The Hunt for Pancho Villa: The Columbus Raid and Pershing's Punitive Expedition 1916-17

On March 9, 1916, troops under the command of Pancho Villa attacked Columbus, New Mexico and its local detachment of the US 13th Cavalry Regiment, killing 18 people and burning the town.

Six days later, on orders from President Woodrow Wilson, General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing led an expeditionary force of 4,800 men into Mexico to capture Villa. What followed was a series of skirmishes, battles, and chases through the wild and uncharted Mexican countryside. While the Americans failed in ...