Francisco "Pancho" Villa was a Mexican revolutionary and prominent figure in the Mexican Revolution. He was a key figure in the revolutionary movement that forced out President Porfirio Díaz and brought Francisco I. Madero to power in 1911. When Madero was ousted by a coup led by General Victoriano Huerta in February 1913, Villa joined the anti-Huerta forces in the Constitutionalist Army led by Venustiano Carranza. After the defeat and exile of Huerta in July 1914, Villa broke with Carranza. Villa dominated the meeting of revolutionary generals that excluded Carranza and helped create a coalition government. Emiliano Zapata and Villa became formal allies in this period. Like Zapata, Villa was strongly in favor of land reform, but did not implement it when he had power. At the height of his power and popularity in late 1914 and early 1915, the U.S. considered recognizing Villa as Mexico's legitimate authority.
The Pancho Villa Expedition—now known officially in the United States as the Mexican Expedition, but originally referred to as the "Punitive Expedition, U.S. Army"—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the paramilitary forces of Mexican revolutionary Francisco "Pancho" Villa from March 14, 1916, to February 7, 1917, during the Mexican Revolution of 1910–1920.
The Battle of Carrizal occurred on June 21, 1916. It was a major skirmish between United States Army troops of General John J. Pershing's Punitive Expedition and Carrancista troops fought at the town of Carrizal in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.
The 10th Cavalry Regiment is a unit of the United States Army. Formed as a segregated African-American unit, the 10th Cavalry was one of the original "Buffalo Soldier" regiments in the post–Civil War Regular Army. It served in combat during the Indian Wars in the western United States, the Spanish–American War in Cuba, Philippine–American War and Mexican Revolution. The regiment was trained as a combat unit but later relegated to non-combat duty and served in that capacity in World War II until its deactivation in 1944.
The Apache Scouts were part of the United States Army Indian Scouts. Most of their service was during the Apache Wars, between 1849 and 1886, though the last scout retired in 1947. The Apache scouts were the eyes and ears of the United States military and sometimes the cultural translators for the various Apache bands and the Americans. Apache scouts also served in the Navajo War, the Yavapai War, the Mexican Border War and they saw stateside duty during World War II. There has been a great deal written about Apache scouts, both as part of United States Army reports from the field and more colorful accounts written after the events by non-Apaches in newspapers and books. Men such as Al Sieber and Tom Horn were sometimes the commanding officers of small groups of Apache Scouts. As was the custom in the United States military, scouts were generally enlisted with Anglo nicknames or single names. Many Apache Scouts received citations for bravery.
The Battle of Columbus, March 9, 1916, began as a raid conducted by remnants of Pancho Villa's Division of the North on the small United States border town of Columbus, New Mexico, located 3 miles (4.8 km) north of the border with Mexico. The raid escalated into a full-scale battle between Villistas and the United States Army.
The Second Battle of Agua Prieta, 1 November 1915, was fought between the forces of Pancho Villa and those of the future President of Mexico, Plutarco Elías Calles, a supporter of Venustiano Carranza, at Agua Prieta, Sonora, as part of the Mexican Revolution. Villa's attack on the town was repulsed by Calles. The battle helped to establish Carranza's control over Mexico and directly led to his becoming, with United States recognition, president. Villa believed that Calles had received tactical and strategic support from the United States since the town is located across the border from Douglas, Arizona and launched his raid on Columbus, New Mexico partly as a reprisal.
The Mexican Border War, also known as the Border Campaign, refers to a series of military engagements which took place between the United States military and several Mexican factions in the Mexican–American border region of North America during the Mexican Revolution. It was the last major conflict fought on U.S. soil.
The Plan of San Diego was a plan drafted in San Diego, Texas, in 1915 by a group of unidentified Mexican and Tejano rebels who hoped to seize Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Texas from the United States. The plan was never attempted. It called for a general uprising in February, 1915, and the mass killings of every non-Hispanic Caucasian male over 16 years of age. The arena included all of South Texas. German Americans were excluded from the killings. The San Diego Plan collapsed immediately on discovery.
Victorio's War, or the Victorio Campaign, was an armed conflict between the Apache followers of Chief Victorio, the United States, and Mexico beginning in September 1879. Faced with arrest and forcible relocation from his homeland in New Mexico to San Carlos Indian Reservation in southeastern Arizona, Victorio led a guerrilla war across southern New Mexico, west Texas and northern Mexico. Victorio fought many battles and skirmishes with the United States Army and raided several settlements until the Mexican Army killed him and most of his warriors in October 1880 in the Battle of Tres Castillos. After Victorio's death, his lieutenant Nana led a raid in 1881.
The Battle of Parral, on April 12, 1916, was the first battle between soldiers of Venustiano Carranza, known as Carrancistas, and the United States military during the Mexican Expedition. When a small force of American cavalry was leaving the city of Parral, in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, a superior force of Carrancista soldiers attacked which resulted in a bloody running engagement. Using a strategy of organized withdrawal, the Americans were able to repulse the Mexican attacks and safely escape to the fortified village of Santa Cruz de Villegas.
The Raid on the Norias Division of the King Ranch was an attack August 8, 1915 by a large band of disaffected Mexicans and Tejanos in southern Texas. It was one of the many small battles of the Mexican Revolution that spilled over into United States soil and resulted in an increased effort by the United States Army to defend the international border. Five to fifteen attackers were killed in the raid and more among the wounded may have died shortly afterwards.
The Bandit War, or Bandit Wars, was a series of raids in Texas that started in 1915 and finally culminated in 1919. They were carried out by Mexican rebels from the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Chihuahua. Prior to 1914, the Carrancistas had been responsible for most attacks along the border, but in January 1915, rebels known as Seditionistas drafted the Plan of San Diego and began launching their own raids. The plan called for a race war to rid the American border states of their Anglo-American population and for the annexation of the border states to Mexico. However, the Seditionistas could never launch a full-scale invasion of the United States and so the faction resorted to conducting small raids into Texas. Much of the fighting involved the Texas Ranger Division, but the US Army also engaged in small unit actions with bands of Seditionist raiders.
The raid on Glenn Springs occurred on the night of May 5–6, 1916, when Mexican Villistas and Carrancistas attacked the towns of Boquillas and Glenn Springs, Texas. In Glenn Springs, the raiders burned several buildings and fought a three-hour battle with a small force of American soldiers who were stationed there. At the same time, a second party of rebels robbed a general store and a silver mine in Boquillas. Four Americans were killed and the rebels took two hostages to Coahuila. In response to the attack, the United States Army launched a short punitive expedition into Mexico, fought with the rebels, and rescued the captives.
The Brite Ranch raid was an incident that occurred on Christmas Day 1917, in which Mexican raiders crossed the Rio Grande River border and attacked a ranch in Presidio County, Texas. At the time the raiders were thought to be Villistas, as they had been responsible for several other previous incursions into American territory, though other accounts say that some Carrancistas were involved as well. During the raid the Mexicans murdered three people, robbed a general store and rode back to Chihuahua under pursuit by a motorized posse and troops of the United States Army 8th Cavalry. The Americans fought a running battle with the Mexicans on December 26 that resulted in the deaths of several raiders and the recovery of some stolen property. Soon after, an expedition to find more of the raiders led to another more violent episode when, on January 27, 1918, a force of Texas Rangers accompanied by US Cavalry, executed 15 Mexican men in what became known as the Porvenir Massacre.
The Second Battle of Nogales was a three-sided military engagement of the Mexican Revolution, fought in November 1915 at the border towns of Nogales, Sonora, and Nogales, Arizona. On the morning of November 26, rebel forces of Pancho Villa, who occupied Nogales, Sonora, began firing on United States Army soldiers in Nogales, Arizona. The Americans responded with counter fire for over two hours before a force of Carrancistas arrived to attack the Villistas. Later that day, the Constitutionalistas accidentally opened fire on American soldiers and another short skirmish was fought. The battle resulted in the deaths of several Mexicans and was the first significant engagement fought between Villistas and the United States military.
The Third Battle of Ciudad Juarez, or simply the Battle of Juarez, was the final major battle involving the rebels of Francisco "Pancho" Villa. It began on June 15, 1919, when Villa attempted to capture the border city of Ciudad Juarez from the Mexican Army. During the engagement the Villistas provoked an intervention by the United States Army protecting the neighboring city of El Paso, Texas. The Americans routed the Villistas in what became the second largest battle of the Mexican Revolution involving the US, and the last battle of the Border War. With the American army closing in, the Villistas had no choice but to retreat. Pancho Villa then attacked Durango but lost again, so he retired to his home at Parral, Chihuahua in 1920, with a full pardon from the Carrancista government.
The Neville Ranch raid of the night of March 25, 1918, was the last serious attack on a Texas ranch by Mexican rebels during the Bandit War. Speculation was that Villistas were responsible for the raid in which two people were murdered. Afterwards the rebels withdrew to the village of Pilares, Chihuahua, in Mexican territory pursued by a group of United States cavalry. A small battle was fought at Pilares on the following day in which several more people were killed and the cavalry burned the village before they returned to Texas.
The Raid onSan Ygnacio refers to a skirmish on June 15, 1916 between the United States Army and Mexican raiders near the border town of San Ygnacio, Texas. Three different Mexican factions were known to have launched raids into Texas at the time but most of the evidence suggests that either Sediciosos or Carrancistas were responsible for the incursion. Four American soldiers and at least six of the raiders were killed during the battle and the resulting American punitive expedition further strained the already hostile relationship between the Mexican and United States governments.
Henry Rodney Adair (1882–1916) was an American cavalry officer. He is most notable for his participation in the Battle of Carrizal of the Pancho Villa Expedition.
United States