Facing unbelievable odds Danjou and his men swore to fight to the death for the glory of France and the French Foreign Legion. Lacking a Bible, they took their oath upon Captain Danjou’s prosthetic wooden hand. Next they shared a bottle of wine and readied themselves for the end. At 11am, before the battle even began, Colonel Milan offered the men a chance to surrender.
Danjou responded that they had plenty of ammunition and were prepared to fight. The Mexican forces then charged the gateways on the west end of the hacienda and breached the south. The Legionnaires were able to hold off the attack but Captain Danjou was struck in the chest and died.
Lieutenant Vilain took command and soon casualties grew on each side. The Legionnaires suffered from not only being outnumbered, but a lack of food and water leaving them susceptible to heat stroke. The Legionnaires were offered another chance to surrender but they refused. After four long hours of fighting the Legionnaires were still able to keep the Mexican forces from getting close, but only 32 men were left.
By 2pm only 20 of the original force of 65 were able to keep fighting but still the Mexican troops could not take the ranch house. At 2:30 Lieutenant Vilain was killed and Lieutenant Maudet took command. At 5pm things were only getting worse for the Legionnaires. They were down to twelve men and the roof of the ranch house had been completely burned away. Colonel Milan ordered his men to retreat from the hacienda in order to offer the Frenchmen a third chance at surrender. They refused once again.
Milan with no other choice sent another onslaught capturing five of the remaining men. At 6pm only five men remained fighting including Lieutenant Maudet. They had been fighting for 12 hours since first meeting with the cavalry and they had not had food since the day before and they were without water. With nothing left to do they mounted a bayonet charge. Two men fell and the remaining three were surrounded. Victor Catteau had jumped in front of Maudet to protect him and had died in the Mexican barrage.
One last time the men were asked to surrender. Corporal Phillipe Maine said they would surrender only if they were left their weapons and equipment and if the Mexican forces agreed to care for the wounded Lieutenant Maudet. Glad just to end the fighting and amazed with the strength and tenacity of the men, the Mexican troops agreed to their terms. When the three men were brought to Milan as part of their surrender he was astounded that just three men were all that was left. He proclaimed “These are not men; they are demons!”
Lieutenant Maudet was treated as promised but he died from his wounds on May 8th. In the end 43 men were killed out of the 65 Legionnaires that set out on the reconnaissance mission. 19 of them were captured. Of the 19 captured men, 17 were wounded and some of them did not survive. Of those that did survive they were released in a prisoner exchange on the 14th of July 1863. In comparison, the Mexicans suffered losses of 190 killed and more than 300 injured. Captain Danjou’s hand was recovered and brought back to Aubagne, where it now remains in the Legion Museum of Memory.
The battle of Cameron continues to be commemorated every year on April 30. On Camerone Day, the Legionnaires hold a parade and the wooden hand of Captain Danjou is brought out on display. A monument was also erected on the battlefield which bears a French inscription. Which says “Here there were less than sixty opposed to a whole army. Its numbers crushed them. Life rather than courage abandoned these French soldiers on April 30, 1863.
In their memory, the motherland has erected their moment.” The Mexicans also hold annual ceremonies to remember the lives lost that day with a parade of military units and political speakers. The nearby village also holds a fiesta. There is also a monument built to remember the Mexican lives lost and it is tradition that any Mexican soldier passing the monument give it a salute.