Battle of Guerrero

Part of the Border War, Pancho Villa Expedition, Mexican Revolution

Pancho Villa and his men at Ojinaga, Chihuahua in 1916.

Date	March 29, 1916
Location	Guerrero, Chihuahua, Mexico
Result	United States victory

Belligerents

United States

Villistas

Commanders and leaders

George A. Dodd

Pancho Villa

Elicio Hernandez †

Strength

370 cavalry

200-500 cavalry

Casualties and losses

5 wounded

56 killed
35 wounded

The Battle of Guerrero, or the Battle of San Geronimo, in March 1916, was the first military engagement between the rebels of Pancho Villa and the United States during the Mexican Expedition. After a long ride, elements of the American 7th Cavalry Regiment encountered a large force of Villistas at the town of Guerrero in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. In what was called the "last true cavalry charge," the Americans assaulted the town and routed the defenders, inflicting over seventy-five casualties on the Mexicans with the loss of only five men wounded.

The Mexican Expedition began after Pancho Villa's attack on Columbus, New Mexico on March 9, 1916, in which eighteen American soldiers and civilians were killed. In response to the incident, General John J. Pershing led the United States Army into Mexico with the intention of capturing, or killing, General Villa. On March 27, Villa and his army made a simultaneous nighttime attack on the towns of San Ysidro, Minaca and Guerrero which were held by federal Carrancista troops whom Villa was also campaigning against. At Minaca and Guerrero the Villistas captured the garrisons without resistance, but at San Ysidro, the Carrancistas repulsed the attack. Villa was wounded in his right knee cap during the affair. The wound greatly impaired his command ability over the next few weeks and it nearly led to his capture by American forces. When the Battle of San Ysidro was over, the Villistas retreated to Guerrero and prepared defenses. Around this time, General Pershing received intelligence regarding the location of Villa at Guerrero, 230 miles south of Columbus, so he sent a messenger to Colonel George A. Dodd to move his 370-man force of cavalry into the area. Colonel Dodd was to ride as fast as possible to catch Villa before he moved on. When the Americans arrived at Guerrero on March 29, they had traveled about 400 miles in fourteen days, following their departure from Camp Harvey J. Jones in southern Arizona, including fifty-five miles in the seventeen hours after receiving news of Villa's position. The entire expedition was equipped with inaccurate maps of the Mexican frontier so Colonel Dodd and his men had to rely on a civilian guide, named J. B. Baker, who led the cavalry on a "circular march" across the rugged Sierra Madre.

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Wikipedia