Battle of Chihuahua (1913)

Battle of Chihuahua
Part of the Mexican Revolution
Date October–November 22, 1913 Location Chihuahua City, Chihuahua Result Government victory Villa captures Juárez
Belligerents
Constitutionalists División del Norte	Government Federal Army
Commanders and leaders
Pancho Villa Rodolfo Fierro E.L Holmdahl	Pascual Orozco
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

The Battle of Chihuahua, also called the Siege of Chihuahua was an engagement of the Mexican Revolution and was fought between October–November 22, 1913. Villa launched an attack upon Chihuahua city itself, the state capitol. The garrison was commanded by Pascual Orozco, who had previously rebelled against Francisco Madero, and now worked for president Victoriano Huerta. The attack was only a diversion and allowed Villa to capture his real target, Ciudad Juárez.

Battle

Following Villa’s victory in the First Battle of Torreón against General Eutiquio Munguía, his División del Norte acquired a large volume of arms and ammunition, which enabled the formation of a substantial artillery company. Villa used captured trains to move his army to Chihuahua City. His old enemy Pascual Orozco, now allied with Huerta, was commanding the garrison there. Villa sent him a demand for surrender, and Orozco replied "Come and take us, you son—of—a—bitch." Enraged, Villa ordered his men to attack.

Villa sent the infantry under the command of the American soldier of fortune, E.L Holmdahl, to lead the assault. The Villistas launched wave after wave of cavalry in an attempt to capture the city, however all attacks were easily repelled with heavy losses, while Holmdahl was wounded with a bullet in the leg.

The attack was only a diversion, as Villa left a small force to surround Chihuahua City and keep up desultory fire, Villa secretly loaded the bulk of his army on trains, abandoned the city and the hated Orozco, and sped towards Juárez. At each station along the 500-mile journey, he sent a phony message to Juárez, reporting the progress of a federal train filled with reinforcements. Then he cut the telegraph wires, while the garrison bought the ruse and on November 15 the Trojan horse pulled into the border city without opposition and captured the town. By the following day, Villa had captured the surprised 300-man garrison, and Villa's self-styled executioner Rodolfo Fierro shot them all. Villa methodically looted the many banks, gambling halls, whorehouses, and saloons in the city. With a large war chest, Villa bought fresh supplies of guns and ammunition that had been smuggled across the nearby US border.

Once Orozco discovered the ruse, he sallied from Chihuahua and easily routed the small force of men left to besiege the city.

Aftermath

Huerta would later be defeated at the Battle of Zacatecas and then exiled, where he died two years later.

Sources

• Meed, Douglas (2003). Soldier of Fortune: Adventuring in Latin America and Mexico with Emil Lewis Holmdahl. Houston, Texas: Halycon Press Ltd.
• Guzmán, Luis Guzmán. Memoirs of Pancho Villa.
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Chihuahua (city)" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

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