Pancho Villa Expedition

Pancho Villa Expedition
Part of the Mexican Revolution, Border War

Cartoon by Clifford Berryman reflects American attitudes about the expedition
DateMarch 14, 1916[1] – February 7, 1917
(10 months, 3 weeks and 3 days)
Location
State of Chihuahua, Mexico
Result See § Aftermath
Belligerents
 United States

Conventionists

Constitutionalists

Commanders and leaders

Pancho Villa

Álvaro Obregón
Strength
c. 10,000

c. 500 (Conventionists)

22,000 (Constitutionalists)
Casualties and losses
  • 65 killed
  • 67 wounded
  • 3 missing
  • 24 captured[2][n 1]
 Conventionists:
  • 169 killed
  • 115+ wounded
  • 19 captured
Constitutionalists:
General John J. Pershing in his camp at Colonia Dublán, studying telegraphed orders
Pancho Villa wearing bandoliers in front of an insurgent camp

The Pancho Villa Expedition—now known officially in the United States as the Mexican Expedition,[6] but originally referred to as the "Punitive Expedition, U.S. Army"[1]—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the paramilitary forces of Mexican revolutionary Francisco "Pancho" Villa from March 14, 1916, to February 7, 1917, during the Mexican Revolution of 1910–1920.

The expedition was launched in retaliation for Villa's attack on the town of Columbus, New Mexico, and was the most remembered event[by whom?] of the Mexican Border War. The declared objective of the expedition by the Wilson administration was the capture of Villa.[7] Despite locating and defeating the main body of Villa's command who were responsible for the Columbus raid, U.S. forces were unable to achieve Wilson's stated main objective of preventing Villa's escape.

The active search for Villa ended after a month in the field when troops sent by Venustiano Carranza, the head of the Constitutionalist faction of the revolution and then head of the Mexican government, resisted the U.S. incursion. The Constitutionalist forces used arms at the town of Parral to resist passage of a U.S. Army column. The U.S. mission was changed to prevent further attacks on it by Mexican troops and to plan for the possibility of war.[8] When war was averted diplomatically, the expedition remained in Mexico until February 1917 to encourage Carranza's government to pursue Villa and prevent further raids across the border.

  1. ^ a b Pershing report, October 1916, p. 4 (General Orders, No. 1)
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference jjp94 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Appendix M
  4. ^ Pierce, Frank Cushman (1917). A Brief History of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. George Banta. ISBN 9781548742218. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
  5. ^ Finley, James P. (1993). "The Buffalo Soldiers at Fort Huachuca". Huachuca Illustrated. Fort Huachuca Museum. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  6. ^ "Mexican Expedition Campaigns". U.S. Army Center of Military History. Archived from the original on July 18, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2013.
  7. ^ Yockelson, Mitchell. "The United States Armed Forces and the Mexican Punitive Expedition: Part 1". Prologue Magazine, Fall 1997, Vol. 29, No. 3. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  8. ^ Cyrulik, John M. (2003). A Strategic Examination of the Punitive Expedition Into Mexico, 1916–1917, US Army Command and General Staff College, pp. 45, 60.


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