With the republican troops of the Eastern Army under his command, General Porfirio Díaz began the siege of Puebla, capital city of the
state of
Puebla, on March 9, 1867. Díaz built his headquarters on the hill of San Juan, upon the site of
Marshal Elie Frédéric Forey's in the 1863
siege of Puebla. Díaz did not have enough men and war materials to enact a long-term campaign. The French (who were to definitively leave Mexico on March 11) and imperialist forces occupied an advantageous position, with a similar number of soldiers, more guns, and the forts of Loreto and Guadalupe. In order to lessen the advantage of the besieged, Díaz deployed his soldiers to capture the points that would allow him better control of the land. The Republicans captured the streets of the suburbs one by one, fighting house to house. During this confrontation, General
Manuel González was hit by a bullet that shattered his right elbow, necessitating the amputation of that arm. Then, on March 31, Díaz had an accident that almost cost him his life. The roof of a house collapsed and half-buried him; when the Imperialists realized what had happened, they shot at him through the windows. Finally, Díaz was rescued by Luis Teran. Díaz, knowing that Marquez was going to Puebla, realized he could not keep the site any longer. He had four options: first, to end the siege of Puebla and retreat to the south in order to avoid a joint attack by Marquez and the defenders of the city; second, to abandon the city and attack Marquez before he reached Puebla, facing the possibility of being trapped between far superior forces to his front and rear; third, to leave the city to join in the
siege of Querétaro, and face the same possible situation as in the second; finally, to attack and capture Puebla. ==The battle==