Remember the wooden hand the Legion honors?
Remember the wooden hand the Legion honors?
Jean Danjou was an officer who had his left hand blown off by an exploding musket in Algeria in 1853. But he remained in the Legion and was commanding a company that was surrounded in an adobe hacienda and besieged at Battle of Camarone.
Danjou and his men all had taken an oath never to surrender, and when the Mexican commander offered him terms, Danjou replied that they had plenty of cartridges and would continue to fight.
There also is a tradition that he replied, "Do you intend to attack, or are you going to keep me waiting in the sun all day?" But that might be an old soldier's tale.
Danjou's prosthetic hand was recovered and returned with honors to the legion. It now is kept in a place of honor the Legion's museum at their headquarters in Marseille.
And to this day, whenever the legion goes on parade, they are led by a man carrying the Hand of Captain Danjou in its display case.
Nous sommes des dégourdis,
Nous sommes des lascars
Des types pas ordinaires.
Nous avons souvent notre cafard,
Nous sommes des légionnaires.