Puente Nacional is a municipality in the Mexican state of

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

. Puente Nacional is bordered by Actopan, the port of

, and La Antigua. It stands on the railway and on Federal Highways 140 and 125. In Puente Nacional the major products are coffee, fruits, and sugar.

History

Nearby the town of Puente Nacional, to its south, is the old National Bridge (Puente Nacional) it is named for. Originally named the Puente del Rey, it was constructed over the

Antigua River The Antigua River is a river of Mexico. It has an area of 108 square miles. See also *List of rivers of Mexico This is a list of rivers of Mexico, listed from north to south. There are 246 rivers on this list. Alternate names for rivers are given ...

by the Spanish in 1806 on the camino del Rey (highway of the king), later the National Road, between Vera Cruz and

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

. During the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

the bridge was a key point on the National Road, the American line of communications of their army advancing on

and a site of several engagements in June, July and August 1847, between Mexican guerrillas and U.S. troops guarding trains of supply wagons that crossed this bridge on their to and from the interior of Mexico in 1847–1848. The location was a bottleneck on the route with topography that lent itself to an

ambush An ambush is a long-established military tactic in which a combatant uses an advantage of concealment or the element of surprise to attack unsuspecting enemy combatants from concealed positions, such as among dense underbrush or behind mo ...

by guerrilla forces. Following the capture of Mexico City, General

Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early s ...

established posts along the National Road to protect the route from guerrillas, one with 750 men, was located at the Puente Nacional.Stephen A. Carney, U.S. Army Campaigns of the Mexican War: The Occupation of Mexico, May 1846-July 1848 (CMH Pub 73-3), U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, 2005; pp.30-38
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References

External links

Populated places in Veracruz {{Veracruz-geo-stub