THIS DAY IN HISTORY
PANCHO VILLA RAIDS U.S.:
March 9, 1917
In the early morning of March 9, 1917, several hundred Mexican
guerrillas under
the command of Francisco "Pancho" Villa cross the U.S.-Mexican border
and attack
the small border town of Columbus, New Mexico. Seventeen Americans were
killed
in the raid, and the center of town was burned. It was unclear whether
Villa
personally participated in the attack, but President Woodrow Wilson
ordered the
U.S. Army into Mexico to capture the rebel leader dead or alive.Before
he
invaded the United States, Pancho Villa was already known to Americans
for his
exploits during the Mexican Revolution. He led the famous Divisin del
Norte,
with its brilliant cavalry, Los Dorados, and won control of northern
Mexico
after a series of audacious attacks. In 1914, following the resignation
of
Mexican leader Victoriano Huerta, Pancho Villa and his former
revolutionary ally
Venustiano Carranza battled each other in a struggle for succession. By
the end
of 1915, Villa had been driven north into the mountains, and the U.S.
government
recognized General Carranza as the president of Mexico.In January 1916,
to
protest President Woodrow Wilson's support for Carranza, Villa executed
16 U.S.
citizens at Santa Isabel in northern Mexico. Then, in early March, he
ordered
the raid on Columbus. Cavalry from the nearby Camp Furlong U.S. Army
outpost
pursued the Mexicans, killing several dozen rebels on U.S. soil and in
Mexico
before turning back. On March 15, under orders from President Wilson,
U.S.
Brigadier General John J. Pershing launched a punitive expedition into
Mexico to
capture Villa and disperse his rebels. The expedition eventually
involved some
10,000 U.S. troops and personnel. It was the first U.S. military
operation to
employ mechanized vehicles, including automobiles and airplanes.For 11
months,
Pershing failed to capture the elusive revolutionary, who was aided by
his
intimate knowledge of the terrain of northern Mexico and his popular
support
from the people there. Meanwhile, resentment over the U.S. intrusion
into
Mexican territory led to a diplomatic crisis with the government in
Mexico City.
On June 21, the crisis escalated into violence when Mexican government
troops
attacked a detachment of the 10th Cavalry at Carrizal, Mexico, leaving
12
Americans dead, 10 wounded, and 24 captured. The Mexicans suffered more
than 30
dead. If not for the critical situation in Europe, war might have been
declared.
In January 1917, having failed in their mission to capture Villa, and
under
continued pressure from the Mexican government, the Americans were
ordered
home.Villa continued his guerrilla activities in northern Mexico until
Adolfo de
la Huerta took power over the government and drafted a reformist
constitution.
Villa entered into an amicable agreement with Huerta and agreed to
retire from
politics. In 1920, the government pardoned Villa, but three years later
he was
assassinated at his ranch in Parral.
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