Pancho Villa Attacks Columbus: U.S. Launches Punitive Expedition

Pancho Villa led approximately 500 mounted guerrillas across the US-Mexico border before dawn on March 9, 1916, and attacked the sleeping town of Columbus, New Mexico, burning buildings, looting stores, and killing 18 Americans — ten civilians and eight soldiers. The raid was the last armed invasion of the continental United States by a foreign force and triggered the largest American military expedition since the Spanish-American War. Villa's motives remain debated. He had been a major figure in the Mexican Revolution since 1910, commanding the Division del Norte that captured key cities across northern Mexico. By 1916, his fortunes had reversed. His rival Venustiano Carranza had gained American diplomatic recognition in October 1915, and the United States had allowed Carranza's troops to travel through American territory by rail to reinforce positions against Villa. Villa saw the Columbus raid as retaliation against American interference and possibly as a provocation designed to undermine Carranza's relationship with Washington. The town of Columbus, population roughly 400, was defended by a detachment of the 13th US Cavalry under Colonel Herbert J. Slocum. Villa's raiders struck at 4:15 AM, screaming "Viva Villa!" and "Muerte a los Americanos!" The surprised cavalrymen rallied and set up machine gun positions that eventually drove the Mexicans back across the border. Villa lost approximately 90 men killed; several more were captured and later executed. President Woodrow Wilson ordered Brigadier General John J. Pershing to lead a Punitive Expedition into Mexico to capture Villa. Pershing crossed the border on March 15 with 4,800 troops that eventually grew to nearly 10,000, including cavalry, infantry, artillery, and for the first time in US military history, motorized vehicles and aircraft used in a combat operation. The expedition penetrated over 350 miles into Mexican territory. Villa was never caught. He dispersed his forces into the Sierra Madre and avoided major engagements while Pershing's supply lines stretched thin across hostile terrain. The expedition was withdrawn in February 1917 as the United States prepared for entry into World War I. The Punitive Expedition served as a training ground for officers who would lead American forces in France, and Pershing's experience in Mexico directly informed his command of the American Expeditionary Forces.