 Attractive misleading names were deliberately chosen, such as "Garibaldi" in Italy or "Abraham Lincoln" in the United States.In early August, the situation in western Andalusia was stable enough to allow Franco to organise a column (some 15,000 men at its height), under the command of then Lieutenant-Colonel Juan Yagüe, which would march through Extremadura towards Madrid.On 11 August Mérida was taken, and on 15 August Badajoz, thus joining both nationalist-controlled areas.