The French Army have had numerous foreign regiments in its service for centuries; however, few have the mystique and elite status of the French Foreign Legion. It became a haven for the rough, tough, and adventure-seeking crowds of all of Europe. Bred with a fierce and disciplined esprit de corps, these soldiers could expect to fight France's enemies even in the most desperate of circumstances. With the clouds of war gathering over Europe in the early years of the Twentieth Century, the Legion attracted volunteers from even further afield, including the wealthy American adventurer and traveller Henry Weston Farnsworth. He volunteered for service early in late 1914 and was thrown together with a diverse bunch of men from a number of countries, some of whom he would bond with closely. His pen portraits in his letters to his family are filled with these characters and the experiences he had in the front-lines. However, Farnsworth would fight among his new friends for only a few months as the fighting in France grew ever more fierce and his unit was thrown into the battles in Champagne during which he died.