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{{Short description|1861 invasion of Mexico by the French}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Second French intervention in Mexico
| width             = 350px
| image             = File:Siège de Puebla - 29 mars 1863.PNG
| image_size        = 300
| caption           = French assault during the [[Siege of Puebla (1863)|Second Battle of Puebla]]
| date              = 8 December 1861{{dubious|Spain and UK as belligerents|date=February 2025}} – 21 June 1867<br />({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|month1=12|day1=08|year1=1861|month2=06|day2=21|year2=1867}})
| place             = [[Second Federal Republic of Mexico|Mexico]]
| result            = Mexican Republican victory
| combatant1        = {{flagcountry|Second Federal Republic of Mexico}}
| combatant2        = {{ubl|{{flagcountry|Second French Empire}}|{{flagcountry|Second Mexican Empire}}}}
| commander1        = {{plainlist|
* {{flagicon|Second Federal Republic of Mexico}} [[Benito Juárez]]
* {{flagicon|Second Federal Republic of Mexico}} [[Porfirio Díaz]]
* {{flagicon|Second Federal Republic of Mexico}} [[Ignacio Zaragoza]]{{Natural Causes}}
* {{flagicon|Second Federal Republic of Mexico}} [[Jesús González Ortega]]
* {{flagicon|Second Federal Republic of Mexico}} [[Ignacio Comonfort]]{{KIA}}
* {{flagicon|Second Federal Republic of Mexico}} [[José María Arteaga]]{{Executed}}
* {{flagicon|Second Federal Republic of Mexico}} [[Carlos Salazar Ruiz]]{{Executed}}
* {{flagicon|Second Federal Republic of Mexico}} [[Miguel Negrete]]
* {{flagicon|Second Federal Republic of Mexico}} [[Antonio Rojas (guerrilla)|Antonio Rojas]]{{KIA}}
* {{flagicon|Second Federal Republic of Mexico}} [[Mariano Escobedo]]
* {{flagicon|Second Federal Republic of Mexico}} [[Jerónimo Treviño]]
* {{flagicon|Second Federal Republic of Mexico}} [[Pedro José Méndez]]{{KIA}}
* {{flagicon|Second Federal Republic of Mexico}} [[Vicente Riva Palacio]]
* {{flagicon|Second Federal Republic of Mexico}} [[Tomás O'Horán y Escudero|Tomás O'Horán]] {{small|(1862–1863)}}
* {{flagicon|Second Federal Republic of Mexico}} [[José López Uraga]] {{small|(1862–1864)}}
* {{flagicon|Second Federal Republic of Mexico}} [[Luigi Ghilardi]]{{Executed}}
}}
| commander2        = {{plainlist|
* {{flagicon|Second French Empire}} [[Napoleon III]]
* {{flagicon|Second French Empire}} [[Francois Achille Bazaine]]
* {{flagicon|Second French Empire}} [[Élie Frédéric Forey]]
* {{flagicon|Second French Empire}} [[Abel Douay]]
* {{flagicon|Second French Empire}} [[Auguste Henri Brincourt]]{{Surrender}}
* {{flagdeco|Second French Empire}} [[Pierre Joseph Jeanningros]]
* {{flagicon|Second French Empire}} [[Armand Alexandre de Castagny|Armand de Catagny]]
* {{flagicon|Second French Empire}} [[Georges Charles Cloué|Georges Cloué]] 
* {{flagdeco|Mexico|1864}} [[Maximilian I of Mexico|Maximilian]]{{Executed}}
* {{flagicon|Second Mexican Empire}} [[Juan Almonte]]
* {{flagicon|Second Mexican Empire}} [[Santiago Vidaurri]]{{Executed}}
* {{flagicon|Second Mexican Empire}} [[Tomás Mejía]]{{Executed}}
* {{flagicon|Second Mexican Empire}} [[Miguel Miramón]]{{Executed}}
* {{flagicon|Second Mexican Empire}} [[Leonardo Márquez]]{{Surrender}}
* {{flagicon|Second Mexican Empire}} [[Refugio Tánori]]{{Executed}}
* {{flagicon|Second Mexican Empire}} [[Manuel Lozada]] {{small|(1865–1866)}}
* {{flagicon|Second Mexican Empire}} [[Ramón Méndez]]{{Executed}}
* {{flagicon|Second Mexican Empire}} [[Tomás O'Horán y Escudero|Tomás O'Horán]]{{Executed}} {{small|(1863–1867)}}
* {{flagicon|Second Mexican Empire}} [[José López Uraga]]{{Surrender}} {{small|(1864–1867)}}
}}
| strength1         = {{ubl|{{flagicon|Second Federal Republic of Mexico}} 70,000}}
| strength2         = {{ubl|{{flagicon|Second French Empire}} 38,493<ref name="Niox">{{cite book
  |author = Gustave Niox
  |title = Expédition du Mexique, 1861–1867; récit politique & militaire
  |publisher = J. Dumaine
  |location = [[Paris]]
  |url = http://archive.org/details/expditiondumex00niox
  |language = fr
  |access-date = 10 June 2020
  |year = 1874
  |asin = B004IL4IB4
}}</ref>|
{{flagicon|Second Mexican Empire}} 16,200–24,000<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0o8_Q0GLrPQC&dq=mexican+imperial+soldiers&pg=PT178 | title=A Gringo Guide to Mexican History | isbn=978-0976580577 | last1=Conaway | first1=William J. | year= 2010 | publisher=William J Conaway }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V5ppBgAAQBAJ&dq=mexican+imperial+troops&pg=PA246 | title=Mexico: A History | isbn=978-0806175270 | last1=Miller | first1=Robert Ryal | year=2015 | publisher=University of Oklahoma Press }}</ref>}}
| casualties1       = {{ubl|31,962 killed (including 11,000 executed){{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|p=305}}| 8,304 wounded| 33,281 captured}}
| casualties2       = {{ubl|14,000 dead}}
}}
{{Campaignbox Second French intervention in Mexico}}
{{History of Mexico |Second Republic}}

The '''second French intervention in Mexico''' ({{langx|es|segunda intervención francesa en México}}), also known as the '''Second Franco-Mexican War''' (1861–1867),<ref>known in France as ''Expédition du Mexique'' at the time and today as ''Intervention française au Mexique''</ref> was a military invasion of the [[Second Federal Republic of Mexico|Republic of Mexico]] by the [[Second French Empire|French Empire]] of [[Napoleon III]], purportedly to force the collection of Mexican debts in conjunction with Great Britain and Spain. [[Conservative Party (Mexico)|Mexican conservatives]] supported the invasion, since they had been defeated by the liberal government of [[Benito Juárez]] in a three-year [[Reform War|civil war]]. Defeated on the battlefield, conservatives sought the aid of France to effect regime change and establish a [[Monarchism in Mexico|monarchy in Mexico]], a plan that meshed with Napoleon III's plans to re-establish the presence of the French Empire in the Americas. Although the French invasion displaced Juárez's Republican government from the Mexican capital and the monarchy of [[Maximilian I of Mexico|Archduke Maximilian]] was established, the [[Second Mexican Empire]] collapsed within a few years. Material aid from the [[United States]], whose four-year [[American Civil War|civil war]] ended in 1865, invigorated the Republican fight against the regime of Maximilian, and the 1866 decision of Napoleon III to withdraw military support for Maximilian's regime accelerated the monarchy's collapse.

The intervention came as a civil war, the [[Reform War]], had just concluded, and the intervention allowed the Conservative opposition against the [[Liberalism in Mexico|liberal]] social and economic reforms of President Juárez to take up their cause once again. The [[Catholic Church in Mexico|Catholic Church]], [[Conservative Party (Mexico)|conservatives]], much of the upper-class and [[Mexican nobility]], and some [[Indigenous peoples of Mexico|indigenous]] communities invited, welcomed and [[Collaborationism|collaborated]] with the French empire to install Maximilian as [[Emperor of Mexico]].<ref name="auto">{{Cite book |title=Dictionary of Wars |publisher=Facts on File |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-4381-2916-7 |editor-last=Kohn |editor-first=George Childs |edition=3rd |location=New York |page=329 |oclc=466183689}}</ref> However, there was still significant support for [[republicanism]] in Mexico.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=E. Sanders |first=James |date=2011 |title=The Vanguard of the Atlantic World: Contesting Modernity in Nineteenth-Century Latin America |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41261459 |journal=Latin American Research Review |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=104–105 |doi=10.1353/lar.2011.0030 |jstor=41261459 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Mexican society was most resistant to European models of governance, including monarchies, during and after the French intervention.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=E. Sanders |first=James |date=2011 |title=The Vanguard of the Atlantic World: Contesting Modernity in Nineteenth-Century Latin America |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41261459 |journal=The Latin American Research Review |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=112 |doi=10.1353/lar.2011.0030 |jstor=41261459 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The emperor himself however proved to be of liberal inclination and continued some of the Juárez government's most notable measures. Some liberal generals defected to the empire, including the powerful, northern governor [[Santiago Vidaurri]], who had fought on the side of Juárez during the Reform War.

The French army landed in January 1862, aiming to rapidly take the capital of [[Mexico City]], but Mexican republican forces defeated them in the [[Battle of Puebla]] on 5 May 1862 ("[[Cinco de Mayo]]"), delaying their march on the capital for a year. The French and Mexican Imperial Army captured much of Mexican territory, including major cities, but guerrilla warfare by republicans remained a significant factor and Juárez himself never left the national territory. The intervention was increasingly using up troops and money at a time when the recent [[Austro-Prussian War|Prussian victory over Austria]] was inclining France to give greater military priority to European affairs. The liberals also never lost the official recognition of the United States of America in spite of their ongoing civil war, and following the defeat and surrender of the [[Confederate States of America]] in April 1865 the reunited country began providing material support to the republicans. Invoking the [[Monroe Doctrine]], the U.S. government asserted that it would not tolerate a lasting French presence on the continent. Facing a mounting combination of domestic political discontent, diplomatic pressure and the growing military threat of [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] on the borders of [[Metropolitan France]] itself, French units in Mexico began to redeploy to Europe in 1866. Without substantial French support, the Second Mexican Empire collapsed in 1867. Maximilian and the two conservative generals [[Miguel Miramón]] and [[Tomás Mejía]] were [[Maximilian_I_of_Mexico#Execution|executed by firing squad]] on 19 June 1867, ending this period of Mexican history.<ref name="auto" />
{{toclimit|3}}

==Background==
{{see also|Monarchism in Mexico}}
Some [[Conservative Party (Mexico)|Mexican conservatives]] had hopes of restoring Mexico to a monarchical form of government, as it had been pre-[[Mexican War of Independence|independence]] and at its inception in 1821, the [[First Mexican Empire]] of [[Agustín de Iturbide|Agustín I]]. Through his wife, empress [[Eugénie de Montijo]], the French emperor Napoleon III came into contact with monarchist exiles [[José María Gutiérrez de Estrada]] and [[José Manuel Hidalgo y Esnaurrízar]], who exposed him to their decades long effort to import a European prince to ascend a Mexican throne. Napoleon III was initially not interested, due to the inevitable opposition that the effort would invite from the United States, but the outbreak of the American Civil War provided an opportunity. Napoleon III would also claim that the military adventure was a foreign policy commitment to free trade and that the establishment of a European-derived monarchy in Mexico would ensure European access to Mexican resources, particularly French access to Mexican [[silver]]. However, his choice emperor Maximilian would later disagree on Mexican resources going to anyone but Mexicans.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bancroft |first=Hubert Howe |date=1887 |title=History of Mexico Volume VI 1861–1887|location=San Francisco |publisher=The History Company |pages=[https://archive.org/details/worksofhuberthow14bancrich/page/136 136]|url=https://archive.org/details/worksofhuberthow14bancrich}}</ref> More importantly, a French-dependent Mexico would restrain the growing power of the United States,<ref>{{cite book |last=Guedalla|first=Philip | author-link = Philip Guedalla |date=1923|title=The Second Empire |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.95986|publisher=Hodder and Stoughton |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.95986/page/n340 322] }}</ref> and replace it with French power in Mexico and the rest of [[Latin America]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Bancroft |first=Hubert Howe |date=1887 |title=History of Mexico, Volume VI 1861–1887|location=San Francisco |publisher=The History Company |pages=[https://archive.org/details/worksofhuberthow14bancrich/page/136 136]|url=https://archive.org/details/worksofhuberthow14bancrich}}</ref>

The support for [[monarchism in Mexico]] would also inspire strong resistance against European visions of modernity which were frequently accompanied or driven by imperial campaigns. Many Mexicans would question claims to power and the use of gruesome militaristic violence as a means to progress civilization.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=E. Sanders |first=James |date=2011 |title=The Vanguard of the Atlantic World: Contesting Modernity in Nineteenth-Century Latin America |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41261459 |journal=The Latin American Review |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=113 |jstor=41261459}}</ref>

===Multinational intervention===
[[File:Prim_madrazo.jpeg|thumb|left|Juan Prim]]
The pretext for intervention came in July 1861, when Mexican president Benito Juárez placed a moratorium on foreign debt payments and expelled all remaining Spanish diplomats (the [[ambassador]] had been withdrawn over unpaid debt claims already in 1857), as he accused the Spanish of having supported the Conservatives in the Reform War.<ref name = "Bowen"/> In response, Spain, France, and a reluctant United Kingdom agreed to the [[Convention of London (1861)|Convention of London]] to ensure that debt repayments would be forthcoming. On 14 December, Spanish general [[Juan Prim]] occupied Mexico's main port, [[Veracruz (city)|Veracruz]], with 6,200 Spanish soldiers from [[Spanish Cuba|Cuba]]. 2,000 French and 700 British forces<ref name = "Bowen"/> joined them on 7 January 1862.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=35}}</ref> Historians have considered Prim, who was given powers as [[minister plenipotentiary]] to negotiate with the Mexican government, an unusual choice to lead the intervention. While well-regarded by the people and in military circles for his experience as governor of [[Spanish Puerto Rico|Puerto Rico]], observer in the [[Crimean War]], and leader in the [[Hispano–Moroccan War (1859–1860)|Moroccan War]], he was also of [[liberalism|liberal]] tendency and married to a Mexican citizen, Francisca de Agüero,<ref>Juárez, B. (1964). ''Documentos, discursos y correspondencia'' (Vol. 5). Secretaría del Patrimonio Nacional.</ref> who was related to a member of Juárez's government.<ref name = "Bowen">Bowen, W. H. (2011). ''Spain and the American Civil War''. University of Missouri Press. 208 pages.</ref>

On 10 January, Prim issued a manifesto disavowing rumors that the allies had come to conquer or to impose a new government. It was emphasized that the three powers merely wanted to open negotiations regarding their claims of damages.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=35}}</ref> On 14 January, a bill of claims was presented to the government in Mexico City. Foreign Minister [[Manuel Doblado]] invited the commissioners to travel to [[Orizaba]] with two thousand of their own troops for a conference while requesting that the rest of the tripartite forces embark from Veracruz.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=29}}</ref> The proposal to embark most troops was rejected, but negotiations then resulted in an agreement, ratified on 23 January, to move the forces inland and hold the conference at Orizaba. The agreement also officially recognized the government of Juárez along with Mexican sovereignty.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=40}}</ref>

On 9 April,<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=42}}</ref> agreements at Orizaba between the allies broke down, as France made increasingly clear that it intended to invade Mexico and interfere in its government in violation of previous treaties. Prim consulted with the British and the two agreed to retire their forces after securing that Mexico would devote 80% of custom revenues passing through Veracruz to settle debts with foreign nations. Though the British and Spanish agreed to depart at the same time, the perception was that Prim had precipitated the issue and decided, on his own, to put an end to what had been a Spanish-led project from the beginning.<ref name = "Bowen"/>

The decision angered the French, who had counted on Spanish support to ease their conquest of Mexico (like how France was helped by Spanish forces and bases in the [[Spanish Philippines|Philippines]] for the ongoing [[Cochinchina campaign|conquest of Cochinchina]]), but also the Captain-General of Cuba [[Francisco Serrano, 1st Duke of la Torre|Francisco Serrano]], who refused to provide Prim with additional ships for the evacuation, and Spanish conservatives who saw it as Prim abandoning a former Spanish colony, a betrayal of Spain's allies and Mexican conservatives sympathetic to Spain. Prime Minister [[Leopoldo O'Donnell]] was ambivalent. He did not want to alienate the French, but he didn't like their plan to install an Austrian monarch in Mexico, because the [[Austrian Empire]] had been a supporter of the [[Carlists]] during the [[First Carlist War]] and one of the last European states to recognize [[Isabel II]] as queen of Spain. France was an ally of Spain, but Austria was not.<ref name = "Bowen"/> The queen, who had [[Monarchism in Mexico#Spanish conspiracy|long hoped]] to install one of her own relatives as monarch in Mexico,<ref name = "Figueroa">Figueroa Esquer, R., & Villavicencio Navarro, V. (2023). Los ministerios españoles y la conspiración monárquica de Bermúdez de Castro, 1845-1846. ''Historia mexicana'', 73(1), 43-110.</ref> prohibited O'Donnell to take any disciplinary action against Prim.<ref name = "Bowen"/>

==French invasion==
[[File:Second French Intervention.png|thumb|left|300px|Map of the Intervention. In blue, territory controlled by the Empire of Mexico upon Maximillian's arrival in Mexico City.]]
On 11 April, Minister Doblado made it known to the French government that its intentions would lead to war.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=42}}</ref> Certain Mexican officers had been sympathetic to the French since the beginning of the intervention. On 16 April, the French issued a proclamation inviting Mexicans to join them in establishing a new government. The next day, Mexican general [[Juan Almonte]], who had been a foreign minister of the conservative government defeated in the Reform War, and who was brought back to Mexico by the French, issued his own manifesto, assuring the Mexican people of benevolent French intentions.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=44}}</ref>

Armed conflict broke out between the French and Mexican republicans. The French defeated a small Mexican force at Escamela and captured Orizaba. Mexican Generals [[Porfirio Díaz]] and [[Ignacio Zaragoza]] retreated to El Ingenio, then headed towards [[Puebla (city)|Puebla]]. Almonte now attempted to consolidate the Mexican pro-French movement. The town of Orizaba joined him and so did Veracruz and [[Isla del Carmen]]. Colonel Gonzáles, Manuel Castellanos, Desiderio Samaniego,{{who|date=January 2025}} {{ill|Francisco Javier Miranda y Morfi|es|Francisco Javier Miranda y Morfi|lt=Father Miranda}}, {{ill|Antonio de Haro y Tamariz|es|Antonio de Haro y Tamariz|lt=Haro Tamariz}}, and General Antonio Taboada arrived in Orizaba to support Almonte.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=46}}</ref> On 28 April, French forces headed towards Puebla.

On 5 May, Mexican forces commanded by Ignacio Zaragoza and Porfirio Díaz won a major victory against the French at the [[Battle of Puebla]] while the latter were trying to ascend the hill towards the fortified positions of the city. The French retreated to Orizaba to await reinforcements.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|pp=47–48}}</ref> Mexico's victory was a pause in the French push to capture Mexico City, delaying the French for a year. The celebration of [[Cinco de Mayo]] commemorates the Mexican victory.

Conservative Mexican Generals Florentino López, [[Leonardo Márquez]], and Juan Vicario sought to join the French, and Mexican republicans suffered defeats at [[Battle of Barranca Seca|Barranca Seca]] and [[Battle of Cerro del Borrego|Cerro del Borrego]] in the vicinity of Orizaba.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=52}}</ref>

In response to the French defeat at Puebla, Napoleon III sent 30,000 troops under the command of [[Élie Frédéric Forey]] on July. The Emperor gave Forey instructions laying out France's occupation policy, directing him to work with Mexican supporters in the pursuit of both military and political goals. The aim was to establish a new government friendly to French interests, and preventing the United States from becoming too powerful in the Americas was also emphasized.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=55}}</ref> Forey reached Orizaba on 24 October 1862, and began planning another siege of Puebla, the defense of which had now passed on to [[Jesús González Ortega]] after Zaragoza died of [[typhoid]] on 8 September.

On 10 January 1863, a French squadron [[Battle of Acapulco#First battle|bombarded]] the Pacific port of [[Acapulco]] and on 3 February, Forey finally set out for Puebla. González Ortega had been building up the town's fortifications, and on 10 March he declared [[martial law]]. The French arrived on 16 March and began the [[Siege of Puebla (1863)|Siege of Puebla]].

On 8 May, [[François Achille Bazaine]] and Leonardo Márquez defeated a force of new recruits under former Mexican president [[Ignacio Comonfort]] at the {{ill|Battle of San Lorenzo (Mexico)|es|Batalla de San Lorenzo (México)|fr|Bataille de San Lorenzo|lt=Battle of San Lorenzo}}, when he was coming to reinforce Puebla. Comonfort then retreated to Mexico City. Having run out of munitions and food, González Ortega held a council of war and agreed to surrender on 17 May, after destroying the remaining armaments. All officers were taken prisoner and intended to be transported to France, but González Ortega and Porfirio Díaz managed to escape.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=69}}</ref>

===Proclamation of the empire and international recognition===
Upon hearing of the fall of Puebla, President Juárez prepared to evacuate the capital and move the republican government to [[San Luis Potosí City|San Luis Potosí]]. Congress closed its session on 31 May after granting Juárez emergency powers. The French entered the capital on 10 June 1863.
[[File:Entrée du corps expéditionnaire français à Mexico, juin 1863.jpg|thumb|300px|French troops enter Mexico City]]
On 16 June the French government nominated 35 Mexican citizens to constitute a ''Junta Superior de Gobierno'' who were then tasked with electing a triumvirate that was to serve as the executive of the new government. The three elected were General Almonte, [[Pelagio Antonio de Labastida y Dávalos|Archbishop Labastida]], and [[José Mariano Salas]]. The Junta was also to choose 215 Mexican citizens who together with the Junta Superior were to constitute an Assembly of Notables that was to decide upon the form of government. On 11 July, the Assembly published its resolutions, that Mexico was to be a [[constitutional monarchy]] and that Ferdinand Maximilian was to be invited to accept the Mexican throne. The executive was then officially changed into the Regency of the Mexican Empire.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=87}}</ref>

The new monarchy was recognized in succession by the European countries of France, Austria, Belgium, Prussia, [[Portugal]], Spain, [[Russia]], the [[Netherlands]], [[Switzerland]], the United Kingdom,<ref name = "Schwenk">Schwenk, T. (2010). ''Maximilian I. A Habsburg on Montezuma's Throne.'' Thesis.</ref> and the [[Ottoman Empire]].<ref>Silva, C. M. R., & Gonzalez, S. R. V. (2023). De las relaciones inter-imperiales al arribo de Turkish Airlines: un mapeo de encuentros entre México y Turquía. ''Relaciones Internacionales'', (53), 131-156.</ref> Uncommonly for the era, Maximilian was recognized both by the [[Papal States]] and by the [[Kingdom of Italy]]; the latter wanted to maintain good relations with France and put diplomatic pressure on Austria, which had not yet recognized Italy. It was also hoped that Maximilian, as former Viceroy of the [[Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia]], would mediate the Italian acquisition of [[Veneto]].<ref name = "Blumberg">Blumberg, A. (1971). The Italian Diplomacy of the Mexican Empire, 1864-1867. ''Hispanic American Historical Review'', 51(3), 497-509.</ref>

In the Americas, only [[Guatemala]] and the [[Empire of Brazil]] extended recognition. The United States,<ref name="DailyAlta2">{{Cite journal |date=16 September 1864 |title=Mexico and the West Indies |url=http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cdnc/cgi-bin/imageserver/imageserver.pl?oid=DAC18640916.1.1&key=&getpdf=true |format=pdf |journal=Daily Alta California |location=San Francisco|publisher=[[Robert B. Semple]] |volume=XVI. |issue=5310 |page=1 |access-date=27 June 2012}}</ref> [[Honduras]], [[Nicaragua]], [[Costa Rica]],<ref name = "Schwenk"/> [[El Salvador]], [[Chile]], [[Bolivia]], [[Colombia]], [[Venezuela]], [[Ecuador]], [[Peru]], [[Uruguay]], and [[Argentina]] all refused to recognize the monarchy and made declarations of support for the Juárez government. El Salvador, Chile, and Bolivia requested US intervention, and the latter two, offered to join in themselves. The Peruvian ambassador, {{ill|Manuel Nicolás Corpancho|es|Manuel Nicolás Corpancho}}, was expelled from Mexico City and died when the ship taking him out of the country sunk.<ref>Galeana, P. (2007). Benito Juárez y la solidaridad dominicana: la doctrina Juárez y el benemérito de las Américas. ''Clío: órgano de la Academia Dominicana de Historia'', 76(174), 119-134.</ref><ref>Santana, A. & Guerra, S. (2006). ''Benito Juárez en América Latina y el Caribe''. UNAM, 164 pages.</ref>

Prior to accepting the crown and departing for Mexico in 1864, Maximilian expressed his desire for a mutual recognition and alliance with the breakaway [[Confederate States of America]], which was reciprocated by the latter, but was prevented by the French government which feared being dragged into war with the United States because of it.<ref>Hubbard, C. M. (2000). ''The Burden of Confederate Diplomacy.'' Univ. of Tennessee Press, 272 pages.</ref>

===Conquest of Central Mexico===
Although Republican [[guerrilla]] forces in the countryside around the capital counted no victories against the French, they maintained a presence. [[Cuernavaca]], [[Pachuca]], and [[Tulancingo]] were captured by Franco-imperial forces in July. Guerrilla commanders Catarino Fragoso, León Ugalde, and others continued to wage warfare against towns occupied by the French.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=107}}</ref>

[[Juan Chávez]] under the command of [[Tomás Mejía]] defeated the Republican forces of [[Tomás O'Horán y Escudero|Tomás O'Horán]] on the road to [[Guanajuato]]. O'Horan would then switch sides and join the imperialists. Colonel José Antonio Rodríguez then captured [[Libres (municipality)|San Juan de los Llanos]] in Puebla.<ref>{{cite book |last=Zamacois|first=Niceto|date=1880|title=Historia de Méjico: Tomo XVI|location=Madrid|publisher=JF Barres y Comp|page=661}}</ref> The [[Mexican Gulf]] port of [[Tampico]] was captured by French vessels on 11 August. French control of the country still centered on Veracruz and Mexico City but was gradually expanding. By October, advancing combined forces were spreading across the central regions of Mexico from [[Jalisco]] to San Luis Potosí and [[Oaxaca]].<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=108}}</ref>

In August, Mejía captured [[Actopan, Hidalgo]]. Imperialist commander Gavito managed to disperse republican guerrillas in [[Cuayuca de Andrade|Cuayuca]], and Jesús María Visoso defeated Republican guerrillas at [[Puebla]].<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|pp=116–117}}</ref>

Franco-Mexican forces under Leonardo Márquez and de Berthier entered [[Morelia]], Michoacan unopposed on 30 November, after Republicans evacuated the city. After reinforcements arrived, the Republicans led by [[José López Uraga]] attempted to recapture Morelia but were defeated by Márquez.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=118}}</ref>

Mejía captured [[Querétaro City|Querétaro]] on 17 November, while Republican forces retreated further north to [[Guanajuato City|Guanajuato]]. Imperialist forces pursued them and Guanajuato was taken on 9 December.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=119}}</ref>

On 22 December, the Republican government evacuated [[San Luis Potosí City|San Luis Potosí]] and intended to relocate north to the state of [[Coahuila]]. Mejía captured the city on 25 December, facing a Republican assault on 27 December, which was defeated.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=121}}</ref>

[[File:Expédition du Mexique. — La population de Guadalajara se portant au devant du corps du général Bazaine à son entrée dans la ville. (D'après un croquis de M. S. Barbier).jpg|thumb|300px|Bazaine welcomed to Guadalajara]]
Bazaine occupied [[Guadalajara, Mexico|Guadalajara]] on 5 January 1864. The liberal generals José López Uraga and [[Jesús González Ortega]] remained in the vicinity but carried no attacks. After French assaults led by [[Abel Douay]], González Ortega retreated towards [[Fresnillo]], and Uraga westward.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=122}}</ref>

General {{ill|Felipe Navarrete|es|Felipe Navarrete}} proclaimed his support for the empire in [[Yucatan]] and attacked the state capital of [[Mérida, Yucatán|Mérida]] with the support of French forces, capturing it on 22 January 1864.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=128}}</ref>

Generals Douay and [[Armand Alexandre de Castagny]] headed north, capturing [[Aguascalientes City|Aguascalientes]] and [[Zacatecas City|Zacatecas]] by 7 February.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|pp=123–124}}</ref> Castagny was left in charge of Zacatecas, while Douay went to the relief of Colonel Garnier in Guadalajara. On 16 February, Castagny won a battle at [[Colotlán]] in which he took eighty prisoners and Republican General [[Luigi Ghilardi]] was executed. The Republican governor of Aguascalientes, General [[José María Chávez Alonso]] was also executed after being captured in [[Jerez de García Salinas|Jerez]].<ref name="H25">{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=125}}</ref>

Imperialists struggled to hold on to the southern state of [[Chiapas]]. The nearby state capital of [[Tabasco]], [[Villahermosa]] was recaptured by Republicans on 27 February. The success inspired a republican incursion to Veracruz, capturing [[Minatitlán, Veracruz|Minatitlán]] on 28 March.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|pp=127–128}}</ref>

On 19 March, the western Mexican commander [[Manuel Lozada]], at the head of indigenous troops of the [[Tepic Municipality|Tepic]] district sided with the imperialists.<ref name="B24">{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=124}}</ref>

Douay headed south, pursuing the Republican guerrillas of Simón Gutiérrez and [[Antonio Rojas (guerrilla)|Antonio Rojas]], routing the former, and destroying two factories of arms and powder near [[Cocula, Jalisco|Cocula]]. In March, Douay entered [[Colima]].<ref name=B24/>

González Ortega and several guerrilla bands were driven back into the Sierra Hermosa after Manuel Doblado was repulsed by Mejía in his attempted assault on [[Monterrey]]. Doblado fled for the United States and died a year later.<ref name=H25/> Mejía was subsequently granted the cross of the [[Legion of Honour]] by Napoleon III.

Maximilian and his wife [[Charlotte of Belgium]] arrived in Veracruz in the summer of 1864 and were later crowned in the [[Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral]].<ref>Butler, John Wesley (1918). History of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Mexico. University of Texas.</ref><ref>Campbell, Reau (1907). Campbell's New Revised Complete Guide and Descriptive Book of Mexico. Rogers & Smith Company. p. 38 .</ref><ref>Putman, William Lowell (2001) Arctic Superstars. Light Technology Publishing, LLC. p. XVII.</ref>

Porfirio Díaz defeated the imperialist Marcos Toledo at the silver mining town of [[Taxco]] on 26 October 1864. Díaz then besieged the brigade of Juan Vicario in [[Iguala]] until imperialist reinforcements forced him to abandon the siege. Díaz headed south to his home state of [[Oaxaca]] and increased his troops to eight thousand.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=127}}</ref>

The Imperialists now controlled the central Mexican states, their major cities, two thirds of the population, mines and agricultural lands, and the main centers of manufacturing and trade. The Republicans controlled the sparsely populated frontier states of the north, where Juárez led from Monterrey. These northern states granted them revenue coming into the Pacific ports of [[Manzanillo, Colima|Manzanillo]], [[Mazatlán]], and [[Guaymas]]. Arms also flowed in from the U.S. states of [[California]] and [[Texas]], along with [[mercenary|mercenaries]].<ref name="H62">{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=162}}</ref> The Republicans also held the southern states of [[Guerrero]], [[Oaxaca]], [[Tabasco]], and [[Chiapas]], under the command of Porfirio Díaz.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=133}}</ref>

===Northern campaign===
[[File:SOLDATS DE L'ARMÉE MEXICAINE. — D'après un croquis de M. Girardin, officier au 1er chasseurs d'Afrique.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Soldiers of the Imperial Mexican Army]]
The Imperialists now focused on capturing the north, with Mejía campaigning along the northern Gulf Coast, supported by [[Charles-Louis Du Pin]]'s anti-guerrilla corps at [[Tampico]] and {{ill|Édouard Aymard|fr|Édouard Aymard|lt=Édouard Aymard's}} brigade at San Luis Potosí. Castagny supported the rear, and the entire operation was headquartered at Querétaro.

On the Pacific, a naval squadron under Thomas Louis Le Normant de Kergrist was ready to cooperate with Douay in [[Jalisco]] and push towards [[Sinaloa]].<ref name=H62/> They were aided by quarrels within the Republican leadership that resulted in José López Uraga being demoted and subsequently joining the Imperialists.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=142}}</ref> On 26 September 1864, the Imperialists captured [[Bagdad, Tamaulipas]], controlling every major port in the Gulf. The commander at Bagdad, [[Juan Cortina]], defected to the Imperialists.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=166}}</ref>

[[Santiago Vidaurri]], the joint governor of [[Nuevo León]] and [[Coahuila]], had broken with Juárez in March 1864 over the administration and finances of his state, and even held a [[referendum]] on joining the empire.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=131}}</ref> Republican troops drove him into Texas, but Viduarri loyalist troops remained in the region. As Republican forces in the north were diverted by Imperial advances, Vidaurri's forces captured Monterrey on 15 August, with Juárez barely escaping and pursued as far as [[Parras]] in a bullet-riddled carriage.<ref name="H65">{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=165}}</ref> Vidaurri then headed towards Mexico City where he was made a councilor of Emperor Maximilian. By the end of the year the imperialists controlled Nuevo León and the greater part of Coahuila to the banks of the [[Rio Grande]].

===Pacific campaign===
[[File:Contre-guérilla - Expédition de Vera Cruz 1864.jpg|thumb|300px|Mexican Imperial counter-guerrilla forces who were commanded by [[Charles-Louis Du Pin|Charles Dupin]].]]
On 28 October 1864, Márquez and Douay attacked the army of [[José María Arteaga]] in the ravine of Atenquique, routing him. A few days later, the guerrillas of Simón Gutiérrez and Antonio Rojas were defeated near the U.S. border by General Carlos Rivas with French support. Márquez occupied [[Colima]] and by 18 November, Márquez had captured the port of [[Manzanillo, Colima|Manzanillo]].<ref name=H65/>

On 12 November 1864, de Kergrist's fleet arrived at Mazatlán and demanded surrender under threat of bombardment. At the same time, the Manuel Lozada besieged the town leading to its capture.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=168}}</ref>

Juan Vicario was repulsed at [[Chilapa de Álvarez]], while on the way to replace the French garrison in the Pacific port of [[Acapulco]], and subsequently the port had to be evacuated and left to the Republicans in December. French vessels succeeded in recapturing Acapulco on 11 September.<ref name="H92">{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=192}}</ref>

The Imperialists hoped to dislodge Porfirio Díaz from his stronghold in the south, and began to survey the land and build roads. Towards the end of 1864, General Courtois d'Hurbal entered Oaxaca by way of [[Santo Domingo Yanhuitlán]] and other columns followed from Orizaba and Mexico City. Díaz was based in [[Oaxaca City]] with three thousand regulars, three thousand troops in the mountains, and had fortified the city.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|pp=170, 188}}</ref>

Bazaine decided to lead the siege of Oaxaca in person and by the end of January 1865, the besieging forces numbered seven thousand men. The use of artillery began on 4 February, and an assault was ordered on February 9th. The massing of forces produced panic among the besieged and Díaz surrendered. Díaz was imprisoned at Puebla, but he escaped again after seven months and raised an army in Guerrero.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=190}}</ref> This prompted [[Élie Frédéric Forey]], the former Commander of French forces in Mexico, to criticize Bazaine for not executing Díaz.<ref>{{cite book |last=McAllen|first=M.M.|date=2014|title=Maximilian and Carlota: Europe's Last Empire in Mexico|location=San Antonio|publisher=Trinity University Press|page=161}}</ref> The defector José López Uraga sent a letter to Díaz hoping to win him over to the imperialist cause, arguing that guerrilla warfare was devastating the country and assuring him that Mexican independence was secure under Maximilian. Díaz rejected this offer.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hannay|first=David|date=1917|title=Diaz|location=New York|publisher=Henry Holt and Company|page=83}}</ref>

French colonel Mangin remained at Oaxaca and reorganized the civilian government. Imperialist forces would continue to face sporadic conflict with Republicans led by General [[Luis Pérez Figueroa]].<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=191}}</ref>

[[Michoacan]] continued to be a Republican stronghold, serving as a base for {{ill|Nicolás Régules|es|Nicolás Régules|fr|Nicolás Régules}}, {{ill|Manuel García Pueblita|es|Manuel García Pueblita}}, [[Carlos Salazar Ruiz]], and [[Vicente Riva Palacio]], with the latter being named governor by Arteaga who held supreme command of the regional forces after Díaz's capture. On 31 January, [[Nicolás Romero (colonel)|Nicolás Romero]] was defeated at [[Apatzingán]] by Colonel Poiter. On 19 May, Salazar defeated a Franco-Mexican force at [[Los Reyes, Michoacán|Los Reyes]]. Arteaga occupied [[Tacámbaro]], and León Ugalde and Fermín Valdés captured [[Zitácuaro]]. Régules ventured into Guanajuato, then back to Michoacan where he recaptured Tacámbaro on 11 April, where the imperialists lost a significant number of [[Belgium|Belgian]] mercenaries. The town however was soon taken back. Régules once again ventured towards Morelia but was stopped at [[Huaniqueo]] by Potier.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=185}}</ref>

In [[Jalisco]], Douay's operations resulted in guerrilla commander Antonio Rojas being killed on 28 January 1865 at Potrerillos. The operations led by Douay and Manuel Lozada resulted in the defection of the commander of the Republican Central Forces {{ill|Miguel María de Echegaray|es|Miguel María de Echegaray}}, along with General {{ill|Rómulo Valle|es|Rómulo Valle}}.<ref name=H92/>

In January 1865, Castagny went to Mazatlán to follow up on the Imperialist victory there from the previous November. Fierce warfare ensued with General [[Ramón Corona]] and Lozada was sent to aid Castagny resulting in the Imperialist victory at [[El Rosario, Sinaloa|El Rosario]] in April, 1865. Corona fled north but returned in September with a victory at Mazatlán.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=194}}</ref>

The success at Mazatlán allowed the imperialists to turn their attention towards the northwest coast, with Castagny hoping to capture Guaymas. A French squadron landed several hundred men under Colonel Garnier on 29 March. Garnier sent troops by sea to [[Álamos]] and managed to gain support among the [[Yaqui]], [[Mayo people|Mayo]], and [[Opata people|Opata]]. Chief [[Refugio Tánori]] arrived at Guaymas with reinforcements allowing the imperialists to win the {{ill|Battle of Álamos|es|Batalla de Álamos (1865)|fr|Bataille de Álamos (1865)}} on 24 September, then march to [[Hermosillo]].<ref name="H95">{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=195}}</ref>

==Republican counteroffensive==
The effective Union victory in the American Civil War in April 1865 marked a turning point in the French intervention. U.S. President [[Abraham Lincoln]] never recognized the government of Maximilian but could not aid the Republican cause in Mexico until his own war ended. Mexican Republicans were hopeful that surplus arms and Union troops would aid them.<ref name=H95/>

[[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln was assassinated]] shortly after major hostilities in the American Civil War ended. His successor, [[Andrew Johnson]], never considered overt U.S. intervention, but he did not stop the flow of demobilized Civil War veterans heading south to volunteer for the Republicans.{{citationneeded|date=January 2025}}

Maximilian received a message from the Juárez government advising him to leave the country while he could. Juárez was now confident of his victory, writing that "the United States will never permit [Maximilian] to consolidate his power, and his sacrifices and victories will have counted for nothing."<ref>{{cite book |last=McAllen|first=M.M.|date=2014|title=Maximilian and Carlota: Europe's Last Empire in Mexico|location=San Antonio|publisher=Trinity University Press|page=209}}</ref>

===Continued Northern campaign and "Black Decree"===
Miguel Negrete occupied [[Saltillo]] and Monterrey, which had been abandoned by the imperialists, and advanced towards [[Matamoros, Coahuila|Matamoros]] with American volunteers. Juan Cortina, who had previously defected to the Imperialists, now returned to the Republicans. They succeeded in capturing all towns along the Rio Grande from [[Piedras Negras, Coahuila|Piedras Negras]] downstream,<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|pp=196–197}}</ref> but retreated from Matamoros after facing Tomás Mejía and French troops.

Colonel [[Pedro José Méndez]] captured [[Ciudad Victoria]] on 23 April 1865, and [[Ciudad Tula]] on 4 June, cutting off communications from imperialist held Tampico.<ref name="H98">{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=198}}</ref>

Bazaine dispatched Generals [[Auguste Henri Brincourt]] and Baron Neigre towards the [[Mapimí Municipality|Mapimí]] border to go after Negrete. Meanwhile, Colonel [[Pierre Joseph Jeanningros]] left San Luis Potosí to rendezvous with the imperialists at Saltillo. Negrete skirmished with Jeanningros on 31 May and retreated. His forces were disbanded after being pursued by the imperialists.<ref name=H98/>

A concentration of U.S. troops and vessels in Texas was answered by a surge of imperialist forces along the border, which limited guerrillas to more southern states.{{dubious|date=January 2025}}{{clarify|date=January 2025}} Some imperial prefects resigned, unable to govern or defend their respective departments without enough troops.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=182}}</ref>

In August, as French troops were concentrated in the north under Bazaine, [[Sinaloa]] was left protected only by one regiment under Colonel Cotteret in Guaymas, while the surrounding areas were entrusted to Indian allies. [[Antonio Rosales]] was killed in August attempting to retake Álamos,<ref name=H95/> but Ramón Corona pressed upon the imperialists and succeeded in driving French troops from Sinaloa to Mazatlán.<ref name=H62/>

After defeating Negrete, Brincourt advanced towards [[Chihuahua (state)|Chihuahua]]. He entered [[Chihuahua City]], the provisional capital of the Republic, on 15 August, reorganized the administration, and provided encouragement to the indigenous allies of the empire in the region.{{clarify|date=January 2025}} Juárez fled to [[Ciudad Juárez|El Paso del Norte]] on the US-Mexican border. Fearing a skirmish with American forces, Bazaine ordered Brincourt to return to [[Durango]] within three weeks of reaching Chihuahua. Brincourt believed that leaving a garrison of a thousand men in Chihuahua was enough to pacify the region, but Bazaine repeated his orders, and he left on 29 October.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=202}}</ref>

On 1 October, the Republican government arranged a loan in [[New York City]] for $30 million.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=207}}</ref>

On 2 October, partly in response to the Americans on the Republican side,{{citationneeded|date=January 2025}} Maximilian issued the "Black Decree": 
<blockquote>The troops under your orders will take no prisoners. Every individual of whatever rank, taken with arms in his hands, shall be put to death. In the future, let there be no exchange of prisoners. Let our soldiers understand that they cannot surrender to such men. This is a death-struggle. On both sides it is only a question of killing or be killed.<ref>quoted in Shawcross, ''The Last Emperor'', p. 163</ref></blockquote>

Less severe penalties were prescribed for aiding guerrillas and exceptions were made for those who were forced into service or were involved circumstantially.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=183}}</ref>
[[File:General_Ramon_Mendez.jpg|thumb|Col. Ramón Méndez, the most infamous executor of the "Black Decree"]]
On 13 October,<ref>{{cite book |last=Iglesias|first=José María|date=1869|title=Revistas históricas sobre la intervención francesa en México: Tomo 3|location=Mexico City|publisher=Jose Maria Sandoval|page=510}}</ref> Colonel [[Ramón Méndez]] defeated and captured Generals Arteaga and Salazar Ruiz at Amatlán, the latter commander in chief of the Republican army of the Center, both of whom were executed<ref name="H86">{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=186}}</ref>

[[Mariano Escobedo]] attempted to take Matamoros on 25 October. Mejía hesitated to take the offensive due to the presence of U.S. troops nearby, until French reinforcements arrived and scattered Escobedo's forces on 8 November.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=199}}</ref>

Juárez returned to Chihuahua City on 20 November. Maximilian however had convinced Bazaine to keep Chihuahua and an expedition marched on the city under the command of [[Jean-Baptiste Billot]]. Juárez was forced to leave yet again for the border on 9 December.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=203}}</ref>

Escobedo took Monterrey, but a remnant of imperial forces remained in the citadel and held out until General [[Pierre Joseph Jeanningros]] arrived on 25 November, recapturing the city.<ref name="H200">{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=200}}</ref>

Mejía and the French naval commander [[Georges Charles Cloué]] protested to the United States the aid in material, supplies, hospital care, and troops lent to the Republicans but [[Godfrey Weitzel]], the commander of Clarksville (now a disappeared town at the mouth of the Rio Grande), replied that such troops did not belong to the [[US Army]]. In January 1866, [[Military history of African Americans in the American Civil War|African American troops]] from Clarksville raided Bagdad and fired on French vessels, a blatant violation of neutrality which resulted in the United States government removing Weitzel and disciplining the soldiers involved.<ref name=H200/>

===French withdrawal from the North===
At the opening of the French chambers in January 1866, Napoleon III announced that he would withdraw French troops from Mexico. In reply to a French request for neutrality, the U.S. Secretary of State [[William H. Seward]] said that French withdrawal should be unconditional. Napoleon III assured the Americans that the withdrawal would no longer be deferred, laying out a plan to reduce the troops in phases starting in November 1866 and ending one year later in November 1867. Seward requested that French reinforcements to Mexico should cease now, and that Austria should stop recruiting volunteers for the Mexican expedition. The French and Austrian governments complied.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=209}}</ref>

On 31 January, Billot left Chihuahua City in charge of Indian allies, but it fell to Republican troops in March. Maximilian ordered Bazaine to retake Chihuahua in May, and a new expedition was prepared. But new withdrawal instructions from France caused the expedition to be abandoned.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=246}}</ref>

French troops were evacuated from Durango in November and Castagny withdrew to [[León, Guanajuato]], leaving the state to the Republicans. Juárez moved the government to Durango on 26 December 1866.<ref name="H47">{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=247}}</ref>

In [[Sonora]] and Sinaloa the French were mostly confined to the ports of Guaymas and Mazatlán, though General [[Edvard Emile Langberg]] held positions in the interior with the aid of Opata natives. Álamos was captured by the Republican [[Ángel Martínez (general)|Ángel Martínez]] with Sinaloan forces and punished the indigenous Mayo and Yaqui peoples that had allied with the empire. He entered Hermosillo on 4 May only to lose it to the Imperialists the day after. The French withdrew from Guaymas in September, and around the same time Langberg was killed in a battle for [[Ures]].<ref name=H47/>

Sonora fell to the Republicans and hundreds fled to the United States or tried to follow the French. Imperialist commanders Refugio Tánori and [[José María Tranquilino Almada|José Almada]] were captured and executed with their families.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|pp=248–249}}</ref>

===Southern campaign===
[[File:Francisco de P. Mendoza, Batalla de Miahuatlán, 1906..jpg|thumb|300px|Battle of Miahuatlán (3 October 1866)]]
In July 1865, Arteaga advanced towards [[Tacámbaro]] where he was routed by Lieutenant Colonel [[Alfred van der Smissen|Van der Smissen]].<ref name=H86/>

In Michoacan, Régules was repeatedly repulsed to the point that his forces dissolved in April 1866. In May however, he resumed operations and made it into the [[Toluca]] region, finding allies around [[Zitacuaro]] and Guerrero. Acapulco was held by the imperialist General Montenegro, but his troops were greatly weakened by fever and desertion.<ref name="H58">{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=258}}</ref>

After Porfirio Díaz escaped, he fled to Oaxaca and hoped to form a new army. The imperialist prefect Prieto had held [[Tehuantepec]] since mid-1865 and hoped to turn it into a base for operations. Díaz encroached in the Spring of 1866, attacking [[Jamiltepec]] and [[Putla]] to cut off communications between Oaxaca and Puebla. Díaz took [[Teotitlán de Flores Magón|Teotitlan]] in August, before he was repulsed by Austro-Mexican forces. In early October, Díaz routed the General Oronoz, who barely escaped and retreated into [[Oaxaca City]], after which Díaz began to siege. An Austro-Mexican relief expedition was defeated by Díaz, and Oaxaca City fell on 1 November. From there he completed the capture of Oaxaca and advanced into Puebla.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|pp=258–261}}</ref>

===Gulf campaign===
In the northeast, Pedro José Méndez blocked the route to Tampico, Escobedo was based north of [[Linares (Nuevo León)|Linares]], and Gonzáles Herrera{{who|date=January 2025}} and [[Jerónimo Treviño]] were around Parras. After a Republican assault on Parras, the imperialist Briant came from Saltillo and reinstalled the imperialist prefect Campos, on 20 February. He then attacked the Republicans at [[Santa Isabel, Chihuahua]] where due to underestimating their forces was routed and captured. The Republicans did not immediately take Parras, but the French withdrawal let them in, in June 1866.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=251}}</ref>

At Charco Escondido, Mejía was joined by Jeanningros in April. Another train of reinforcements led by General Olvera{{who|date=January 2025}} left Matamoros but were surrounded and defeated by Escobedo near Camargo. Olvera retreated to Matamoros, but the Imperialist Tuce who had arrived with reinforcements from Monterey was obliged to retreat.{{clarify|date=January 2025}} Left with only 500 men, Mejía retreated on 23 June to Veracruz.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=252}}</ref>

In November, Matamoros fell to the Republicans with the aid of U.S. troops. On 9 November, the imperialist Generals Márquez and Miramón returned from Europe to aid in the war effort. By the end of November, the French withdrawal had resulted in the Republicans taking back the North and West of the country.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|pp=235, 239, 241}}</ref>

On 13 November, the French completed the evacuation of Mazatlán. After aiding the evacuation the former imperialist Lozada retired from the conflict and proclaimed his neutrality.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=249}}</ref>

The Republican Méndez who had raided communications between San Luis Potosí and the Gulf of Mexico was killed during an imperialist raid near Tampico. However, due to the French withdrawal, the Republican Aureliano Rivera captured Tampico in May. The French held the port but surrendered in July and in August they also surrendered [[Tuxpan]]. Veracruz was the only gulf port left under imperialist control.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=254}}</ref>

Monterrey was evacuated by the Imperialists on 25 July, and Saltillo on 4 August.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|pp=254–255}}</ref>

Douay evacuated [[Matehuala]] on 28 October, then the northernmost imperial post. Troops were left in San Luis Potosí under Mejía, but he retreated on [[Christmas Eve]] to [[San Felipe, Guanajuato]]. Castagny reached Guanajuato around the same time, with French forces from Durango and Zacatecas, evacuated in November.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=256}}</ref>

===French withdrawal from Central Mexico===
Veracruz and the roads leading to it were harassed by Republicans since the beginning of 1866. The imperialists won a battle at the [[Papaloapan River]], but by August, [[Tlacotalpan]] and [[Alvarado, Veracruz]] surrendered to the Republicans. A revolt led by {{ill|Ignacio R. Alatorre|es|Ignacio R. Alatorre|lt=Ignacio Alatorre}} was crushed in [[Papantla]] and [[Misantla]], but with Republican successes further north, Alatorre rose up again, capturing [[Jalapa]] in November. [[Pachuca]] was captured by Republicans in November, and [[Perote, Veracruz]] fell in January, 1867.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=262}}</ref>

Mexico City became vulnerable in late 1866. [[Cuautitlán]] was raided in October, and [[Chalco de Díaz Covarrubias]] and [[Tlalpan]] were left exposed to Republican incursions in December, while raiders harassed the stream of imperial soldiers and refugees heading to Veracruz. The Imperialist commander Ortiz de la Peña retreated to Cuernavaca after a defeat at Ixtla, and Régules and [[Vicente Riva Palacio]] occupied the [[Lerma River|Lerma Valley]].<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|pp=262–263}}</ref>

Guadalajara was abandoned by the French on 12 December 1866, and imperial forces were left under General Gutiérrez. The imperialists evacuated the city on 19 December, and headed for Guanajuato. The former imperial commander Lozada declared the neutrality of [[Nayarit]].<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|pp=256–257}}</ref>

On 19 December 1866, Napoleon III announced that all French troops would be withdrawn, ahead of prior schedule.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=243}}</ref>

In late December, the French evacuated Guanajuato, rendezvousing in Querétaro with troops from San Luis Potosí and head towards Veracruz. However, an imperialist garrison under Mejía remained at Guanajuato and was able to keep the Republicans at bay.<ref name=H58/>

Bazaine evacuated Mexico City on 5 February 1867. Veracruz was left to the imperialist General Pérez Gómez. More than thirty vessels, including transports, mail steamers, and squadron ships helped the evacuation of Veracruz. Bazaine and the last French troops embarked for [[Toulon]] on 12 March.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=268}}</ref>

===Fall of the empire===
After a council at Orizaba which decided against his abdication, Maximilian intended to return to Mexico City, first remaining at Puebla for nearly three weeks and making preparations for the campaign. The country was divided into three military districts: the western, comprising the provinces north of Colima, including Durango and Chihuahua; the eastern, stretching from [[Aguascalientes]] and Tampico northward; and the central, embracing all the vast remainder to Chiapas. Miramón took command of the western district, Mejía of the east with nearly 4,000 men; and Márquez, the center, with 4,000 under [[Ramón Méndez]] in [[Michoacán]]. 2,000 more troops were stationed in Puebla, where Maximilian assumed supreme command, issuing orders for the active formation of the new imperial army as well as a militia.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=244}}</ref>

However, the Western and Eastern military districts were already largely in possession of the Republicans, as well as the region south of Puebla, while the few remaining central provinces were overrun by hostile bands and about to be invaded by Republican armies. Funds and resources were also lacking.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|pp=245–246}}</ref>

On 27 January 1867, Miramón took Aguascalientes and nearly succeeded in capturing President Juárez, but Governor Auza managed to save him.{{how|date=January 2025}} Miramón retired to join Castillo{{who|date=January 2025}} at San Luis Potosí. Escobedo figured Mejía's intention and intercepted him at San Jacinto on 1 February, routing him. Miramón escaped with Castillo and took refuge in Querétaro. The Republicans captured Guanajuato and Morelia. The Imperialists retreated from Michoacan to the limits of San Luis Potosí and Querétaro.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|pp=270–271}}</ref>

====Siege of Querétaro====
{{Main|Siege of Queretaro}}
Maximilian joined the army at Querétaro along with Minister Aguirre, [[Leonardo Márquez]], and Miguel López with 50,000 pesos, 1,600 men and twelve cannons. Maximilian reached Querétaro on 19 February, and was received by Miramón and other generals who held a reception for the Emperor.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|pp=272–273}}</ref>

A few days after, a review of the troops was held, showing 9,000 men with 39 cannons, including about 600 Frenchmen who had chosen to remain in Mexico. Miramón was placed at the head of the infantry, of which Castillo and Casanova received a division each, Méndez assumed command of the reserve brigade, in which López served as colonel, Mejía became chief of the cavalry, Reyes of engineers, and Arellano of the artillery. Márquez, chief of the general staff, was accorded the foremost place, to the affront of Miramón.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|pp=274–275}}</ref>

In the first council of war held on 22 February, it was agreed to fight the Republicans before their combined forces became too strong, but ultimately this strategy, which historian [[Hubert Howe Bancroft]] suggested could have achieved victory, was rejected on the advice of Márquez. As the Republicans began to surround Querétaro, Márquez suggested retreating to Mexico City to gather forces and face the Republicans in one final battle. This was dismissed as impractical.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|pp=276–277}}</ref>
[[File:AHPFMB-AF_010.jpg|thumb|Photo of Queretaro taken during the battle]]
On 5 March, the Republicans prepared for the siege of Querétaro. After fighting had begun, Márquez again suggested to retreat to Mexico City, but Miramón and others opposed it. Miramón planned a counterattack to recover the hill of San Gregorio on 17 March. When the time arrived however, a false alarm arose that the Imperialist headquarters were under attack, leading to the assault being canceled.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|pp=277, 285}}</ref>

Miramón now wanted to destroy the Western positions of the Republicans, providing a retreat if needed. Márquez was assigned to go to Mexico City for reinforcements. Miramón provided a distraction on 22 March, leading an expedition down the valley, which captured a quantity of provisions. Márquez was able to depart during the night with 1,200 horsemen and Miramón became the commander at Querétaro.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|pp=286–288}}</ref>

After the Imperialists repulsed another Republican assault, Miramón, during an award ceremony, took one of the medals and asked to decorate the Emperor for his conduct during the battle, which Maximilian accepted.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=290}}</ref>

On 1 April Miramón led a counterattack at San Gregorio, but the result was indecisive.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=291}}</ref>

As news of Márquez failed to arrive, a second mission was sent to Mexico City. Miramón urged Maximilian to leave but the emperor chose to stay. The mission failed,{{clarify|date=January 2025}} and the leading officers urged surrender.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|pp=292–293}}</ref>

The Imperialists planned to fight their way out of Querétaro, and as preparation Miramón attacked the Cimatario Hill on 27 April. The Imperialists surprised the Republicans, dispersing thousands and taking 500 prisoners, but the Imperialists squandered vital time planning their next move, and Republican reserves arrived to get final victory.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|pp=294–295}}</ref>

The Imperialists now sought to break through enemy lines, into the [[Sierra Gorda]] mountains and possibly the coast. The operation was scheduled for 15 May.<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=298}}</ref> However before this was carried out, the imperialists were betrayed by López, and on the night of 14 May, he opened the gates of Querétaro to the Republicans in exchange for [[gold]].<ref>{{harvp|Bancroft|1888|p=300}}</ref> Republicans quickly overwhelmed the city and Miramón, Mejía, and Maximilian were taken prisoner.

====Execution of Maximilian====
[[File:Edouard Manet 022.jpg|thumb|''[[The Execution of Emperor Maximilian]]'', [[Édouard Manet]] 1868. Gen. Tomás Mejía, left; Maximilian, center; Gen. Miguel Miramón, right. It is one of five versions of his renderings of the event.]]
Following a court-martial, Maximilian was sentenced to death.<ref name="Parkes 273">{{cite book |last=Parkes |first=Henry |title=A History of Mexico |year=1960 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=Boston |isbn=0-395-08410-5 |page=273 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmexico00park }}</ref> Many European monarchs<ref name="Parkes 273"/> and other prominent figures (including [[Victor Hugo]] and [[Giuseppe Garibaldi]]){{citation needed|date=June 2022}} pleaded Juárez for Maximilian's life to be spared, but he refused to commute the sentence.<ref name="Parkes 273"/> He believed he had to send a strong message that Mexico would not tolerate any government imposed by foreign powers.<ref name="Parkes 273"/>

Maximilian was executed on 19 June<ref name="Parkes 273"/> along with Generals Miguel Miramón and Tomás Mejía<ref name="Parkes 273"/> on the [[Cerro de las Campanas]], outside Querétaro.<ref name="Parkes 273"/> Mexico City surrendered the day after Maximilian's execution.

Juárez returned to the national capital.<ref name="Parkes 274">{{cite book |last=Parkes |first=Henry |title=A History of Mexico |year=1960 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=Boston |isbn=0-395-08410-5 |page=274 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmexico00park }}</ref> He actually made few changes in policy because the progressive Maximilian had kept most of Juárez's liberal reforms.{{citationneeded|date=January 2025}}

==Aftermath==
The [[Mexican Conservative Party]] was so thoroughly discredited by its alliance with the French that it became effectively defunct. The [[Liberal Party (Mexico)|Liberal Party]] was almost unchallenged during the first years of the restored republic. In 1871, Juárez was elected for another term<ref name="Parkes 282">{{cite book |last=Parkes |first=Henry |title=A History of Mexico |year=1960 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=Boston |isbn=0-395-08410-5 |page=282 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmexico00park}}</ref> in spite of a constitutional prohibition of re-elections.

Porfirio Díaz, one of the losing candidates, launched a rebellion against Juárez.<ref name="Parkes 282"/> Supported by more conservative factions within the Liberal Party, the attempted revolt ([[Plan de la Noria]]) was nearly defeated when Juárez died on 19 July 1872. Díaz ran against interim president [[Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada]], lost, and retired to his [[hacienda]] in Oaxaca. Four years later, in 1876, when Lerdo ran for re-election, Díaz launched a second, successful revolt (the [[Plan de Tuxtepec]]) and captured the presidency.<ref name="Parkes 284">{{cite book |last=Parkes |first=Henry |title=A History of Mexico |year=1960 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=Boston |isbn=0-395-08410-5 |page=284 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmexico00park }}</ref> He held it through eight terms until 1911, a period known as the [[Porfiriato]].{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

France's adventure in Mexico improved relations with Austria through Maximilian but produced no lasting results. In 1866, Prussia defeated Austria in the [[Austro-Prussian War]] while French troops were still in Mexico. The Second French Empire would itself collapse in 1870 during the [[Franco-Prussian War]].{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

==U.S. diplomacy and involvement==
As early as 1859, U.S. and Mexican efforts to ratify the [[McLane–Ocampo Treaty]] had failed in the divided [[United States Senate]], where tensions were high between the North and the South over slavery. Such a treaty would have allowed U.S. construction in Mexico and protection from European forces in exchange for a payment of $4&nbsp;million to the heavily indebted government of Benito Juárez. On 3 December 1860, President [[James Buchanan]] delivered a speech stating his displeasure at being unable to secure Mexico from European interference:

<blockquote>European governments would have been deprived of all pretext to interfere in the territorial and domestic concerns of Mexico. We should have thus been relieved from the obligation of resisting, even by force, should this become necessary, any attempt of these governments to deprive our neighboring Republic of portions of her territory, a duty from which we could not shrink without abandoning the traditional and established policy of the American people.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Manning|first=William R. |author2=James Morton Callahan |author3=John H. Latané |author4=Philip Brown |author5=James L. Slayden |author6=Joseph Wheless |author7=James Brown Scott|title=Statements, Interpretations, and Applications of the Monroe Doctrine and of More or Less Allied Doctrines|journal=American Society of International Law|date=25 April 1914|volume=8|page=90|jstor=25656497}}</ref></blockquote>

United States policy did not change during the French occupation. Abraham Lincoln expressed his sympathy to Latin American republics against any European attempt to establish a monarchy. Shortly after the establishment of the imperial government in April 1864, United States Secretary of State William H. Seward, while maintaining U.S. neutrality, expressed discomfort at the imposition of a monarchy in Mexico: "Nor can the United States deny that their own safety and destiny to which they aspire are intimately dependent on the continuance of free republican institutions throughout America."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Manning|first=William R. |author2=James Morton Callahan |author3=John H. Latané |author4=Philip Brown |author5=James L. Slayden |author6=Joseph Wheless |author7=James Brown Scott|title=Statements, Interpretations, and Applications of the Monroe Doctrine and of More or Less Allied Doctrines|journal=American Society of International Law|date=25 April 1914|volume=8|page=101|jstor=25656497}}</ref>

On 4 April 1864, Congress passed a joint resolution:

<blockquote>Resolved, &c., That the Congress of the United States are unwilling, by silence, to leave the nations of the world under the impression that they are indifferent spectators of the deplorable events now transpiring in the Republic of Mexico; and they therefore think fit to declare that it does not accord with the policy of the United States to acknowledge a monarchical government, erected on the ruins of any republican government in America, under the auspices of any European power.<ref>{{cite book|last=McPherson|first=Edward|title=The Political History of the United States of America During the Great Rebellion: From November 6, 1860, to July 4, 1864; Including a Classified Summary of the Legislation of the Second Session of the Thirty-sixth Congress, the Three Sessions of the Thirty-seventh Congress, the First Session of the Thirty-eighth Congress, with the Votes Thereon, and the Important Executive, Judicial, and Politico-military Facts of that Eventful Period; Together with the Organization, Legislation, and General Proceedings of the Rebel Administration|year=1864|publisher=Philip & Solomons|page=349|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4znw2WmxzHYC}}</ref></blockquote>

Near the end of the American Civil War, representatives at the 1865 [[Hampton Roads Conference]] briefly discussed a proposal for a north–south reconciliation by a joint action against the French in Mexico. In 1865, through the selling of Mexican bonds by Mexican agents in the United States, the Juárez administration raised between $16 million and $18 million for the purchase of American war material.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hart|first=John Mason|title=Empire and Revolution: The Americans in Mexico Since the Civil War|year=2002|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley and Los Angeles|isbn=0-520-90077-4 |page=17}}</ref> Between 1865 and 1868, General [[Herman Sturm]] acted as an agent to deliver guns and ammunition to the Mexican Republic.<ref>Robert H. Buck, Captain, Recorder. Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States Commandery of the state of Colorado, Denver. 10 April 1907. Indiana State Library.</ref> In 1866 General [[Philip Sheridan]] was in charge of transferring additional supplies and weapons to the Liberal army, including some 30,000 rifles directly from the [[Baton Rouge Arsenal]] in [[Louisiana]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Hart|first=James Mason|title=Empire and Revolution: The American in Mexico Since the Civil War|year=2002|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley and Los Angeles|isbn=0-520-90077-4 |page=15}}</ref>

By 1867, Seward shifted American policy from thinly veiled sympathy for the republican government of Juárez to open threat of war to induce a French withdrawal. Seward stated in 1868, "The Monroe Doctrine, which eight years ago was merely a theory, is now an irreversible fact."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Manning|first1=William R.|last2=Callahan|first2=James Morton|last3=Latané|first3=John H.|last4=Brown|first4=Philip|last5=Slayden|first5=James L.|last6=Wheless|first6=Joseph|last7=Scott|first7=James Brown|date=25 April 1914|title=Statements, Interpretations, and Applications of the Monroe Doctrine and of More or Less Allied Doctrines|journal=American Society of International Law|volume=8|page=105|jstor=25656497}}</ref>

==Divisions and disembarkation of allied troops==

===French expeditionary force, 31 December 1862===
[[File:Légionnaire-Mexique.JPG|thumb|right|200px|Campaign uniform of a French Foreign legionary during the Mexican campaign]]
At its peak in 1863, the French expeditionary force counted 38,493 men<ref name="Niox"/> {{rp|740}} (which represented 16.25% of the [[French army]]).<ref name="Raymond">{{cite journal
 |journal = [[The New York Times]]
 |editor-last = Raymond
 |editor-first = Henry Jarvis
 |title = The military force of France.; The Actual Organization of the Army Its Strength and Effectiveness. The Imperial Guard, the Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, Engineers, Administration, Gen D'Armerie. General Staff of the army. The Military Schools, the invalids, the government of the army, Annual cost of the French Army.
 |location = [[New York City|New York]], United States
 |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1862/07/10/news/military-force-france-actual-organization-army-its-strength-effectiveness.html
 |access-date = 22 June 2012
 |date = 10 July 1862
}}</ref> 6,654<ref name="Chenu">{{cite book
  |author = Jean-Charles Chenu
  |title = Aperçu sur les expéditions de Chine, Cochinchine, Syrie et Mexique : Suivi d'une étude sur la fièvre jaune par le Dr Fuzier
  |trans-title= Overview of the expeditions in China, Cochinchina, Syria and Mexico: A Follow-up study on the yellow fever by Dr. Fuzier
  |publisher = [[Masson (publisher)|Masson]]
  |location = [[Paris]]
  |url = https://archive.org/details/8TSUP7626
  |language = fr
  |access-date = 22 June 2012
  |chapter = Expédition du Mexique
  |trans-chapter= Mexican expedition
  |year = 1877
}}</ref> {{rp|231}} French died, including 4,830 from disease.<ref name="Chenu" />{{rp|231}} Among these losses, 1,918 of the deaths were from the regiment of the [[French Foreign Legion]].<ref name="Pénette">{{cite book
 |first1 = Marcel
 |last1 = Pénette
 |first2 = Jean
 |last2 = Castaingt
 |title = La Legión Extranjera en la Intervención Francesa
 |trans-title = The Foreign Legion in the French Intervention
 |publisher = [[Sociedad Mexicana de Geografía y Estadística]]
 |location = [[Ciudad de México]], Mexico
 |url = http://aleph.academica.mx/jspui/bitstream/56789/29583/1/12-046-1962-0229.pdf
 |language = es
 |access-date = 13 July 2012
 |year = 1962
 |archive-date = 3 March 2016
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303224227/http://aleph.academica.mx/jspui/bitstream/56789/29583/1/12-046-1962-0229.pdf
 |url-status = dead
 }}</ref>{{rp|267}}

[[File:Expédition du Mexique. — Victoire d'Uquilpan.jpg|thumb|200px|Victory of Jiquilpan, won by Colonel [[Justin Clinchant|Clinchant]], 2nd [[Zouave]]s]]
[[File:San Pablo del Monte.jpg|thumb|200px|French [[chasseurs d'Afrique]] taking the standard of the Durango lancers]]

Général de Division Forey

====1<sup>ère</sup> Division d'Infanterie (GdD Bazaine)====
*1<sup>ère</sup> Brigade (GdB de Castagny)
**18<sup>e</sup> Bataillon de [[Chasseurs]]
**1<sup>er</sup> Régiment de [[Zouave]]s
**81<sup>e</sup> Régiment de [[Line infantry|Ligne]]
*2<sup>e</sup> Brigade (GdB ?)
**20<sup>e</sup> Bataillon de Chasseurs
**3<sup>ème</sup> Régiment de Zouaves
**95<sup>e</sup> Régiment d'Infanterie légère
** Bataillon de [[Tirailleurs]] algériens
*2x Marine artillery batteries

====2<sup>e</sup> Division d'Infanterie (GdB Douay – acting)====
*1<sup>ère</sup> Brigade (Col Hellier – acting)
**1<sup>er</sup> Bataillon de Chasseurs
**2<sup>e</sup> Régiment de Zouaves
**99<sup>e</sup> Régiment d'Infanterie légère
*2<sup>e</sup> Brigade (GdB Berthier)
**7<sup>e</sup> Bataillon de Chasseurs
**51<sup>e</sup> Régiment de Ligne
**62<sup>e</sup> Régiment de Ligne
*2x Army artillery batteries

====Brigade de Cavallerie (GdB de Mirandol)====
*1<sup>er</sup> [[Marching regiment|Régiment de Marche]] (2 squadrons each of 1<sup>er</sup> and 2<sup>e</sup> [[Chasseurs d'Afrique]])
*2<sup>e</sup> Régiment de Marche (2 squadrons each of 3<sup>e</sup> Chasseurs d'Afrique and 12<sup>e</sup> [[Chasseurs à cheval]])

====Naval Brigade====
*Bataillon de [[Fusiliers Marins|Fusiliers-Marins]]
*2<sup>e</sup> Régiment d'[[Infanterie de Marine]]<ref name="Martin">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924020431734|title=Maximilian in Mexico. The story of the French intervention (1861–1867)|last=Falcke Martin|first=Percy|publisher=C. Scribner's sons|year=1914|isbn=9781445576466|location=[[New York City|New York]], United States|access-date=11 June 2012}}</ref>{{rp|95–96}}

'''Units not yet arrived:'''
*7<sup>e</sup> Régiment de Ligne (2000 men)<ref name="LytteltonTimes">{{cite journal
 |journal = [[Lyttelton Times]]
 |issue = 1090
 |volume = XIX.
 |page = 9
 |format = pdf
 |title = The Mexican expedition
 |publisher = [[National Library of New Zealand|Papers Past]]
 |location = [[Thorndon, New Zealand]]
 |url = http://www.paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/imageserver/imageserver.pl?oid=LT18630422.1.5&getpdf=true
 |access-date = 26 June 2012
 |date = 22 April 1863
}}</ref>
*1<sup>e</sup> [[French Foreign Legion|Régiment Étranger]] (4000 men)<ref name="LytteltonTimes" />
*2<sup>e</sup> [[Battalions of Light Infantry of Africa|Bataillon d'Infanterie legère d'Afrique]] (900 men)<ref name="LytteltonTimes" />
*Bataillon Egyptien
*detachment/ 5<sup>e</sup> Régiment de [[hussars|Hussards]]

===Belgian Voluntary Troops, 1864–65===
[[File:BelgianForeignLegion.jpg|right|200px|thumb|[[Belgian Legion]] in Mexico]]

[[File:Mexique. — Costumes des officierset soldats du régiment belge - les gardes du corps de l'impératrice Charlotte.jpg|thumb|200px|Uniforms of officers and soldiers of the [[Belgian Legion|Belgian regiment]]: bodyguards of the [[Carlota of Mexico|Empress Charlotte]].]]

This corps was officially designated as the "Belgian Volunteers", but generally known as the "[[Belgian Legion]]".<ref>{{cite book|first=Rene|last=Chartrand|pages=35–36|title=The Mexican Adventure 1861–67|isbn=1-85532-430-X|date=28 July 1994|publisher=Bloomsbury USA }}</ref>

*Bataillon de l'Impératrice [[Carlota of Mexico|Charlotte]] ([[grenadiers]])
*Bataillon Roi des Belges ([[voltigeurs]])

====16 October 1864====
*1st Grenadier Company
**4 Officers, 16 Non-commissioned officers, 125 grenadiers, 6 musicians, 1 canteener
*2nd Grenadier Company "Bataillon de l'Impératrice"
**4 Officers, 16 Non-commissioned officers, 122 grenadiers, 4 musicians, 1 canteener
*1st voltigeur Company
**4 Officers, 16 Non-commissioned officers, 122 voltigeurs, 4 musicians, 1 canteener
*2nd voltigeur Company
**4 Officers, 16 Non-commissioned officers, 121 voltigeurs, 4 musicians, 1 canteener

====14 November 1864====
*3rd Grenadier Company
**4 Officers, 16 Non-commissioned officers, 68 grenadiers, 6 musicians, 1 canteener
*4th Grenadier Company
**4 Officers, 15 Non-commissioned officers, 67 grenadiers, 6 musicians, 1 canteener
*3rd voltigeur Company
**3 Officers, 16 Non-commissioned officers, 61 voltigeurs, 3 musicians, 1 canteener
*4th voltigeur Company
**3 Officers, 15 Non-commissioned officers, 69 voltigeurs, 4 musicians, 1 canteener

====16 December 1864====
*5th Grenadier Company
*6th Grenadier Company
*5th voltigeur Company
*6th voltigeur Company[[File:Mexique. — Défense héroïque du bataillon belgue commandé par le major Tydgadt dans Tacamburo, le 11 avril 1865. (D'après le croquis de M. A. Martin).jpg|thumb|200px|Defense of the Belgian battalion in the [[Battle of Tacámbaro]].]]
**362 volunteers

====27 January 1865====
**189 volunteers

====15 April 1866====
*1st Mounted Company
**70–80 horsemen (formed from Regiment "Impératrice Charlotte")

====16 July 1866====
*2nd Mounted Company
**70–80 horsemen (formed from Regiment "Roi des Belges")<ref name="BEL">{{cite journal
 |journal = Campaigns Magazine – International Magazine of Military Miniatures
 |volume=6
 |issue=32
 |author = Fren Funcken
 |author2=Lilian Funcken
 |editor-last = Burgess
 |editor-first = Donald
 |title = The Forgotten Legion
 |publisher = Marengo Publications
 |location = [[Los Angeles]], United States
 |url = http://monlegionnaire.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/the-belgian-legion.pdf
 |access-date = 9 June 2012
 |year = 1981
 |pages = 31–34
 |isbn = 9780803919235
}}</ref>

===Austrian Voluntary Corps, December 1864===
[[File:Hungarian Volunteer Corps.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Austrian Voluntary Corps]]

While officially designated as the Austrian Voluntary Corps, this foreign contingent included Hungarian, Polish and other volunteers from the Danube Monarchy.<ref>{{cite book|first=Rene|last=Chartrand|pages=37|title=The Mexican Adventure 1861–67|isbn=1-85532-430-X|date=28 July 1994|publisher=Bloomsbury USA }}</ref> It consisted of:<ref name="Torbágyi">{{cite book
  |author = Péter Torbágyi
  |title = Magyar kivándorlás Latin–Amerikába az első világháború előtt
  |publisher = [[University of Szeged]]
  |location = [[Szeged]]
  |url = http://mek.niif.hu/07500/07571/07571.pdf
  |language = hu
  |access-date = 10 June 2020
  |year = 2008
  |page = 42
  |isbn = 978-963-482-937-9
}}</ref>

*159 officers
*403 infantry and [[Jäger (military)|jägers]] (Austrian)
*366 [[hussar]]s (Hungarian)
*16 [[uhlan]]s (Polish)
*67 bombardiers (mixed)
*30 [[Pioneer (military)|pioneer]]s (mixed)
*several doctors

===Egyptian Auxiliary Corps, January 1863===
This unit was commonly designated as the "Egyptian Battalion". It consisted of 453 men (including troops recruited from the [[History of Sudan (1821–85)|Sudan]]), who were placed under the command of French commandant Mangin of the 3rd Zouave Regiment. Operating effectively in the [[Veracruz|Veracruz region]], the Corps suffered 126 casualties until being withdrawn to Egypt in May 1867.<ref>{{cite book|first=Rene|last=Chartrand|pages=37|title=The Mexican Adventure 1861–67|isbn=1-85532-430-X|date=28 July 1994|publisher=Bloomsbury USA }}</ref>

Maximilian protested the loss of the Egyptian Corps, ostensibly to suppress a rebellion in the Sudan, because they were "extremely helpful in the hot lands".<ref>{{cite book|first=M. M.|last=McAllen|page=218|title=Maximilian and Carlota. Europe's Last Empire in Mexico|isbn=978-1-59534-263-8|date=April 2015|publisher=Trinity University Press }}</ref>

* A battalion commander
* A captain
* A lieutenant
* 8 sergeants
* 15 corporals
* 359 soldiers
* 39 recruits

===Spanish Expeditionary Force, January 1862===
Making up this contingent were:<ref name="Chenu" />{{rp|103}}
* 5373 infantry (two brigades)
* 26 pieces of artillery,
* 490 bombardiers
* 208 engineers
* 100 administrators
* 173 cavalry
This force from the regular Spanish army was withdrawn from Mexico for political reasons in early 1862. <ref>{{cite book|first=Rene|last=Chartrand|page=6|title=The Mexican Adventure 1861–67|isbn=1-85532-430-X|date=28 July 1994|publisher=Bloomsbury USA }}</ref>

===Counter-Guerrillas===
A corps of about 850 anti-guerrillas, created in October 1862 and consisting of two cavalry squadrons plus four companies of infantry and a small mountain artillery battery. This force was recruited from diverse volunteers of all available national origins under French officers. It was noted for a series of atrocities.<ref>{{cite book|first=Rene|last=Chartrand|page=37|title=The Mexican Adventure 1861–67|isbn=1-85532-430-X|date=28 July 1994|publisher=Bloomsbury USA }}</ref>

===Captain Yarka, Romanian volunteer, 1863===
At least one Romanian, an officer, served with the French forces. Captain Yarka of the Romanian Army served with the 3rd Regiment of ''[[Chasseurs d'Afrique]]'' as a volunteer, keeping the same rank. In April 1863, Yarka engaged a Republican ("Juariste") Colonel in one-on-one combat, killing him. Yarka himself was wounded. In contemporary French sources, he is referred to as [[Wallachia]]n ("Valaque").<ref name="books.google.ro">[https://books.google.com/books?id=1mfgaV1W_OYC&dq=yarka&pg=PA135 Louis Noir, Achille Faure, 1867, ''Campagne du Mexique: Mexico (souvenirs d'un zouave)'', p. 135]</ref><ref name="Le moniteur de l'armée: 1863">[https://books.google.com/books?id=KEBLAAAAcAAJ&dq=yarka&pg=PP177 Le moniteur de l'armée: 1863]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Pastry War]], also known as the First French Intervention in Mexico
*[[History of democracy in Mexico]]
*[[List of battles of the French intervention in Mexico]]
*[[List of Second French intervention in Mexico films]]

==References==
{{Reflist|3}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book |last=Bancroft|first=Hubert Howe|title=History of Mexico VI: 1861–1887|location=New York|publisher=The Bancroft Company|date=1888}}
* {{cite book |last=Clodfelter |first=Micheal |title=Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492–2015 |publisher=McFarland |year=2017 |edition=4th }}

==Further reading==
{{div col}}
* [[Hubert Howe Bancroft|Bancroft, Hubert Howe]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=YGplAAAAMAAJ&q=%22The+appointment+of+Juarez+%22 ''History of Mexico: Being a Popular History of the Mexican People from the Earliest Primitive Civilization to the Present Time''] The Bancroft Company, New York, 1914, pp.&nbsp;466–506
* Black, Shirley Jean. ''Napoleon III and the French Intervention in Mexico: A Quest for Silver''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press 1974. 
* Brittsan, Zachary. ''Popular Politics and Rebellion in Mexico: Manuel Lozada and La Reforma, 1855–1876''. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press 2015.
* Corti, Egon Caesar. ''Maximilian and Charlotte of Mexico'' (2 vols. 1968). 976 pages
* Cunningham, Michele. ''Mexico and the Foreign Policy of Napoleon III'', [[Palgrave Macmillan]], 2001
* Dabbs, Jack A. ''The French Army in Mexico, 1861–1867: A Study in Military Government''. The Hague: Mouton 1963. 
* Garay, Lerma. Antonio. ''Mazatlán Decimonónico'', Autoedición. 2005. {{ISBN|1-59872-220-4}}.
* [[Kevin Peraino|Peraino, Kevin]], ''Lincoln in the World: The Making of a Statesman and the Dawn of American Power''. New York: Crown Publishers, 2013.
* Shawcross, Edward. ''The Last Emperor of Mexico: A Disaster in the New World''. London: Faber & Faber, 2022; ''The Last Emperor of Mexico: The Dramatic Story of the Habsburg Archduke Who Created a Kingdom in the New World''. New York: Basic Books, 2021.
* Sheridan, Philip H. [https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4362/4362-h/4362-h.htm ''Personal Memoirs of P.H. Sheridan''], Charles L. Webster & Co., 1888, {{ISBN|1-58218-185-3}} (vol. 2, part 5, Chapter IX)
* Topik, Steven C.  "When Mexico Had the Blues: A Transatlantic Tale of Bonds, Bankers, and Nationalists, 1862–1910," ''American Historical Review,'' June 2000, Vol. 105, Issue 3, pp.&nbsp;714–740
{{div col end}}

==External links==
*[http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/mexican/mxchrono.htm Chronology of the Mexican Adventure 1861–1867] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613151207/http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/mexican/mxchrono.htm |date=13 June 2011 }}
*[http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/mexican/mxbooks1.htm Bibliography for the French intervention in Mexico] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222152317/http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/mexican/mxbooks1.htm |date=22 February 2020}}

{{Mexico topics}}
{{French colonial campaigns}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Second French Intervention In Mexico}}
[[Category:Second French intervention in Mexico| ]]
[[Category:1860s in Mexico]]
[[Category:19th-century colonization of the Americas]]
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[[Category:Civil wars in Mexico]]
[[Category:Expeditions from France]]
[[Category:French colonization of the Americas]]
[[Category:Military intervention]]
[[Category:Foreign relations during the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Invasions by France]]
[[Category:Invasions of Mexico]]
[[Category:Maximilian I of Mexico]]
[[Category:Napoleon III]]
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[[Category:Second French Empire]]
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[[Category:Wars involving the United States]]
[[Category:France–Mexico relations]]