Battle of Camerone
postcard
| date | April 30, 1863 |
|---|---|
| place | Camarón de Tejeda , Mexico |
| output | Pyrrhic victory of the Mexicans |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 65 | 2,000 |
| losses | |
|
40 dead, 17 injured |
300 |
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The battle of Camerone (Spanish toponym: Camarón de Tejeda ), which took place as part of the French intervention in Mexico on April 30, 1863 , is a symbol of sacrifice and heroism in the history of the French Foreign Legion . In the battle , 62 legionaries and 3 officers of the Foreign Legion fought under Capitaine Jean Danjou and the Sous Lieutenants Clément Maudet and Napoleon Vilain against around 2,000 soldiers under the Mexican Colonel Francisco de Paula Milán , including 1,200 infantrymen and 800 cavalrymen .
history
The French expeditionary corps besieged the city of Puebla and expected a supply convoy . a. was laden with 3 million francs , weapons and ammunition . The Foreign Legion had the task of securing road traffic. The commanding staff officer Colonel Pierre Joseph Jeanningros (1816–1902) wanted to send an advance guard ahead of the convoy for safety . So a troop of 62 legionaries and three officers was put together, which set off on April 30, 1863 at around 1 a.m. under the command of Capitaine Jean Danjou. When the squad took a break in Palo Verde around 7 a.m., the Mexicans attacked. The legionaries fought back several attacks and finally withdrew in karee formation to the hacienda de la Trinidad, which was surrounded by a wall about three meters high, west (at that time still outside) of the village of Camerone.
According to an official French report, a Mexican officer asked the legionaries to surrender and pointed out the number of Mexican soldiers . The commandant of the French did not want to surrender, especially with regard to the following transport. At around 10 a.m., the Mexicans began to storm the grounds. But the legionaries defended themselves - without food and in extreme heat - until around 6 o'clock in the evening. Sous-Lieutenant Maudet, Caporal Maine and the legionaries Catteau, Wensel, Constantin and Leonhard were still ready to fight in the end - without ammunition and only armed with bayonets . After Sous-Lieutenant Maudet and two of the legionaries were killed or wounded, the last three surrendered only on condition that they were allowed to keep their weapons and that their wounded comrades were treated. That was granted to them. In this fight all three officers as well as 30 NCOs and legionnaires died from their wounds. The rest, 31 legionaries, mostly wounded, were taken prisoner. Twelve of them were released the following month of August, while 19 died from their wounds in captivity. After the fight and after the Mexicans had left, a Caporal was found alive by a relief company at the battle site.
Exact figures on the Mexican casualties are not known; the legionaries allegedly killed around 300 Mexican soldiers .
As a result of the battle, the supply convoy passed without any problems and the French successfully completed the siege of Puebla two and a half weeks later.
Today's meaning
After the battle, Napoléon III. write the name Camerone on the flag of the Foreign Legion, and the names of the three officers, Danjou, Vilain and Maudet, were carved in gold on the Dome of the Invalides in Paris .
At the site of the battle, a memorial was erected in 1892 with the inscription (translation): Here fewer than 60 men stood against an entire army. They crushed their mass. Before they lost their courage, however, these French soldiers gave their lives on April 30, 1863. The fatherland erected this monument in memory of them.
Nowadays the battle is still celebrated and the official report made on the occasion. April 30th is the highest public holiday in the French Foreign Legion.
See also
literature
- Matthias Blazek: Great role model for the Légion étrangère: The battle of Camerone was fought 150 years ago in Mexico. In: Comradely from Fontainebleau - Bulletin of the Friends of the German Military Plenipotentiary in France. No. 40, June 2013, pp. 21-23.
- Jean Brunon: Camerone. Éditions France-Empire, Paris 1981.
- Louis Gaultier, Charles Jacquot: C'est la Légion. Éditions SOFRADIF, Montreuil-sous-Bois 1972.
- Pierre Nord (text), Guy Sabras (illustrations): Pages de gloire. Sidi-Brahim, Camerone, Bir-Hakim. Éditions GP, Paris 1945.
- Horst Ohligschläger: Camerone. In: G - story. 2003, ISSN 1617-9412 , pp. 17-20.
- Max Patay: Camerone (= Les Grandes Batailles de l'Histoire. 1, ISSN 1140-1915 ). Socomer, Paris 1988.
- Colin Rickards: The hand of Capitain Danjou. Camerone and the French Foreign Legion in Mexico, April 30, 1860. Crowood Press, Ramsbury 2005, ISBN 1-86126-587-5 .
- James W. Ryan: Camerone. The French Foreign Legion's greatest battle. Praeger, Westport CT et al. 1996, ISBN 0-275-95490-0 .
Web links
- Translation of the official report
- The memorial at Chemins de Mémoire
- pd: 150 years ago: Fight in Mexico - An Arbon man commanded the Foreign Legion , Bodensee Nachrichten of April 12, 2013 (PDF; 459 kB)
Coordinates: 19 ° 1 ′ 0 ″ N , 96 ° 37 ′ 0 ″ W.
Individual evidence
- ↑ See in detail: Matthias Blazek: Great role model of the Légion étrangère: The battle of Camerone was fought 150 years ago in Mexico. In: Comradely from Fontainebleau - Bulletin of the Friends of the German Military Plenipotentiary in France. No. 40, June 2013, pp. 21-23.