1. Why did the French say they were in Mexico in the first place?
2. Which other countries sent military forces?
3. What did the French forces do in the weeks after losing the Battle of Puebla?
4. How long did it take to get the French army out of Mexico?
5. The American Civil War was going on at the same time. If the French were to take over Mexico, whom would they back – the Yankees or the Confederates? Why?
6. What about the plan to take Texas back as part of Mexico? Whose plan was it, and how was it discovered?
7. Why did several hundred Confederate cavalrymen get into a chase and gunfight in Austin, Texas, on their way to Mexico after the Civil War?
8. Whose side would the Confederates fight on when they got to Mexico? Why?
9. How did 1,500 Mexicans die in a tragic accident in March of 1862, before the French had fired their first shot?
10. Children reacted to the presence of soldiers in various ways. In Orizaba, little boys raised imaginary “bugles” to their lips and held “drills” on the parade ground. However, in remote Indian villages, what would both boys and girls do when asked their names? Why?
