Pancho Villa’s Columbus Raid

Duration: 0:26:13

Year Published: 1982

Format: 16mm

Sound: sound

Description: On the morning of March 9, 1916, a band of Mexican revolutionaries, Villistas led by Pancho Villa, raided the small border town of Columbus, New Mexico, only 80 miles west of El Paso. Members of the U.S. 13th Cavalry stationed at the town’s garrison immediately responded, leading to Villa’s retreat. The Raid was a direct cause of the Pancho Villa Expedition into Mexico only days later. Led by General John J. Pershing, who had a friendly meeting with Villa at Fort Bliss only three years earlier, the punitive expedition included 4,800 troops and became a testing ground for motorized tactics and aerial surveillance. Produced by New Mexico State Parks, this film includes several first hand accounts of the raid from citizens of Columbus, as well as an interesting account of the history of Pancho Villa, the Mexican Revolution, and the United States’ expedition to Mexico.