Inexorably the patriot armies closed around him until in May, 1867, he was captured at Queretaro, where he had sought refuge.

Denied the privilege of leaving the country on a promise never to return, he asked Escobedo, his captor, to treat him as a prisoner of war.

"That's my business," was the grim reply.

On the pretext that Maximilian had refused to recognize the competence of the military court chosen to try him, Juarez gave the order to shoot him.
On the 19th of June the Austrian archduke paid for a fleeting glory with his life.

Thus failed the second attempt at erecting an empire in Mexico.