Julio Cárdenas (unknown – May 14, 1916[1]) 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 'Black Jack' Pershing, to eradicate the Villa gang. One of Pershing's aides-de-camp was Lt. George S. Patton. Cárdenas was hiding in a house as Patton drove by with ten Americans, leading a procession of cars. Cárdenas and his men opened fire on the Americans, resulting in a small firefight between the two groups.
In the skirmish, Lt. Patton shot Cárdenas with his six-gun[2]. Patton then put a notch in his gun, and strapped Cárdenas to the hood of his car (along with two other dead villistas).[3] He later took Cárdenas's spurs as a souvenir. These spurs are now in the Museum of WWII, all that remains of Cárdenas' legacy.