Battle of Columbus (1916)

Battle of Columbus Part of the Mexican Revolution Border War Columbus, after the battle. Date March 9, 1916 Location Columbus, New Mexico Result US victory, forced Mexican withdrawal Belligerents Villistas United States Commanders and leaders Pancho Villa Herbert H. Slocum Frank Tompkins Strength ~500 ~330 Casualties and losses 73 killed ~11 wounded 2 captured 92 killed 18 wounded The five captured Mexicans were executed by hanging after the battle.

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

The Battle of Columbus, the Burning of Columbus or the Columbus Raid began as a raid conducted by Pancho Villa's Division of the North on the small United States border town of Columbus, New Mexico in March 1916. The raid escalated into a full scale battle between Villistas and the United States Army. Villa himself led the assault, only to be driven back into Mexico by elements of the 13th Cavalry. The attack angered Americans and President Woodrow Wilson ordered the Pancho Villa Expedition in which the US Army invaded Mexico in an unsuccessful attempt to capture General Villa.

U.S. enters Mexico in 1916 to punish Pancho Villa

Battle

After the 1915 Battle of Celaya, where Villa sustained his greatest defeat, the Division of the North was in shambles, wandering around northern Mexico foraging for supplies. Lacking the military supplies, money and munitions he needed in order to successfully pursue his war against Mexican President Venustiano Carranza, Villa planned the raid and camped his army of an estimated 500 horsemen outside of Palomas on the Mexican side of the border. The reasons for the raid have never been established. At their camp, Villa and his men waited for his returning patrols.

After the return of Villa's patrols, who told him that only about thirty soldiers garrisoned Columbus, Villa moved north. He launched a two-pronged attack on the town on March 9 when most of the town's population was asleep, along with most of the garrison. After they entered the town at 4:15 am, shouting "Viva Villa" and other phrases, the townspeople awoke to an army of Villista cavalry burning their settlement and looting their homes. The Camp Commander, Colonel Herbert Slocum had been advised the day before that Villa and his soldiers were on the move against Columbus. This warning was given by Juan Favela, the foreman of a ranch near Palomas (3 miles south), who had seen them headed north the day before the attack. The warning was ignored. After dismissing Favela, Col. Slocum left the Camp for Deming (32 miles north)to catch the train into El Paso to attend an "officers call".

Despite being taken by surprise, the Americans quickly recovered with the soldiers grabbing a machine gun and their Springfield rifles and running to defensible positions around the Camp. Unfortunately for the attackers, the town's garrison consisted of a 330-strong detachment of the 13th Cavalry. In addition, many of the townspeople were armed with rifles and shotguns. Many residents took refuge in the two story brick schoolhouse. Eighteen of the defenders and about eighty of the attackers were killed.

Villa's men looted many houses and burned them; fighting civilians defended their homes. It is not known if Villa was with the raiding party. To observe the action, Villa's commanders and about two dozen men took up position on Cootes hill overlooking Columbus. The Villistas fought the pursuing American troops and civilians until a bugler sounded the order to retreat. With Colonel Slocum gone, Major Frank Tompkins led the pursued Villa into Mexico and inflicted heavy losses onto Villa's forces despite being wounded himself, for which he received the Army Distinguished Service Medal and the Distinguished Service Cross in 1918.

Aftermath

In spite of Villa proclaiming that the raid was a success by evidence of captured arms and equipment as well as dozens of horses and mules from the town, the raid was a disaster for him; casualties were more than 100 of his force which had consisted of 400 to 500 men. A machine gun troop led by First Lieutenant and later Major General John P. Lucas fired over 2,000 machine gun rounds that morning. Mexican casualties were confirmed to be at least 67 killed in action plus about 13 more who died from wounds, over 100 non-fatally wounded whom escaped. Six were taken prisoner and tried; one was acquitted and five were convicted and executed by hanging.

Despite a fight of more than an hour and the burning of several buildings, American casualties were much smaller than Villa's. Eight soldiers and ten civilians were killed and six soldiers and two civilians were wounded. The dead Villa soldiers were dragged south of the stockyards, soaked with kerosene and burned. The United States lost no time in responding The Battle of Columbus was a direct cause of the Pancho Villa Expedition, a punitive expedition led by General John "Black Jack" Pershing (former Commander of the West Point Military Academy)to track down and capture or kill the attackers, including Villa. In the search, the Army used Jenny airplanes for reconnaissance and trucks to carry supplies (both firsts for the Army) They scoured potions of northern Mexico for 6 months but Villa was not found. When the United States entered World War I, these troops were withdrawn from Mexico and sent to France.

In commemoration of Pancho Villa's attack on Columbus, the State of New Mexico Parks Commission established Pancho Villa Historical Park in Columbus. It welcomes RVs and is located near Cootes hill across the Palomas road from the site of Camp Furlong. There is a museum at the Park with a Jenny and original equipment.

See also

• Village of Columbus and Camp Furlong, a U.S. National Historic Landmark District
• Pancho Villa State Park

Further reading

• Braddy, Haldeen (1965) Pancho Villa at Columbus Texas Western College Press, El Paso, Texas, OCLC 2235175
• Finley, James P. (1993) "Buffalo Soldiers at Huachuca: Villa's Raid on Columbus"] Huachuca Illustrated: a magazine of the Fort Huachuca Museum Vol. 1, Part 12 online
• Katz, Friedrich. "Pancho Villa and the Attack on Columbus, New Mexico," American Historical Review 83#1 (1978), pp. 101-130 in JSTOR
• Rakocy, Bill (1981) Villa raids Columbus, N.Mex., Mar. 9, 1916 Bravo Press, El Paso, Texas, OCLC 7629090
• White, E. Bruce and Francisco Villa, "The Muddied Waters of Columbus, New Mexico," The Americas 32#1 (July 1975), pp. 72-98 in JSTOR