Ojo de Agua Raid

Ojo de Agua Raid
Part of the Bandit War, Mexican Revolution
Date October 21, 1915 Location Ojo de Agua, Texas Result United States victory
Belligerents
Seditionistas	United States
Commanders and leaders
Aniceto Pizana Luis de la Rosca	Ernest Schaeffer †
Strength
25–100 cavalry	22 cavalry 8 infantry
Casualties and losses
7 killed ~9 wounded	4 killed 8 wounded

The Ojo de Agua Raid was the last important military engagement between Mexican Seditionistas and the United States Army. It took place at Ojo de Agua, Texas. As part of the Plan of San Diego, the rebels launched a raid across the Rio Grande into Texas on October 21, 1915 aimed at harassing the American outposts along the Mexican border and disrupting the local economy. After moving across the border, the Seditionistas began an assault against the United States Army Signal Corps station at Ojo de Agua. The small group of American defenders was cornered into a single building and suffered heavy casualties before reinforcements arrived driving the Seditionist force back into Mexico. The raid proved to be the tipping point in the American conflict with the Seditionistas, as its severity convinced American officials to send large numbers of American troops to the area in order to deter any further serious border raids by the Mexican force.

Throughout 1915 Mexican insurgents raided the Texas border region as part of the Plan of San Diego. Supported by the Mexican Carranza government, a group of raiders known as the Seditionistas attacked American military and commercial interests along the United States–Mexican border in an effort to provoke a race war in the Southwestern United States with aims of returning the area to Mexican control. Charged with guarding the border, American General Frederick Funston had 20,000 troops to pit against the few hundred Seditionista insurgents. Nonetheless, the Mexicans never raided in force and the long border was difficult for Funston to fully protect. The Seditionista raids became such a threat to the Americans in the Big Bend area that local vigilante groups were formed in order to repel the Mexican raiders as Funston did not have enough troops to ensure the safety of the American citizens living in the area.

In order to protect the Big Bend region, the United States deployed a number of cavalry and signalmen in various posts along the Texas border. One of these posts was at the village of Ojo de Agua which had been raided on September 3, 1915 and was the planned target of a Seditionista raid in October 1916. The American base at Ojo de Agua under the command of Sergeant Ernest Schaeffer consisted of a radio station manned by approximately ten men from Troop G, 3rd Cavalry, and eight men of the United States Army Signal Corps. The post at Ojo de Agua was lightly defended and seemed to be little match for the 25 to 100 raiders that planned to raid the village.

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