After the Mexican Civil War of 1858-1860 and the election of Benito Juarez as President of the Republic of Mexico, French troops landed in Veracruz in 1861 as part of a joint French, Spanish and British force. The incursion was originally to secure payment of debt owed by the Mexican government but disagreement arose among the three nations as to how to proceed. Spanish and British forces withdrew but the French emperor Napoleon III sought to exploit turmoil in Mexico by launching an invasion supported by conservative elements in Mexican society.
On May 5th, Mexican forces under General Ignacio Zaragoza defeated a superior French force at the city of Puebla, a strategic point on the route to the capital in Mexico City. This stalled the invasion effort for the time being. The next year, the French sent a much larger army down the same route and after a long siege, took Puebla and then Mexico City.
French forces installed Archduke Maximilian of Austria (possibly Napoleon III’s cousin) as the emperor of a puppet Mexican government. But the initial Mexican resistance inspired the people to join guerillas led by Juarez, who was determined to fight on to restore the republic. President Abraham Lincoln of the United States also gave support to the Mexicans but this was limited at the time due to the Civil War in the U.S.
The U.S. Civil War ended in 1865, and arms and supplies flowed south to the Mexicans. Meanwhile, Maximilian inflamed American sentiments by openly inviting defeated Confederates to settle in Mexican territory. Under pressure from the US, the French withdrew in 1866 and Maximilian’s remaining supporters were defeated in 1867.
Cinco de Mayo is one of two major holidays in Mexico celebrating the unity of their nation, the other being Independence Day on September 16th. Here in the United States, it’s a day for Mexican-Americans to share their culture with others in the typical American way with parades, parties and lots of good food.
The cache is magnetic.
Update with new co-ordinates The old location had a problem with muggles and liquids. The new spot requires different stealth techniques but should be better. Cache is now a magnetic nano, hidden in a conventional manner. Difficulty is now 2.5, two for being a nano, another 1/2 point for the stealth required at certain times.