Cav

I just read an article of why the "Batalla de Puebla" is important in USA, it basically says that France planned to attack and set an assault position on Mexico and attack from there a USA fighting the civil war. The Batalla de Puebla, stopped their plans. This is basically what the article says. I find this hard to believe.
Did France was really planning on attacking USA? Was the attack on Mexico just a step to accomplish a major goal?

Rongo

I'm not familiar with the Battle de Puebla (perhaps you could post a link to some info), but I think I can fairly say that France wasn't planning on invading the USA in 1862. An invasion from Mexico would have been launched against Texas, which was one of the Confederate states that were fighting a civil war against the United States. And although Napoleon III apparently had some leanings towards the Confederacy, he never even offered it diplomatic recognition.

However there was concern in the United States government that France might take advantage of the war to make some moves, which was a major reason why President Lincoln put a relatively high priority on Texas during the war.

Rongo

The Confederate States, however, did have designs on Mexican territory, as spelled out here:

CONFEDERATE DIPLOMACY AND INTRIGUE IN MEXICO, Col. Sherod Hunter Camp 1525, SCV, Phoenix, Arizona

Perhaps the French/Mexican governments were concerned about that?

Cav

It was a small battle, only 83 Mexicans were killed and 300 French, the important thing here is what the Mexican victory caused. "They defeated the best army in the world even when outnumbered". That's what any Mexican can tell you if you ask why is that battle so important. Militarily, it slowed the French invasion and gave a morale boost to Mexico.

tjadams

It would have been the insane actions of a loon for Mexico to attack the US/Confederacy
in 1862.
As much as the Confederacy was primed to take on the Union, it would have ceased hostilities
and joined with the Union in driving back a nation it had defeated fourteen years earlier.
Perhaps in a hypothetical version, if Mexico/French had attacked, it could have acted as the
healing balm that the US needed in causing the two sides into realizing that they needed
each other for their mutual safety as a united country. Perhaps it could have ended and
prevented the war between the states from going on.

Eumenes

I don't know that the Battle of Puebla really accomplished anything other than giving the people of Puebla and some Mexican born Union soldiers a propaganda coup. For about two years after the Battle of Puebla, the Republican faction of Mexico suffered a nearly unending series of defeats at the hands of the French and Imperial Mexican forces supporting Maximilian.

VM1138

This is a common idea among virtual historians, but it's unrealistic. No enemy would attack BOTH the U.S. and C.S. I highly doubt they would ever unite to fight an enemy. Most likely a move by France would be to regain Western territory. The C.S.A. would support France in this to help them win the war against the Union, all the while planning on taking the Western lands for themselves in a future conflict with France/Mexico.

AlpinLuke

Well, France knew the Americans and how they fought for their freedom, I find it difficult to imagine French politicians and generals planning such an invasion against those Americans [the descendants, of course].

Perhaps some journalists have found plans, projects, ideas ... may be. But I doubt they had opportunity to reach the decision level and to become operative. Looking in the history of a great power you can find a lot of similar "scoops", I guess.

tjadams

What is a virtual historian? I've never heard of it.

On the contrary. Catholic France and Catholic Mexico, with a different language and
uniform, would have never been tolerated by Davis or Lincoln.
Mexico would have come through Texas and that would have been met with
a serious shield of resistance from Texans.
Lincoln would not have allowed Mexican/French interference and it would have resulted
in a Union Naval fight with incoming French ships. No way Lincoln would have
allowed Mexican/French troops to take away the very land that he wanted to keep.
One can easily see him meeting with Davis or vice versa, and working out a deal
that the CSA dissolves, some slavery expansion allowed if both sides could
re-join. It isn't too hard to imagine.

While the CSA wanted European support, I don't see them enjoy seeing foreign
boots on US soil for long. I can see the CSA mostly wanting food, weapons,
powder, medical supplies and the French Navy in wrestling with the Union Navy,
not a destruction of the US.

redcoat

They went to war against the US to gain their independence, I doubt they would care what happened to the US afterwards


But wasn't that exactly what the CSA wanted, the destruction of the USA