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PANCHO VILLA
The Revolutionary Hero
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In November 1910, the Mexican Revolution began in the state of Chihuahua as
poor peasants became frustrated with the high cost of food and continued mistreatment
by the rich landowners. This anger had been building for many years and it finally
just erupted into violence. The revolutionaries quickly organized and elected
their military leaders.
Pancho Villa was voted as a First Commander and led a force of 28 men. Villa
was now 32 years old, with much experience leading men who had but one goal
in mind, victory. Villa also had the reputation of being one of Mexico’s
best gunfighters. One of friends later said, “His gun was more important
to him than eating and sleeping.”
Villa was also known to not drink, smoke, or take any kind of illegal drug.
He was known as a ruthless man whose anger could turn into a raging fury. Villa
was loyal to the men he respected and trusted. However if he was betrayed, he
would instantly try and sentence the culprit all in one action.
Pancho Villa was quickly seen as a guerrilla fighter and shortly into the war
would become one of the most important military leaders of the Mexican Revolution.
He was the first revolutionary leader to defeat regular government soldiers.
Villa’s contingent soon numbered nearly 500 as his men won continual battles.
Villa and the Dorados, “the golden Ones”, his ferocious cavalry would
attack, firing accurately at a full gallop from their charging horses in the
style of warfare perfected by the Apache and Comanches who the Dorados’
fathers had fought a generation earlier.
By 1913 Villa led a revolutionary force numbering about 3,000. They are known
as the División del Norte. They were known for their strong cavalry charges.
Villa had now begun successfully attacking at night. This seriously damaged
the morale of the federal troops.
Villa was a strong leader who made his presence known to all. He was known to
surprise his men and sit down at one of the campfires where they were making
their food. He would ask if he could join them and then sat down alongside and
eat whatever they had. This made him very popular among the troops and also
made sure he would not be poisoned.
The battle for Torreon was to make Villa a national leader. He had sent in 16,000
revolutionary soldiers who attacked night and day. The fighting included much
hand-to-hand combat and was very bloody. The federal leaders withdrew about
4,000 troops and replaced them with 6,000 fresh ones. They soon became weary
and feared the night attacks. After ten days and nights of engagement, Villa’s
fighters were rejoicing in their apparent victory as the federal army withdrew
to the south.
Col Villa and his troops place themselves under command of Francisco Madero
at the Hacienda de Bustillos, Chi. 1911
The battle of Zacatecas would be known as the largest and bloodiest battle during
the revolution against Huerta. This was a beautiful city surrounded by hills
and several small villages. However, these picturesque streets would soon be
filled with flowing blood thousands of dead soldiers and civilians from both
sides.
Villa had brought in about 12,000, the federal forces had about as many. His
troops began shelling the town from all directions. Cannon shells rocked the
town. As the cannons slowed their barrage, some civilians and soldiers came
out from behind their shelter only to be hit by a hail of bullets. Reports later
said that about 20,000 rifles were showering the town at the same time.
After the fighting, a witness reported seeing hundreds of dead bodies and dead
horses in all the city streets. Nearly 1,000 bodies were collected and piled
up high. About 500 federal troops, who had surrendered, were taken to a cemetery
and shot in the head one by one. In the end the total killed were: 6,000 federal
troops, 1,000 revolutionaries, and a large number of civilians had been killed
or injured.
Villa continued his victorious assaults against the federal troops for several
years more. However, he was going to taste a major defeat in Celaya against
Obregon in April of 1915. He had two major problems. First he did not have reinforcements
prepared, but if he had, he did not have sufficient ammunition to continue the
fighting.
There were actually two battles at Celaya. The first had Villa using his cavalry
charges of the past. This proved to be disastrous as Obregon was prepared for
charges on horseback and on foot and fought hard to repel the Villista’s
forty different times. Obregon’s machine guns kept spraying the valiant
revolutionaries. They finally fell back when Obregon ordered his bugler to sound
retreat for the Villasta’s. They fell for the trick and abandoned their
positions.
This gave Obregon time to prepare for a second battle and the federal troops
set up barbed wire fences, filled irrigation ditches with water and hid 6,000
cavalry soldiers in a nearby forest. Villa and his men were overconfident and
did no scouting of the area. This proved to be a fatal error as the irrigation
ditches slowed the Villista’s and the machine guns had target practice.
The barbed wire fences also did their job by slowing more soldiers and then
the hidden cavalry attacked.
Villa’s troops just ran off humiliated, leaving 32 cannon and 3,000 dead
comrades. Another 6,000 had been captured, along with 1,000 of their horses.
Obregon asked the Villasta officers to identify themselves, promising none would
be hurt. One hundred and twenty officers stepped forward and were immediately
shot.
With this major defeat, the once proud and victorious División del Norte,
had now stopped being a major military force for Pancho Villa. He was now retreating
to northern Mexico, where he had been victorious in days gone by. He was still
not accepting the fact that his army had also been beaten morally.
Mex Rev. soldier and his family along railroad tracks
Villa financed his army by stealing cattle herds in northern Mexico and selling
them north of the border, where he found plenty of American businessmen willing
to sell him guns and bullets. Faced with a sluggish economy, he issued his own
money; if merchants refused to take it, they risked being shot.
Villa became a sort of folk hero in the U.S. Even Hollywood filmmakers and U.S.
newspaper photographers flocked to Northern Mexico to record his battles--many
of which were staged for the cameras.
Even as Villa was quickly becoming a legend, he was still thinking of the terrible
loss at Celaya. Rumors were spreading that President Wilson had aided Obregon
and Carranza in their defeat of Villa. This was reportedly done by allowing
them to use U.S. railroads to transport their troops to Celaya. Perhaps the
Americans were hoping the Mexicans would kill each other off.
Villa may have also thought this as he decided to fight Americans, instead of
fellow Mexicans. A few months later he attacked Columbus, New Mexico in March
of 1916.
Katz, Freidrich, Katz. The Life and Times of Pancho Villa. Stanford
University Press, 1998.
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