The French Foreign Legion acquired part of its legendary fame at the Battle of Camarón, when the small infantry reconnaissance patrol commanded by Captain Jean Danjou (62 soldiers, three officers) was attacked and besieged by Mexican cavalry and infantry forces equivalent to three battalions, and forced into a staunch defense near the Hacienda Camarón. Danjou was mortally wounded in the action, and his last men launched a desperate bayonet charge. They were almost entirely exterminated: only three survived. Even today, the anniversary of the Battle of Camarón is the Legion’s main anniversary.
