The Pancho Villa Expedition: The History of the U.S. Army’s Attempt to Capture Mexico’s Most Famous Revolutionary

by Charles River Editors

“Pancho Villa,” people whispered at the beginning of the 20th century, "can march 100 miles without stopping, live 100 days without food, go 100 nights without sleep, and kill 100 men without remorse." The legend of Francisco Villa is full of heroism, tragedy and romance, a story about how a poor farmer boy became a bandit after avenging an injustice on his family and transformed into a military genius who fled from an oppressive government to lead the largest revolutionary army in his country's history. He defeated a dictatorship to become Mexico´s liberator, only to fall again in disgrace when his troops abandoned him or were massacred by the enemy. Pancho Villa and his cavalry, Mexicans point out with a certain amount of pride, invaded the United States, and although they came and tried to capture him, they never found him. This is, at least, the version that most of them know, but it's certainly not the same as in their textbooks. Pancho Villa´s personality has been controversial since the very beginning of his career as a general of the revolutionary army, but for many Mexicans, he is a hero.

At 4:00 a.m. on the morning of March 9, 1916, Villa and about 500 Mexican soldiers attacked the town of Columbus, New Mexico, a rare time instance when the continental United States was attacked by a foreign army with their "boots on the ground." At that time, the population of Columbus was 600, and it hasn´t changed much since then. More than a real city, Columbus was a stop-by place, with three hotels, a bank, no more than 10 stores, and Ford and Coca-Cola agencies.

Whatever his reasons, Villa crossed the border after midnight with 100 loyal soldiers, and a few hours later, his men stormed the peacefully sleeping town, or at least so it seemed. Villa's men attacked Columbus from four directions, shooting high and low, looting shops, and burning everything in its path. The townspeople woke up, terrified - they had been warned about the danger of raids by Mexican bandits, but this was more like an army, and people began to flee in terror.

The tables soon turned when Villa made a terrible mistake. In addition to having its own newspaper and Coca-Cola agency, Columbus was prepared to repel an invasion by bandits south of the border. The 13th U.S. Cavalry was stationed in the village, well stocked with four machine guns and 400 highly trained soldiers, and the American soldiers responded efficiently, shooting over 20,000 machine gun rounds and killing 90 of Villa´s men, who were only able to hit eight American soldiers and 10 civilians. However, before reinforcements arrived from Fort Bliss, Villa had managed to ride, rejoicing in the fire and destruction, and as usual, he escaped, leaving behind a trail of incalculable damage. Existing photographs from that morning of March 10 depict the poor village as if a hurricane had passed through, leaving desolation and ruin in its wake.

Despite the ultimate failure of the punitive expedition, it unwittingly changed the military history of the United States. Not only was the expedition the first military action in preparation for World War I, but his was also the last military operation to use cavalry and the first one to use mechanical vehicles, including aircraft. General Pershing had also captured high-powered weapons and hundreds of horses and pack-animals, which were returned to the region's inhabitants. However, he always remained frustrated over his failure, and privately, the famous general admitted that “when the true history is written, it will not be a very inspiring chapter for school children, or even grownups to contemplate. Having dashed into Mexico with the intention of eating the Mexicans raw, we turned back at the first repulse and are now sneaking home under cover, like a whipped cur with its tail between its legs.”

70 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 18, 2026

About the author

Charles River Editors is an independent publisher of thousands of ebooks on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Apple iBookstore & provider of original content for third parties.