French troops launched three major assaults during the Battle of Puebla commemorated by Cinco de Mayo.
The French expeditionary force attacked the Mexican defensive positions on May 5, 1862, expecting to overcome the republican army and advance toward Mexico City. Mexican troops resisted the attacks, particularly around the fortified hills of Loreto and Guadalupe.
The assaults failed to break the Mexican line. French cavalry and infantry attacks were repulsed, and heavy rain later made movement more difficult. After the unsuccessful attacks, the French withdrew from the battlefield rather than capture Puebla.
The battle was not the end of the French intervention. France later sent a much larger force, captured Puebla in 1863, and occupied Mexico City. Cinco de Mayo therefore commemorates a specific Mexican victory in the intervention, rather than a permanent military defeat of France.