<Li> Lomas de San Lorenzo </Li> <Li> Siege of Querétaro </Li> <P> The Battle of Camarón (French: Bataille de Camerone) which occurred over ten hours 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 just 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 . </P> <P> As part of the Second French intervention in Mexico, a French army commanded by the General Forey was besieging the Mexican city of Puebla . The Legion's 1st and 2nd Battalions, under the command of Col. Pierre Jeanningros, had arrived on Veracruz on 26 March . The 2nd Battalion, under the command of Maj . Munier, was assigned to protect the road from Tejeria to Soledad, while the 1st Battalion protected the road onwards to Chiquihuite . </P>

Cameron the french foreign legion's greatest battle