During the
Second French Intervention in Mexico, Negrete put aside his conservative ideology and participated in the defense of Mexican territory. Before the advance of the French troops towards the center of Mexico, Negrete reacted and sided with the liberal side with his famous phrase
Yo tengo Patria antes que Partido, ("I have a country before a party"). Negrete joined the republican army and under the orders of General
Ignacio Zaragoza, both covered themselves with glory in the
Battle of Las Cumbres and the
Battle of Puebla, coming to be considered as the second hero of said battle by defending
Fort Loreto. Regarding this,
Ernesto de la Torre comments: Around 1863, and being governor of the
State of Puebla, before the advance of the French troops, he and
Jesús González Ortega were entrusted with the defense of the
Siege of Puebla. He was then captured by the French along with Jesús González Ortega,
Felipe Berriozábal and
Porfirio Díaz. All of them would be captured on the way to
Veracruz and, after that, taken prisoners to
France but Negrete managed to escape. Placed under Benito Juárez, he was
Minister of War and Navy of Mexico from March 1864 to August 1865. He took part in the capture of the cities of
Monterey and
Saltillo. ==Restored Republic==