This lithographic print depicts six French ships under Rear Admiral Charles Baudin (denoted by the French flags waving from the masts) bombarding the citadel of San Juan de Ulúa, which protected the Mexican port of Vera Cruz, on November 27, 1838. Only a small portion of a tower can be seen through the smoke which also masks the port. This action took place during the so-called Pastry War or First French Intervention in Mexico-- a brief conflict between Mexico and France over claims by French citizens against the Mexican government. The war ended early the next year with a British-brokered peace in which the Mexican government agreed to compensate the French citizens; however, these debts were not paid and the main result was growing animosity between the two countries that later resulted in the Second French Intervention in Mexico of 1861. Santa Anna exploited the action with propaganda that assisted his return to power. [For further reading see: William Spence Robertson, "French Intervention in Mexico in 1838," The Hispanic American Historical Review 24, no. 2 (1944): 222-52.]
