PANCHO VILLA the

EXPEDITION

America’s foray southward

Revolutionary Mexican bandits, courageous American officers, and a hint of media sensation-alism – the Pancho Villa Expedition may be little more than a footnote in today’s textbooks, but it captured the imagination of Americans nationwide with stories of cross-border raids

and desert battles. It is sometimes these forgotten chapters of American history that provide the richest views of where this country has been—and where it is going.

text and layout by Liam Greenamyre

“It is not to be wondered at that the personality of “Pancho” Villa, with its strange contradictions, is one

that appeals to the imagination to a greater degree than any other man now in the public eye…Perhaps it was this appeal that drew newspaper writers around him and thus gave him a publicity which other big figures in Mexican affairs have missed…It is about him that are woven the most romantic and fantastic

stories, all interesting and some true”

- The Chicago Tribune, 1915

he man known as Francisco “Pancho” Villa first rose to prominence in Mexico for a series of violent attacks against Mexico’s entitled hacendado class – the entitled few with land, money, and power in a nation stricken by crippling poverty. When the Mexican Revolution broke out, Villa became Mexico’s most famous paramilitary leader and played an important role in the overthrow of Mexico’s long-time autocratic strong man, Porfirio Diaz. In the long and complicated succession struggle that fol-lowed, Villa was a leading candidate for Mexico’s presi-dency. As he won a series of breathtaking military victo-ries in the North of Mexico, Pancho Villa’s story became an object of fascination for the American media.

Although Villa was no foreign policy expert, he rec-ognized that if he was to be successful as the leader of Mexico, he needed to obtain diplomatic recognition from the American government. Not only would this recognition provide him with international legitimacy, it would also bring the credit, weaponry, and an occasional cross-border refuge that he so desperately needed. Villa carefully planned his maneuvers with an eye to American interests, and developed a propagandistic relationship with the American media.

n October of 1915, however, the United States re-versed its previous position and recognized the govern-ment of Villa’s rival Venustiano Carranza. Carranza de-clared Villa an outlaw and his troops pursued him to the farthest northern reaches of the country. On November 1, 1915, Villa’s once-terrifying troops were defeated at Agua Prieta, crippling Villa’s military effectiveness. Car-ranza had made use of an American rail line to transport his troops, so, in Villa’s eyes, the United States had mate-rially aided in his defeat.

Defeated and discredited as a leader of the revolution, Pancho Villa soon returned to his old ways as a simple bandit. On January 10 of 1816, Villa’s men stopped a train carrying American miners and engineers, who had been guaranteed safe passage by Carranza’s government. Villa lined them up, stripped off their clothes, and ex-ecuted them. Pancho Villa had left his presidential ambi-tions behind—now, he simply wanted revenge.

Left: Villa meets with American military leaders at Fort Dix, Texas. Villa often consulted with American officials in order to gain the country’s support.

Above: After falling out of favor with the leader of Mexico’s armed forces, Villa faces a firing squad. He stalls, buying time until a last minute inter-vention by the president’s brother saves his life.

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n March 8, Villa was camped slightly south of the American border with 485 of his Villistas. Villa was tired, humiliated, and desperately low on supplies and muni-tions. He sent two of his officers across the border to the small town of Columbus, New Mexico to perform reconnaissance. They returned reporting that there was a garrison of only thirty soldiers stationed there, and at 4:17 the following morning, the Villistas invaded. The town, taken entirely by surprise, was awoken to cries of “¡Viva Villa!” and “¡Muerte a los gringos!”.

Lieutenant John P. Lucas woke to see a horseman ride by his window with the high sombrero typical of Villa’s men. Under cover of darkness, he ran alongside the attackers, towards the barracks, where he roused his men and lead them to the guard tent, where their weap-ons were under lock and key. The Villistas terrorized the town, raided supplies and weapons, and burned down a city block, including the Commercial Hotel, owned by Sam Ravel. According to legend, Ravel had reneged on a deal to provide Villa with arms, while keeping Villa’s payment.

Villa’s men began to flee the city around 6:30 AM, taking a hill to the Southeast of the town to cover their retreat. Major Frank Tompkins lead their pursuit, and earned the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions that day. The battle left eighteen Americans and more than seventy of Villa’s men dead, and Pancho made off with machine guns, ammunition, and more than a hun-dred horses and mules.

he attack on Columbus was not the only raid that oc-curred during the Mexican Revolution; it was merely the worst in a series of actions that had made life on the bor-der a nightmare of constant peril. Pressure was mounting on the Wilson Administration to do something to coun-teract the Mexican bandits. The President responded by sending General John J. Pershing and 5,000 troops into Mexico and stationing that National Guard along the border. Their objectives: capture Pancho Villa and to stop the cross-border raids.

The town, taken entirely by surprise, was awoken to cries of “¡Viva Villa!” and “¡Muerte a los gringos!”

Left: The sleepy town of Columbus, New Mexico and its military garrison before Pancho Villa’s attack.

Above: Gerneral John J. Pershing leads his troops across the border.

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By the time Pershing was dispatched, however, Villa had already had a week to disperse and hide his troops, and he was advantaged in his deep knowledge of the So-noran desert and Sierra Mountains. Pershing split his men into two columns and began the pursuit.

Pershing’s men made contact with Villa’s troops in a series of skirmishes, but the most intense fighting came on June 21, 1916, at Carrizal. Pershing’s men came in contact with Mexican Federal Army troops, and in the ensuing battle, the African-American 10th Cavalry Unit was nearly destroyed, with numerous casualties and pris-oners taken.

In June of that year, Lieutenant George S. Patton raided a small town in search of Julio Cárdenas, one of Villa’s most important military leaders. Patton killed the man himself, and is reported to have carved a notch into his revolver to signify the accomplishment. (Patton, of course, would go on to become one of World War II’s most important, and controversial, generals.)

The expedition made it as far south as Parral, 400 miles from the border, and very well could have lead to a full-scale war with Mexico, had it not been for the outbreak of the World War I. Although Pershing’s men further hamstrung Villa’s forces and killed two of his most important generals, the mission failed in its pri-mary objectives—Villa was not captured, and the border raids continued. The expedition, however, marked the first time that airplanes were used in US military opera-tions, with the army deploying several Curtiss “Jennies” for aerial reconnaissance, and the first time that Harley-Davidson supplied motorcycles to the military. Although

Pershing publically claimed that the expedition was a success, he privately admitted to having been “outwit-ted and out-bluffed at every turn.” He would later state, “when the true history is written, it will not be a very inspiring chapter for school children, or even grownups to contemplate. Having dashed into Mexico with the in-tention of eating the Mexicans raw, we turned back at the first repulse and are now sneaking home under cover, like a whipped curr with its tail between its legs.”

erhaps the story Pancho Villa expedition can be read as a premonition of things to come—a failed mission in the desert, with the goal of toppling a leader that the government had previously sup-ported. At any rate, the outbreak of the Great War in Europe would soon draw our troops and atten-tion overseas, and this chapter of America’s history would be quickly overshadowed. But it bears re-peating, for its lessons ring true even today.

Perhaps the story Pancho Villa expedition can be read as a premonition of things to come—a failed mission in the desert, with the goal of toppling a leader that the govern-

ment had previously supported.

Above: Pancho Villa, revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, and their men celebrate in the presidential palace following their short-lived ouster of Venustiano Carranza.

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