"The Pastry War Guerra de los pasteles" Topic

Hmm, I guess this follows my query on information and wargaming guidance on the 1862 Franco-Mexican war.

Now I find out (how ignorant we Canadians are of Mexican history!) of a little side show in 1838-1839 known as:

The Pastry War Guerra de los pasteles

Suggestions for books, uniform guides, figures & best rules appreciated. I imagine being so close to the Alamo, there are more than enough suitable Mexican figures.

Is there an OOB for the french force in this…or the troops Santa Anna had at his disposal?

Upper Canada

The pastry war was basically a military walk over for the French followed by a withdrawl. I'm not aware of an OB being available. The Maximillian wars degenerated into a guerilla war pretty fast. Some big battles, lots of skirmishes. The Teaxas Revolution is in that region where its too big to skirmish and a bit small for gaming. It always seemed to me that the best gaming, and uniforms, was in the Mexican American war. Where abouts in Upper Canada are you?

Chris

Osprey does a nice looking book on Maximillian in Mexico. Freicorps (sp?) has a pretty comprehensive 15mm range. Foundry has a nice but almost impossible to find 25mm range.

GREAT question, UpperCanada!

Well, the so called "Pastry War" (in Spanish, "Guerra de los pasteles") was essentially a three-fold operation. The first action was the gathering of the blockading French fleet, which was under the command of Rear Admiral Charles Baudin. The second action was the subsequent bombardment of the old but formidable fortress San Juan de Ulúa, which took place on November 27, 1838. And the third action was the amphibious landing of several units of French marines at Veracruz in the early morning hours of December 5, 1838, of which the Prince de Joinville was a main participant. The French objective of this last operation was to try and capture Santa Anna. It was also in this action that the self-styled "Napoleon of the West" would lose his right leg, from the knee down, as a result of a cannon blast while coming to the defense of the city.

IMHO, the "Pastry War" is one of the most underwritten and underread subjects outside of Mexico, and one of the most interesting to research. I've been able to piece together the whole operation from several sources, including the names of the French ships that bombarded San Juan de Ulúa, and a small and rough OOB for the French and Mexican units that saw action. I can tell you that the Mexican soldiers were dressed identically as their appearance during the Texas Revolution, which was a dark blue coat with red collar, cuffs, and turnbacks, white trousers, and black leather belltop shakos.

PM me for any other questions you may have, UpperCanada, and good luck on your project!

Hi

Saginaw, I would love a copy of the OOB as well.

Ain't many of us here following these subjects, is there?

R

No idea, Rocky, but then again it is a very obscure period in Mexican, let alone world, military history.

I'll start looking for those OOBs immediately.