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When the soldiers made camp, the women always found ways to procure food from nearby villages and cooked for their husbands, although, this was not the case in Zapata’s army. Zapata had good relationships with the peasants in the region, who would provide food and water for his fighters.

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When the soldiers made camp, the women always found ways to procure food from nearby villages and cooked for their husbands, although, this was not the case in Zapata’s army. Zapata had good relationships with the peasants in the region, who would provide food and water for his fighters.

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In the rebel armies, some women were actually recruited to fight, but in most instances the women just followed their loved ones. 

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In the rebel armies, some women were actually recruited to fight, but in most instances the women just followed their loved ones. 

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This post is also available in: Español

The commemoration of the " Cinco de Mayo " and its "Batalla de Puebla (Battle of Puebla) reminds us of the how a ranchera song like "La Adelita" tells the story of the Mexican Revolution.

But before I tell you of how and why the popular ranchera "La Adelita" is a good example of songs that tell the story of the Mexican Revolution, let's put things in perspective.

The Battle of Puebla and "La Adelita" Timelines

The Battle of Puebla occurred on the "Cinco de Mayo" (May 5th) of 1862. Ranchera music realistically came later, towards the early 20th century. It came to form when the Mexican Revolution was taking place around the events of 1910. Nevertheless, the warfare similarities are evident. The story of "Adelita" could well have happened during any war. It's a story that could have happened during the Mexican Revolution circa 1910, the "Cinco de Mayo" Battle of Puebla on 1862, or even as far back as the Mexican Independence War circa 1810.

"La Adelita" tells the story of a woman that follows The Sergeant into battle because she's in love with him. She is brave and beautiful. Additionally, she was the kind of woman that would ride with her Sergeant in the train or horse with a rifle or pistol ready, and serving the troops. But "Adelita" had the respect of the entire battalion, starting with the Sergeant, who would sing...

"If Adelita were to leave with another man, I would follow her over land and sea...over the sea by warship, over land in a military train. And if I die in battle, and they are going to bury my body, Adelita, in God's name, I pray that you will cry for me." Believe me when I say that this sounds much better in Spanish!

Video of "La Adelita"

In the video below, "La Adelita" is performed by the late popular "nueva trova" Mexican singer "Amparo Ochoa". The images of the video portray scenes from the Mexican Revolution. They try to represent the main theme of the song.

Nobody is sure if the "ranchera" "Adelita" was based on a real woman or not. One thing that we do know is that "Adelita" was not the only folk hero woman portrayed in "ranchera" music. "La Valentine" and "Marietta" are two other women that also played a part of the Mexican Revolution folk legend through "ranchera" songs.

Where did "Ranchera" music come from?

"Rancheras" started in around the time of the Mexican Revolution. They where normally sang by a single person with a guitar. Like so many other Latin music genres that originated around this time, it served to tell stories to a population that mostly couldn't read. Music became their main mean of mass communication, like a verbal newspaper.

Traditional "ranchera" themes were around love, patrotism, and nature. Later on they became associated with Mariachi bands. Taking from rural traditional folk music, "ranchera" music developed as a symbol of a new national consciousness in reaction to the aristocratic tastes of the period.

Some of the most popular exponents of "ranchera" music are Antonio Aguilar, Flor Silvestre, Amalia Mendoza, Lucha Villa, Cuco Sanchez, Rocío Dúrcal, José Alfredo Jiménez, Lola Beltrán, Vicente Fernández, Pedro Infante, Jorge Negrete, and Javier Solís.

The roots of the word "ranchera" come from the word "rancho". This is because the songs originated on the ranches and in the countryside of rural Mexico. The "ranchera" is also performed by "norteño" or "banda" groups of northern Mexico or southern U.S..

My favorite "ranchera" composer was the late Jose Alfredo Jimenez. He probably owns the biggest songbook in this genre even today. Additionally, I also like the popular contemporary Mexican singer-songwriter Juan Gabriel.

The commemoration of the "Cinco de Mayo" and the Battle of Puebla remind us of that time in Mexican history. "La Adelita" is a classic that cannot be chronologically associated with the "Cinco de Mayo". However, it can certainly illustrate the role brave Mexican women had in Mexican history.

Cover art: by Aida Emart

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The Ranchera and "Adelita": A Story of the Mexican Revolution | Latino Music Cafe

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This post is also available in: Español The commemoration of the " Cinco de Mayo " and its "Batalla de Puebla (Battle of Puebla) reminds us of the how a ranchera song like "La Adelita" tells the story of the Mexican Revolution.

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Women fought on the battlefield during the Mexican Revolution. Soldaderas or female soldiers, with rebel or federal forces, fought either by choice or coercion. Soldadera comes from the word soldada, or soldier's pay. The men gave their wages to women to pay for food, meal preparation, clothes cleaning, and other services. Soldaderas often did many things besides domestic chores. Some women willingly followed soldiers, believing it safer than remaining where they were. Most were unmarried and without children and could move freely. When the troops took a place, they often seized guns, horses, and women, some of whom became soldaderas.

During the Revolution, soldaderas were so important that leaders among the Zapatistas included coronelas (female colonels) in their lists of troops with the coronels (their male counterparts). When the Secretary of War, Ángel García Peña tried to keep soldaderas from fighting, federal leaders warned of revolts among the troops. Yet, Villa believed soldaderas slowed troop progress. Villa let them march because he needed more troops and the men wanted soldaderas. After Villista forces lost the battle of Horcasitas, Chihuahua in 1917, Villa angrily massacred a group of 90 women in the city of Camargo.

Friedrich Katz's account of the massacre explains that the wife of a man Villa's forces had killed attacked Villa, whose troops shot the rest of the women they had abducted on the spot. Elizabeth Salas says a rival hiding in a crowd of soldaderas supposedly shot at Villa, who ordered all 90 of them to be killed when the shooter failed to come forward. Both accounts tell of an infant who survived the episode. Katz says the child's image, covered in its mother's blood, figured in Villa's decline. Nevertheless, Villa honored courageous women for their service.

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Viewpoints on Women in the Revolution - The Mexican Revolution and the United States | Exhibitions - Library of Congress

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Women fought on the battlefield during the Mexican Revolution. Soldaderas or female soldiers, with rebel or federal forces, fought either by choice or coercion. Soldadera comes from the word soldada, or soldier's pay. The men gave their wages to women to pay for food, meal preparation, clothes cleaning, and other services.

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Most well known soldadera.
Fought for womens suffrage in Mexico.
Influenced others with her writings.

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In the Mexican Revolution, soldaderas were female soldiers.
Two Types
The women who accompanied the soldiers but were not soldiers themselves.
The women who fought in the war.