On 30 April 1863 a small infantry patrol of French Foreign Legion, numbering 62 soldiers and three officers was attacked and besieged by a force that may have eventually reached 3,000 Mexican infantry and cavalry. They made a defensive stand at the nearby Hacienda Camarón, with a plan to occupy Mexican forces to prevent attacks against the nearby French supply convoy. Only two legionnaires survived, but they stopped Mexicans for the whole day and reached their goal.