the 41 aged general caught the eye of the emperor. Lorencez was sent back to France to recover, commanding French forces in stationary and peace command in France from 1855 to 1861 and inherited his recently deceased father’s estate and titles. French expedition to Mexico Lorencez then served in the French intervention in Mexico where he won a commission to major general in March 1862, given senior command of French expeditionary forces by Napoleon III. He established his headquarters in Orizaba where he won skirmishes with Mexican forces at the Acultzingo Summit taking the high ground and persuading them to withdraw, afterwards proclaiming victory and triumph back to the minister of war in Paris famously saying, "We have over the Mexicans such a superiority of race, organization, discipline, morality, and elevated spirits that I beg you to inform the emperor that, from this moment on and at the head of six thousand soldiers, I am the master of Mexico." He led his forces in a headlong advance deep into Mexico. In a fast pursuit, Lorencez fought at the Battle of Puebla, on 5 May 1862, where the French troops under his command were defeated by Mexican troops led by General Ignacio Zaragoza as result of poor tactics and overconfidence. Lorencez retreated towards Orizaba under constant pursuit by Mexican forces although the skill and tactics of the army itself prevented a total route and in fact made the attempted siege useless. Criticized by the emperor himself and disgraced, the general left Veracruz on 17 December 1862, denied his desires to stay and fight in charge of 2e division. General Forey would replace him, although Lorencez did consider him a close friend and a father figure. During the rest of the war, Lorencez would be one of many pressuring the emperor to recall the expedition warning him of a potential disaster. Later career Back in France, Lorencez was made Grand Officier de la Légion d'Honneur in 1866, but still in disgrace, he was only inspector general from 1864-1870. When the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870, Lorencez at first in charge of a garrison in Toulouse until the 56 aged general was transferred into command of a wartime division, similar in size, 6,000 men, to his previous army in Mexico. His 3rd division was part of IV corps, part of the Army of the Rhine which saw no real action at the