Battle of Camarón The Battle of Camarón ( ) which occurred on 30 April 1863 between the French Foreign Legion and the Mexican army , is regarded as a defining moment in the Foreign Legion ' s history . A small infantry patrol , led by Captain Jean Danjou and Lieutenants Clément Maudet and Jean Vilain , numbering 65 men was attacked and besieged by a force that may have eventually reached 3 , 000 Mexican infantry and cavalry , and was forced to make a defensive stand at the nearby Hacienda Camarón , in Camarón de Tejeda , Veracruz , Mexico . The conduct of the Legion , who refused to surrender , led to a certain mystique — and the battle of Camarón became synonymous with bravery and a fight - to - the - death attitude . Background . As part of the French intervention in Mexico , a French army commanded by the General Forey was besieging the Mexican city of Puebla . Fearing a logistical shortage , the French sent a convoy with 3 million francs , matériel , and munitions for the siege . The 3rd company of the Foreign Legion detachment was charged with protecting the convoy . As the company had no officers , Captain Danjou , Regimental adjutant , assumed command . The battle . On the 30 April , at 01 : 00 . , the 3rd company — 62 soldiers and three officers — was en route . At 07 : 00 . , after a 15 - mile march , they stopped at Palo Verde to rest and " prepare the coffee " . Soon after , a Mexican Army force of 800 horsemen was sighted . Captain Danjou ordered the company take up a square formation , and , though retreating , he rebuffed several cavalry charges , inflicting the first heavy losses on the Mexicans that suffered from long - range rifle fire . Seeking a more defensible position , Danjou made a stand at the nearby Hacienda Camarón , an inn protected by a 3 - metre - high wall . His plan was to occupy Mexican forces to prevent attacks against the nearby convoy . While his legionnaires prepared to defend the inn , the Mexican commander , Colonel Francisco de Paula Milán demanded that Danjou and soldiers surrender , noting the Mexican Army ' s numeric superiority . Danjou replied : " We have munitions . We will not surrender . " He and his men then swore to fight to the death . At around 11 : 00 . the size of the Mexican force were increased in size by the arrival of 2 , 200 infantrymen . The Hacienda came under fire and the French had lost all water early in the morning when pack mules were lost during the retreat . At mid day , Captain Danjou was shot in the chest and died ; his soldiers continued fighting under the command of Vilain , who held for four hours before falling during an assault . At 17 : 00 . only 12 Legionnaires remained around under the command of Maudet . By 18 : 00 , with ammunition exhausted , the last of Danjou ' s soldiers , numbering only five under the command of Lt . Maudet , desperately mounted a bayonet charge . Two men died outright , while the rest continued the assault . The tiny group was surrounded . A Belgian Legionnaire , Victor Catteau , leapt in front of Lt . Maudet in an effort to protect him from the Mexican guns when they were leveled at him but died in vain , as both he and Lt . Maudet were hit in the barrage . Colonel Milán , commander of the Mexicans managed to prevent his men from executing the two surviving legionnaires . When they were asked to surrender , they insisted that they should be allowed safe passage home , to keep their arms , and to escort the body of Captain Danjou , to which Milán commented " What can I refuse to such men ? No , these are not men , they are devils " , and agreed to these terms . Aftermath . Finally , the French supply convoy made it safely to Puebla . The Mexicans failed to relieve the siege and the city fell on 17 May . Capitaine Danjou was a professional soldier and had lost his left hand while on a mapping expedition in the Kabyia campaign . He had a wooden articulated prosthetic hand made , painted to resemble a glove , strapped to his left forearm . Overlooked by both French and Mexican comrades who came to bury their dead it was found by an Anglo - French farmer , Langlais . Two years later it was sold and taken to the Quarter Viénot in Sidi Bel Abbès in French Algeria , the home of the Foreign Legion . When the Legion moved to France , Capitaine Danjou ' s wooden hand was taken to Aubagne where it remains in the Legion Museum . The hand is the most cherished artifact in Legion history and the prestige and honor granted to a Legionnaire to carry it on parade in its protective case is among the greatest bestowed on a Legionnaire . 30 April is celebrated as " Camerone Day " , an important day for the Legionnaires , when the wooden prosthetic hand of Capitaine Danjou is brought out for display and veneration in a special ceremony . The officers prepare and serve the Legionnaires coffee , to celebrate the " . . . coffee they [ The Legionnaires of Camarone ] never had . " After hearing of the battle , French Emperor Napoleon III had the name " Camerone " embroidered onto the Legion ' s flag . In 1892 , a monument commemorating the battle was erected on the battlefield containing a plaque with the following inscription in French : Ils furent ici moins de soixante < br > Opposés a toute une armée < br > Sa masse les écrasa < br > La vie plutot que le courage < br > Abandonna ces soldats Français < br > Le 30 Avril 1863 < br > A leur memoire la patrie eleva ce monument < br > The railing from the Legion grave at Camarone can now be found at the village of Puyloubier near Aix - en - Provence . Visiting the site of the battle . The site of the battle can be visited at the village of Camarón de Tejeda , in the state of Veracruz , Mexico . This village was formerly known as El Camarón , and later as Adalberto Tejeda , Villa Tejeda or Camarón de Tejeda . In the village there is a monument erected by the Mexican government in 1964 , honoring the Mexican soldiers who fought in the battle . There is also a memorial site and parade ground on the outskirts of the village . The memorial has a raised platform , which covers the resting place of the remains of French and Mexican soldiers disinterred in the 1960s . The surface of the platform has a plaque in Latin . Diligent search of the area has failed to locate the plaque with the oft - quoted 1892 French language inscription referred to above . Every year on 30 April , the Mexican government holds annual ceremonies at the memorial site , with political speakers and a parade of various Mexican military units . The village holds a " fiesta " on the same day . The ceremonies are sometimes attended by representatives of the French military , and the site is also visited by retired veterans of the French Foreign Legion . It is also tradition that any Mexican soldiers passing by the area turn towards the monument and offer a salute . The village of Adalberto Tejeda ( also known as Villa Tejeda , Camarón de Tejeda , or simply El Camarón ) is located on secondary roads about 25 to 30 km west of the town of Soledad de Doblado , Veracruz , and about 64 km . west of the city of Veracruz . The 1964 monument is in the center of town . The memorial and parade ground , known as El Mausoleo ( the Mausoleum ) , is a few blocks away on the edge of the village , near the town cemetery . The coordinates of the village of Adalberto Tejeda are Lat . 19 . 0216° ; Long . - 96 . 6154 .