These forces, whose numbers would later rise to approximately 38,000 men, were successively placed under the command of generals Charles de Lorencez, Élie Frédéric Forey and finally François Achille Bazaine. The campaign was the scene of some of the most notable battles in French military history, such as the glorious struggle for the village of Camaron where, on 30 April 1863, sixty two legionnaires resisted bravely for nine hours against over two thousand Mexicans, allowing for the capture of the city of Puebla on 17 May 1863 thus paving the way to Mexico. In the capital, an assembly of notables recognized Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg, brother of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, as Emperor of Mexico.