-
Mexico’s 1821 independence from Spain
In the years following Mexico’s 1821 independence from Spain, rioting, looting and street fighting between government forces and rebels plagued the country and damaged property, including the ransacking of a bakery near Mexico City owned by a French-born pastry chef named Remontel. -
The French government was already angered over unpaid Mexican debts that had been incurred during the Texas Revolution of 1836
The French government was already angered over unpaid Mexican debts that had been incurred during the Texas Revolution of 1836, and it demanded compensation of 600,000 pesos, including an astronomical 60,000 pesos for Remontel’s pastry shop. -
Mexico turned to grizzled warrior Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna
Desperate to repel the invaders, Mexico turned to grizzled warrior Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the former president and military general who had only the prior year returned home in disgrace after his humiliating defeat at the 1836 Battle of San Jacinto, which led to the creation of the independent Republic of Texas. -
Blockade of key seaports along the Gulf of Mexico
When the Mexican Congress rejected the ultimatum, the French navy in the spring of 1838 began a blockade of key seaports along the Gulf of Mexico from the Yucatan Peninsula to the Rio Grande. The United States, which had a contentious relationship with Mexico, sent a schooner to assist in the blockade. -
French forces withdrew from the country
French forces withdrew from the country on March 9, 1839, although they would return to fight a protracted war with Mexico in the 1860s.
While Santa Anna lost his leg in the war, the man whose political and military career had appeared to be at an end earned redemption in the eyes of his countrymen. -
Anna exhumed his shriveled leg from Veracruz
In 1842, after once again assuming the presidency, the dictatorial Santa Anna exhumed his shriveled leg from Veracruz, paraded it to Mexico City in an ornate coach and buried it beneath a cemetery monument in an elaborate state funeral that included cannon salvos, poetry and lofty orations. Santa Anna’s severed leg did not remain in the ground for long, however. -
Public opinion again turned on the president
In 1844, public opinion again turned on the president. Rioters tore down statues of Santa Anna and dug up his leg. They tied it to a rope and dragged it through the streets of Mexico City while shouting, “Death to the cripple!”
Forced from power, Santa Anna left Mexico in exile. After the United States declared war against his homeland in 1846, however, the one-legged general was called back to service in the Mexican-American War.
