Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín (March 24, 1829 - September 8, 1862) was a general in the Mexican Army, best known for his 1862 victory against the French invading forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5 (the Cinco de Mayo).
Zaragoza was born in the town of Presidio de la Bahía del Espíritu Santo in what was then the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas, now the city of Goliad, Texas, in the United States. The Zaragoza family moved to Matamoros in 1834 and then to Monterrey in 1844, where young Ignacio entered the seminary.
During Mexico's political unrest of the 1850s, Zaragoza joined the army supporting the cause of Mexico's Liberal Party, opposing dictator Antonio López de Santa Anna. He led an army of volunteers in 1855 that defeated Santa Anna and led to the reestablishment of a constitutional democratic government in Mexico.
Zaragoza served as Secretary of War from April through October 1861 in the cabinet of President Benito Juárez. He resigned to lead the Mexican Army of the East against invading Europeans.
When the French forces of Napoleon III invaded Mexico, Zaragoza fought them, first engaging the French at Acultzingo on April 28, 1862, where he was forced to withdraw. Zaragoza understood the favorable defensive position outside of the city of Puebla, where, with a force that was smaller and not as well equipped as the French, he beat back repeated French assaults on May 5. The French then retreated to Orizaba.
Shortly after his famous victory, he contracted typhoid fever, of which he died at the age of 33.
His famous quote Las armas nacionales se han cubierto de gloria is used to remember the battle, and is included, along with Zaragoza's bust, on the current MXN $500 banknote. The phrase means "The national arms have been covered with glory". It comes from the one-line letter he wrote to his superiors (namely, President Benito Juárez) to inform them about the victory over the French.
