Which French general replaced Charles de Lorencez as commander in Mexico after the Battle of Puebla?

Élie-Frédéric Forey replaced Charles de Lorencez as commander of French forces in Mexico after the Battle of Puebla.

Lorencez led the French attack on Puebla in May 1862, but Mexican defenders repelled the assault. The defeat did not end France’s intervention. Napoleon III instead reinforced the expedition and appointed Forey to lead the expanded French operation.

Forey arrived in Mexico in 1862 with additional troops and resumed the campaign against the government of Benito Juárez. Under his command, French forces besieged Puebla again in 1863 and captured the city after a much longer operation.

France subsequently occupied Mexico City and supported the establishment of the Second Mexican Empire under Maximilian. Forey’s appointment therefore marks the transition from the failed first assault commemorated by Cinco de Mayo to France’s broader invasion.