Who commanded the Mexican army at the Battle of Puebla in 1862?

Ignacio Zaragoza commanded the Mexican army at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.

Zaragoza was a Mexican general and a leading figure in the Liberal government during the French intervention. He organized the defense of Puebla, positioning troops at forts including Loreto and Guadalupe. On May 5, his forces successfully resisted the French assault, even though France’s army was widely regarded as one of the world’s strongest.

Zaragoza died later in 1862 from typhoid fever, only months after the battle. Puebla was renamed Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza in his honor. A common misunderstanding is that the victory ended the French intervention; in fact, France later captured Mexico City and installed Maximilian as emperor before withdrawing several years afterward.