Intervention!: The United States and the Mexican Revolution, 1913-1917

by John S. D. Eisenhower

Overview

Powerful and compelling. . . . Eisenhower is not only an accomplished military historian, he's also a storyteller in the tradition of Bruce Caton and Shelby Foote."—Steve Neal, Chicago Sun-Times

In May 1916, six American soldiers led by Lieutenant George S. Patton, Jr., surrounded a building near Rubio, Chihuahua. When the occupants burst out of the door, guns blazing, Patton and his men cut them down. A month later seventy American troopers charged into a strong Mexican position at Carrizal; ten were killed and twenty-three taken prisoner. In 1914, a powerful American naval force seized Mexico's principal seaport, Veracruz, and occupied the city for six months. Yet, all the while, Mexico and the United States were technically at peace.

The United States began its involvement in the Mexican Revolution in 1913 with President Woodrow Wilson's decision to remove Victoriana Huerta, leader of a military junta that overthrew and murdered Mexico's president, Francisco Madero. Diplomatic actions failing, Wilson occupied Veracruz, cutting off Huerta's supplies of arms from abroad. When in 1916 the legendary bandit Pancho Villa raided Columbus, New Mexico, Wilson sent General John J. Pershing into Chihuahua to capture him.

This story leads readers to increased respect for the people of Mexico and its revolutionary leaders—Zapata, Obregon, Carranza, and Pancho Villa. It shows that, while American troops performed well, U.S. intervention had no effect on the outcome of the Mexican Revolution. The American army had a taste of battle and Pershing went on to become the greatest American hero of the First World War.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393313185
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	07/17/1995
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	850,686
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

John Eisenhower is the author of several books, including The Bitter Woods, Allies: Pearl Harbor to D-Day, and So Far From God. He lives in Trappe, Maryland.

Editorial Reviews

Retired brigadier general Eisenhower describes U.S. involvement in the Mexican Revolution and Wilson's confrontations with junta leader Victoriano Huerta and legendary bandit Pancho Villa. (July)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Eisenhower ( So Far from God : The U.S. War with Mexico , LJ 4/15/89) has written an excellent account of U.S.-Mexican relations from 1913 to 1917. By focusing on the principal leaders in Mexico and the United States, he presents a clear picture of the Mexican civil war and America's intervention. This clear, concise, well-written account allows the reader to see what happened and why it occurred. The author does not cast blame on either side but shows the strengths and weaknesses of each of the major participants. He explodes many of the myths surrounding the Mexican civil war. Unlike Robert Quirk's An Affair of Honor: Woodrow Wilson and the Occupation of Veracruz (1967), Eisenhower presents the complete picture of the major leaders and events surrounding this incident. For informed lay readers as well as scholars.-- Richard P. Hedlund, Ashland Community Coll., Ky.

Library Journal