of 10,000 European soldiers. The Foreign Legion was loaned by Napoleon III to the Crown of Mexico for this purpose. The Legion departed Sidi-bel-Abbes, crossing the Atlantic Ocean uneventfully, and made landfall at Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico. The Foreign Legion was assigned to escort supply convoys in the Vera Cruz highlands. The strength of the Foreign Legion was depleted by yellow fever endemic to the region. It became necessary to quickly move the Legion elements inland to the healthier clime of Córdoba, Veracruz, however this was complicated by Mexican guerrillas harassing their movement. It was in Mexico on 30 April 1863 that the Legion earned its legendary status. A small infantry patrol led by Captain Jean Danjou, numbering 62 soldiers and 3 officers, was attacked and besieged by over a thousand Mexicans , organized in three battalions of infantry and cavalry, and was forced to make a defense in Hacienda Camarón. Despite the hopelessness of the situation, they fought nearly to the last man, with just three survivors and no ammunition and only the option to surrender, they fixed bayonets and attacked. The Mexican General was so impressed he assigned an honor guard to escort the body of Capitaine Danjou back to his battalion. Franco-Prussian War According to French law the Legion was not to be used within Metropolitan France, and thus, it was not a part of Napoleon III's Imperial Army that capitulated at Sedan. With the defeat of the Imperial Army, the Second French Empire fell and the Third Republic was created. The problem was that the new Third Republic was desperately short of trained soldiers, so the Legion was ordered to provide a contingent. On October 11, two provisional battalions disembarked at Toulon, the first time the Legion had been deployed in France itself. They attempted to lift the Siege of Paris by breaking through the German lines. They succeeded in re-taking Orléans, but failed to break the siege. Following the war the Legion assisted in suppressing the Paris Commune uprising. Colonial warfare During the Third Republic, the Legion played a major role in French colonial expansion. They fought in North Africa (where they established their headquarters at Sidi-Bel-Abbès in Algeria), Madagascar, and Indochina, where they participated in the celebrated Siege of Tuyên Quang in 1885. Following the close of the Franco-Prussian War, the Ministry of War ordered the Foreign Legion be reduced to four battalions from its