Raid on San Ygnacio

Last updated
Raid on San Ygnacio
Part of the Bandit War, Mexican Revolution
Location San Ygnacio, Texas
DateJune 15, 1916
Deaths≈12
Injured≈5

The Raid onSan Ygnacio [1] refers to a battle fought 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 Seditionists or Carrancistas were responsible for the incursion. Four American soldiers were killed during the battle, along with at least six of the raiders, and the resulting American punitive expedition further strained the already hostile relationship between the Mexican and United States governments. [2]

Contents

Background

The Mexican Revolution created widespread unrest in the border areas of the United States and Mexico. By early 1915, a group of Mexican rebels, calling themselves Seditionists, drafted the Plan of San Diego with the intention of bringing the American border states under the control of President Venustiano Carranza. They then began attacking military outposts, small towns, and ranches in South Texas. The Seditionists were originally led by Luis de la Rosa but, in June 1916, he was arrested by Carrancista authorities, while traveling to Monterey, and put under house arrest. According to Joseph Allan Stout, author of Border conflict: Villistas, Carrancistas, and the Punitive Expedition, De la Rosa's arrest, combined with the previous capture of other Seditionist leaders, effectively ended the campaign by early 1916. However, Stout says that the superintendent of the Mexican National Railway, Esteban Fierros, was suspected of organizing raids during the summer of 1916, in accordance with the plan, and even "scheduled an invasion of the United States" to take place on June 10. Sure enough, that same day American soldiers pursued a band of raiders to Matamoros and just five days later San Ygnacio was attacked. [2] [3]

The rebels of Pancho Villa were also active in raiding along the Texas border but the territory they controlled at the time was mostly in Chihuahua, far to the northwest of San Ygnacio. Also, the raid occurred while General John J. Pershing was dispersing Villa's forces as part of the Mexican Expedition. Therefore, it is unlikely that the Villistas were responsible. Finally, there was the Mexican Army, also known as the Constitutionalistas or Carrancistas, which had already shown hostility towards the United States on several occasions and threatened to kill American soldiers. On April 12, 1916, the Carrancistas backed up their threats and attacked the 13th Cavalry at Parral and after the San Ygnacio Raid, on June 21, they attacked the 10th Cavalry in the Battle of Carrizal. [4] [5]

Raid

San Ygnacio was just another small South Texas border town, situated about thirty miles south of Laredo and 180 miles west of Brownsville, on the banks of the Rio Grande. In 1908 there were only 198 residents but the town had several general stores, a post office, and a drugstore, as well as houses and other associated buildings. Because of the unrest in that area, Troop I and Troop M, 14th Cavalry, were stationed at a camp just outside San Ygncio. Altogether the American force numbered about 150 men, The raid began at about 2:00 am, on June 15, when over 100 Mexicans attacked the cavalry camp. A New York Times article, dated June 16, says that an American sentry heard noises from some underbrush near the camp and when a patrol was sent to investigate the sound it was fired upon. Hastily the Americans assembled in a series of trenches and repulsed the attack. Official United States Army records state that three enlisted men were killed and about six more were wounded, one of them fatally. The Mexicans lost in between six and eight men killed, according to differing accounts, and several captured. American reports said they recovered the bodies of six Mexicans and that several others may have been wounded before they escaped back to Mexico. One of the Mexicans killed at San Ygnacio was identified by the United States Army as Lieutenant Colonel Villareal, of the Constitutional Army. The Americans first assumed that Villareal was either a Seditionist or a Villista but a captured raider said that he was "not a member of any plan [of San Diego] nor a Villista, but a Carrancista [Constitutionalist] soldier who was just obeying orders." This may not have been true though, according to Stout, because General Alfredo Ricaut, of the Constitutional Army, was campaigning against raiders during the time of the attack. [1] [2] [3] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

Aftermath

Major Alonzo Gray was in command of the American forces during the battle and immediately after it he was authorized to command a punitive expedition to pursue the raiders. Major Gray crossed the border into Tamaulipas, on June 16, but he was unsuccessful in finding the Mexicans' trail. Meanwhile, about thirty raiders fired on some men of the 26th Infantry near San Benito, Texas. General James Parker responded by sending Colonel Robert Bullard and 400 soldiers into Mexico on the same day. Bullard's men engaged the raiders in a "stiff skirmish" near the border but it ended "apparently without casualties." The Americans could not pursue any further because General Ricaut, under orders from Carranza, assembled 1,000 soldiers in Matamoros and threatened to attack them unless they returned to the United States. Ricault also vowed to catch the raiders himself, armed the civilian population of Matamoros and "ripped up" the railroad tracks leading across the Rio Grande. Ricaut's men would eventually capture forty of the raiders and later that day, after the bloodless skirmish, they attacked Major Edward Anderson, 3rd Cavalry, and his squadron of men as they were heading back to Texas. During the firefight that followed, two of the Mexicans were killed without loss on the Americans' side. [1] [2] [11] [12]

Both the San Ignacio and San Benito raids, along with General Pershing expedition in Chihuahua, created a situation in the United States and Mexico that seemed to be a "repetition of that process that brought Europe into war in 1914." Just two days after the raids, on June 18, President Woodrow Wilson announced that he was sending the remaining National Guard regiments to the border, not including the Arizona, New Mexico and Texas regiments which had already been in position since May. Within two weeks, American reinforcements began to arrive and by the end of the year over 150,000 militiamen were in position. Wilson also sent sixteen additional warships to patrol the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico's Pacific coast. Carranza followed suit by concentrating his forces along the border and issuing a "general call to the civilians of Mexico to arm themselves" in preparation for an American invasion. According to the New outlook, Volume 113; "there were spectacles in the cities of the United States not since 1898" during the Spanish–American War. In addition, thousands of Americans living in Mexico began fleeing north, or to the safety of the United States Navy. War would never come though, other than a raid near Fort Hancock, Texas on June 31, incursions into American territory ceased by July, which helped resolve some of the tension between the two nations. It wasn't until late 1917 that a new series of attacks would begin. But, like the engagement near Fort Hancock, they all occurred in West Texas, far away from where the Seditionists were active. [2] [8] [11] [12]

Another factor that prevented an escalation of the conflict was that neither Wilson or Carranza wanted war. Wilson was focused on events in Europe and Carranza said he was "absolutely certain that the American people do not want war with Mexico ... but there are nevertheless strong American interests and strong Mexican interests determine to procure a conflict between the counties. ... the Mexican government firmly desires to maintain peace with the American Government, but in order to [reach this goal] it is [imperative] that the American Government explain frankly its true intention towards Mexico." Alleging that Wilson was interested in more than just stopping the raids. Wilson responded to Carranza by voicing his concerns, saying; "for three years the Mexican Republic has been torn with Civil strife; the lives of Americans and other aliens have been sacrificed; vast properties developed by American capital and enterprise have been destroyed or rendered nonproductive; bandits [raiders] have been permitted to roam through the territory contiguous to the United States and to seize, without punishment or effective attempt at punishment, the property of Americans." [2] [11] [13]

Related Research Articles

San Ygnacio, Texas CDP in Texas, United States

San Ygnacio is a census-designated place (CDP) in Zapata County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the CDP population was 667. It is named for the prominent Spanish saint, Ignatius of Loyola. The portion of the community between the Rio Grande and U.S. Highway 83 is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as San Ygnacio Historic District.

Pancho Villa Early 20th-century Mexican revolutionary general and politician

Francisco Villa was initially a bandit, who became a general in the Mexican Revolution. He was a key figure in the revolutionary violence that forced out President Porfirio Díaz and brought Francisco I. Madero to power in 1911. When Madero was ousted by a rightwing coup led by General Victoriano Huerta in February 1913, he led anti-Huerta forces in the Constitutionalist Army 1913–14. The commander of the coalition was civilian governor of Coahuila 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 that was weak and ineffective. Emiliano Zapata and Villa became formal allies in this period, but it was only in principle. Like Zapata, Villa was strongly in favor of land reform, but his plans were not implemented when he had power. At the height of his power and popularity in late 1914 and early 1915, the U.S. considered recognizing him as Mexico's legitimate authority. Civil war broke out when Carranza challenged Villa. Villa was decisively defeated by Constitutionalist General Alvaro Obregón in summer 1915, and the U.S. aided Carranza directly against Villa in the Second Battle of Agua Prieta in November 1915. Much of Villa's army left after Villa's defeat on the battlefield and his lack of resources to buy arms and pay soldiers' salaries. Angered at the U.S. aid to Carranza, Villa conducted a raid on the border town of Columbus, New Mexico to goad the U.S. to invade Mexico in 1916-17. Despite a major contingent of soldiers and the latest military technology, the U.S. failed to capture Villa. When President Carranza was ousted from power in 1920, Villa negotiated an amnesty with interim President Adolfo de la Huerta and was given a landed estate, on the condition he retire from politics. He was assassinated in 1923. Although his faction did not prevail in the Revolution, he is one of its most charismatic and prominent figures.

Pancho Villa Expedition 1916 U.S. military operation against revolutionary forces in northern Mexico

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.

Battle of Carrizal

The Battle of Carrizal occurred on the 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.

Battle of Columbus (1916) 1916 raid of Columbus, New Mexico, USA by a Mexican revolutionary force

The Battle of Columbus, March 9, 1916, began as a raid conducted by 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.

Second Battle of Agua Prieta Battle of the Mexican Revolution

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.

Jacinto B. Treviño

General Jacinto Blas Treviño González was a Mexican military officer, noteworthy for his participation in the Mexican Revolution of 1910 to 1921.

Mexican Border War (1910–1919) Mexican-American military engagements

The Mexican Border War, or the Border Campaign, refers to the military engagements which took place in the Mexico–United States border region of North America during the Mexican Revolution. The war's time period encompassed World War I, during which Germany attempted to have Mexico attack the United States and engaged in hostilities against American forces there itself. The Border War was the fifth and latest major conflict fought on American soil, where its predecessors were the American Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican–American War (1846–1848) and the American Civil War. The end of the Mexican Revolution on 1 December 1920, marked the close of the American Frontier. The Bandit War in Texas was part of the Border War. From the beginning of the Mexican Revolution in 1910, the United States Army was stationed in force along the border and on several occasions fought with Mexican rebels or federals. The height of the conflict came in 1916 when revolutionary Pancho Villa attacked the American border town of Columbus, New Mexico. In response, the United States Army, under the direction of General John J. Pershing, launched an expedition into northern Mexico, to find and capture Villa. Although Villa was not captured, the US Army found and engaged the Villista rebels, killing Villa's two top lieutenants. The revolutionary himself escaped and the American army returned to the United States in January 1917. Conflict at the border continued, however, and the United States launched several additional, though smaller operations into Mexican territory until after the American victory in the Battle of Ambos Nogales in August 1918, leading to the establishment of a permanent border wall. Conflict was not only subject to Villistas and Americans; Maderistas, Carrancistas, Constitutionalistas and Germans also engaged in battle with American forces during this period.

Plan of San Diego

The Plan of San Diego was drafted in San Diego, Texas, in 1915 by a group of unidentified Mexican and Tejano rebels who hoped to secede Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Texas from the United States and create a racial utopia for Native Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, and African Americans. The plan called for the execution of all white men over the age of sixteen.

The Ojo de Agua Raid was the last important military engagement between Mexican Seditionistas and the United States Army. It took place at Ojo de Agua, Texas. As part of the Plan of San Diego, the rebels launched a raid across the Rio Grande into Texas on October 21, 1915 aimed at harassing the American outposts along the Mexican border and disrupting the local economy. After moving across the border, the Seditionistas began an assault against the United States Army Signal Corps station at Ojo de Agua. The small group of American defenders was cornered into a single building and suffered heavy casualties before reinforcements arrived driving the Seditionist force back into Mexico. The raid proved to be the tipping point in the American conflict with the Seditionistas, as its severity convinced American officials to send large numbers of American troops to the area in order to deter any further serious border raids by the Mexican force.

Battle of Parral

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.

Battle of Guerrero

The Battle of Guerrero, or the Battle of San Geronimo, 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 Mexican 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.

Garza Revolution

The Garza Revolution, or the Garza War, was an armed conflict fought in the Mexican state of Coahuila and the American state of Texas between 1891 and 1893. It began when the revolutionary Catarino Garza launched a campaign into Mexico from Texas to start an uprising against the dictator Porfirio Diaz. Because of this violation of neutrality, the United States Army became involved and assisted the Mexican Army in tracking down Garza's followers. The war was relatively minor compared to other similar conflicts in Mexican history though it has been seen as a precursor to the major Mexican Revolution from 1910 to 1920.

The Bandit War, or Bandit Wars, was a series of raids in Texas, started in 1915 before finally culminating in 1919, that were carried out by Mexican rebels from the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Chihuahua. Prior to 1914, the Carrancista faction was 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 the annexation of the border states to Mexico. However, the Seditionistas were never able to launch a full-scale invasion of the United States so they resorted to conducting small raids into Texas. Much of the fighting involved the Texas Ranger Division, though the United States Army also engaged in small unit actions with bands of Seditionist raiders.

Raid on Glenn Springs

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.

Brite Ranch raid

The Brite Ranch raid was an incident that occurred on Christmas day 1917, in which Mexican raiders crossed the Rio Grande border and attacked a ranch in Presidio County, Texas. At the time the raiders were thought to be Villistas, as they were 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, but another more violent episode was directly caused by the raid when on January 27, 1918, a force of Texas Rangers executed 15 Mexicans in what became known as the Porvenir Massacre.

Battle of Nogales (1915)

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.

Battle of Ciudad Juárez (1919)

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.

Neville Ranch raid

The Nevill Ranch raid occurred on the night of March 25, 1918 and was the last serious attack on a Texas ranch by Mexican rebels during the Bandit War. Though it is not certain, there was reason to believe 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, under pursuit by a cavalry of American soldiers. A small battle was fought at Pilares on the following day, several more people were killed, and the Americans burned the village before they returned to Texas.

Porvenir massacre (1918)

The Porvenir massacre was an incident on January 28, 1918 outside the village of Porvenir in Presidio County, Texas, in which Texas Rangers and local ranchers, with the support of U.S. Cavalry, killed 15 unarmed Mexican American boys and men. The Texas Rangers Company B was sent to the area to stop banditry after the Brite Ranch raid. Despite having no evidence that the Porvenir villagers were involved in recent thefts or the killings of ranchers, the Rangers separated 15 men and boys from the rest of the village and shot them on a nearby hill.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "WARNING SENT TO PERSHING; President and His Cabinet Discuss Most Serious Breach Since Vera Cruz. NOTE TO FIRST CHIEF READY Administration Has No Intention of Withdrawing Troops from Their Present Lines. CROSS RIVER AT SAN IGNACIO Detachment of Soldiers Defies Peril of Attack, but Fails to Find Bandits Trail" (PDF). The New York Times. June 17, 1916.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Stout, pg. 82–84
  3. 1 2 "DE LA ROSA, LUIS". Texas State Handbook Online. 2010-06-12. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  4. ↑ Stout, pg. 67–76
  5. ↑ Beede, pg. 218
  6. ↑ United States War Department, pg. 188
  7. ↑ "SAN YGNACIO, TX". Texas State Handbook Online. 2010-06-15. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  8. 1 2 http://dmna.ny.gov/historic/reghist/mexBorder/New_York_Division_NG_Record_Mexican_Border.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  9. ↑ "A troubled past: the army and security on the Mexican border, 1915-1917". Military Review. 2008.
  10. ↑ "Mexican Graves Killed by 14 Cavalry Border War Postcard (04/25/2010)". Worthpoint. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  11. 1 2 3 Smith, pg. 433
  12. 1 2 The Independent, Volume 86, pg. 504–505
  13. ↑ Communications, Emmis (January 1986). Texas Monthly . Retrieved 27 November 2014.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.