

The capture of Puebla was a huge defeat for the imperialists and was decisive to the victory of the Republic.

Background to battle
General Porfirio Díaz and the republican troops of Eastern Army under his command, began a siege on Puebla, capital city of the state of Puebla on March 9, 1866. Díaz built his headquarters on the hill of San Juan, same place where Marshal Elie Frédéric Forey established the own in the siege of Puebla in 1863.

Díaz had no enough men and war materials to keep a long-term site. French (which leave definitely Mexico on March 11 ) and imperialists forces, with a similar number of soldiers, had an advantageous position, more guns and the forts of Loreto and Guadalupe. In order to reduce the advantage of the besieged, Díaz deployed his soldiers to capture the points that would allow him better control of the land. The Republicans captured one by one the streets of the suburbs, fighting house to house. In that confrontation, General Manuel González, got a bullet that shattered his elbow and was necessary the amputation of his right arm.

On March 31, Díaz had an accident that almost cost him his life. The roof of a house collapsed and buried half of his body; when the Imperialists realized that, they shot him through the windows of the house. Finally, Díaz was rescued by Luis Teran.

Leonardo Márquez left Mexico City on March 30 with an army of 3840 men and 17 artillery pieces. Díaz, knowing that Marquez was going to Puebla, realized he could not keep the site longer. He had four options: The first option was to end the siege of Puebla and retreat to the south in order to avoid a joint attack of Marquez and the defenders of the city. The second option was left the city and fight with Marquez before he reached Puebla, facing the possibility of be attacked by forces far superior to his at the front and rear. The third option was left the city and go to help in the siege of Querétaro, facing the same problem of the second option. Finally, the last option was attack and capture Puebla.

The Battle
On April 1, Díaz and his staff decided to attack Puebla. Díaz divided his army in 17 columns of assault, three of them would do a false attack on the convent of Carmen, with the intention that imperialist forces neglect the place by which he intended to enter the city.

Following the plan, the attack began at 2:45 am. of April 2. Major Carlos Pacheco commanded the column of assault that captured one of the entrances to the city. Pacheco was severely injured and lost an arm and a leg, but survived. The attack ended at 6 am.

Besides the city, the republican army captured plenty of artillery and bullets. According to the law, Díaz ordered the execution of Febronio Quijano, Mariano Trujeque and 20 other commanders and officers taken prisoner.

On April 4, the forts of Loreto and Guadalupe surrendered. Unlike Puebla, Díaz forgave all the officers taken prisoner in the hills of Loreto and Guadalupe. He declared later:"The executions (of Puebla) caused me a painful impression, and since then I decided to stop them..." The decision of Díaz caused him great drawbacks with Benito Juárez, with whom he had an acrimonious relationship despite his wins for the Republican cause.

Aftermath
After the capture of Puebla, Porfirio Díaz went out to meet Leonardo Marquez who was going to Puebla. When Marquez learned of the fall of Puebla, he decided to retire but Díaz reached him in the Hacienda de San Lorenzo; Marquez avoided the fight and fled but General Amado Guadarrama captured 44 Mexican imperialist soldiers and 99 Austrians, 49 carts of bullets and military equipment of his troop. Díaz sent a group of soldiers after Marquez, but he finally got Mexico City, still under the control of the empire.

The victory of April 2 allowed the forces of the Republic to move towards Querétaro and Mexico City. Mexico City was finally taken by the same Porfirio Díaz without firing a single bullet.