Pancho Villa Expedition

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Staging area for truck trains that supplied troops of General John J. Pershing during the Pancho Villa Expedition, in Columbus,NM

The Pancho Villa Expedition (also called the Punitive Expedition) was an abortive military operation conducted by the United States against the military forces of Pancho Villa from 1916 to 1917. The expedition was in retaliation for Villa's invasion of the United States and attack on the village of Columbus, New Mexico in Luna County during the Mexican Revolution. The US Army Center of Military History officially refers to the campaign as the Mexican Expedition. The official beginning and ending dates are March 14, 1916 and February 7, 1917.

1 Villa's attacks
2 Campaign
3 Withdrawal
4 U.S. Army Units involved in the Punitive Expedition
5 Also See
6 References

[edit] Villa's attacks

Trouble with Villa had been growing since 1915, when the United States government disappointed Villa by giving its support to the Carranza government of Mexico. In revenge, Villa directed his men to harass and harm U.S. citizens along the border. The most serious incident occurred in January 1916, when 17 American employees of the ASARCO company were removed from a train at Santa Isabel Chihuahua, and summarily stripped, executed, and mutilated. Villa kept his men south of the border to avoid a direct confrontation with the U.S. Army forces that were being deployed to protect the border.

In the early morning of March 9, 1916, Villa's forces attacked Columbus, New Mexico and its local detachment of the U.S. 13th Cavalry Regiment. They killed several citizens, burned the town, and took many horses and mules, along with a small amount of cash and merchandise removed from shops, before they slipped back into Mexico.

General John J. Pershing, in his Casas Grandes encampment, studies telegraphed orders

[edit] Campaign

On March 19, on orders from President Woodrow Wilson, General John J. Pershing led an invasion force of 10,000 men into Mexico to capture Villa. The newly adopted airplane, Curtiss JN-2, was used to conduct aerial surveillance. Villa had already had more than a week to disperse and conceal his forces before the punitive expedition tried to seek them out in unmapped, foreign terrain.

Pershing divided his force into two columns to seek out Villa. Pershing made his main base encampment at Casas Grandes, Chihuahua. Due to disputes with the Carranza administration over the use of the Mexico North Western Railway to supply his troops, the Army employed a truck-train system to convoy supplies to Pershing's encampment. The Signal Corps set up wireless telegraph service from the border to Pershing's HQ.

In June, Lt. George S. Patton raided a small community and killed Julio Cárdenas and two other men. Cárdenas was an important leader in the Villista military organization. In July, U.S. forces including elements of the 7th Cavalry and the African-American U.S. 10th Cavalry Regiment attacked Mexican Federal army troops in an engagement in the Battle of Carrizal, Chihuahua, resulting in many cavalry troops becoming prisoners of the Federals, and effectively ending the 10th Cavalry's usefulness in the Villa campaign. ^[1] Another skirmish with Federals took place north of Parral, Chihuahua on April 12.^[2] Carranza sent General Jacinto Treviño to warn Pershing of armed Federal resistance to any further advances of Pershing's forces into other areas, and that troop movements in the direction north to the border would be the only movements acceptable to the Carranza government.

The expedition bogged down due to its lack of success, tension with Mexican officials and citizens, and the attraction of liquor that was provided by cantinas that remained open all night to provide service to the thirsty soldiers. Another salient feature of the campaign was the regulated brothel operated under official auspices as the "Remount Station," with the rate per copulation set at $2. A prophylactic was issued to each man upon his admission to the precincts, to prevent sexually transmitted infection among the troops.

While the expedition did make contact with Villista formations and killed two of his generals, it failed in its major objectives, neither stopping border raids (which continued while the expedition was in Mexico) nor capturing Villa.

[edit] Withdrawal

The bulk of American forces were withdrawn in January 1917. Pershing publicly claimed the expedition was a success, although privately he complained to family that President Wilson had imposed too many restrictions, which made it impossible for him to fulfill his mission.

Soldiers who took part in the campaign were honored with the Mexican Service Medal.