The Civil War and Cinco de Mayo

The French defeat at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862 was celebrated in the United States during the Civil War as Cinco de Mayo. Brad Stone will trace how a battle between French and Mexican soldiers became such a popular holiday in the United States, and why it matters in the context of the American Civil War.

Brad Stone served with the federal government as a senior public relations executive dealing with a wide variety of public health issues.  He led the public relations operations of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). He currently combines his interest in the Civil War and medical history by volunteering as a docent on a regular basis at both the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, MD and aboard the USS Constellation in Baltimore Harbor.  He has given presentations on a variety of Civil War topics at a number of institutions including the Gettysburg Heritage Center and the U.S. Navy Museum at the Navy Yard in Washington, DC. He also recently appeared on C-SPAN3 American History TV talking about the Civil War’s impact on shaping the modern American Christmas holiday.

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