Columbus is an incorporated village in Luna County, New Mexico, United States, about 3 miles (5 km) north of the Mexican border. It is considered a place of historical interest, as the scene of a 1916 attack by Mexican general Francisco "Pancho" Villa that caused the United States to send 10,000 troops there in the Mexican Expedition. Columbus's population was 1,664 at the 2010 census.
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.
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 Mexico North-Western Railway or Compañía del Ferrocarril Nor-Oeste de México was a railroad that operated in Mexico between Ciudad Juárez and Chihuahua, via Nuevo Casas Grandes in the western portion of the state of Chihuahua. Prior to 1909, it was known as the Rio Grande, Sierra Madre & Pacific Railway. It was built with mostly Canadian capital in order to reach logging and mining operations. Its subsidiary operation, the El Paso Southern, extended into the US at El Paso, Texas. In 1954 the railway was merged into the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México and the El Paso Southern sold to the Southern Pacific railroad. During the latter years of operation (1947-1954), the railway was controlled by tunnel magnate "Subway Sam" Rosoff, who also controlled large lumber interests along the route.
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.
A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong behavior by miscreants, as revenge or corrective action, or to apply strong diplomatic pressure without a formal declaration of war. In the 19th century, punitive expeditions were used more commonly as pretexts for colonial adventures that resulted in annexations, regime changes or changes in policies of the affected state to favour one or more colonial powers.
The Battle of Columbus, also known as the Burning of Columbus or the Columbus Raid, began on March 9, 1916, 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.
Julio Cárdenas was a captain in Pancho Villa's Villista military organization. He was second-in-command to Villa and the head of his personal bodyguard. The Battle of Columbus, New Mexico, in which 18 Americans were killed, sparked the campaign, led by General John J. Pershing, to eradicate Villa's organization.
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 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 Battle of Guerrero, or the Battle of San Gerónimo, in March 1916, was the first military engagement between the rebels of Pancho Villa and the United States during the Mexican Expedition. After a long ride, elements of the American 7th Cavalry Regiment encountered a large force of Villistas at the town of Guerrero in the state of Chihuahua. In what has been called the "last true cavalry charge," the Americans assaulted the town and routed the defenders, inflicting over seventy-five casualties on the Mexicans with the loss of only five men wounded.
Colonel Frank Tompkins was an officer in the United States Army. Tompkins served in numerous conflicts including the Spanish–American War in Cuba, the Philippine–American War, the Mexican Border War, and World War I. Recommended by General John J. Pershing for the Medal of Honor, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his leadership during the 1916 Battle of Columbus, New Mexico.
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 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 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.
Columbus Municipal Airport is an abandoned airport in New Mexico. Its origins date to 1916 when it was used by the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps as a military airfield during the Pancho Villa Expedition. It was apparently closed and abandoned in the late 1970s. Today, efforts are being made to restore it to a general aviation airport.
Camp Harry J. Jones was an encampment of the United States Army. Located near Douglas, Arizona, it was active during the Pancho Villa Expedition and World War I.
This is a list with images of some of the historic structures and places in the Fort Huachuca National Historic District in Arizona. The district, also known as Old Fort Huachuca, is located within Fort Huachuca an active United States Army installation under the command of the United States Army Installation Management Command. The fort sits at the base of the Huachuca Mountains four miles west of the town of Sierra Vista, on AZ 90 in Cochise County, Arizona.
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.
Susie Ashcraft Gregg Parks Kendrick was the telephone switchboard operator of the southern New Mexico town of Columbus, on the southern border of the United States. She alerted the contingent of the National Guard located in Deming, New Mexico, during the Battle of Columbus skirmish, on March 9, 1916, where Francisco "Pancho" Villa and an estimated 400 of his men planned to invade several small cities in southern New Mexico. She was recognized and celebrated for her actions, which may have saved lives in Columbus and the surrounding counties.
