circa 1915 After the 1915
Battle of Celaya during the
Mexican Revolution, where Villa sustained his greatest defeat, the Division of the North was in a disorganised condition, wandering around northern
Mexico foraging for supplies. Lacking the military supplies, money, and munitions he needed to pursue his war against Mexican President
Venustiano Carranza, Villa planned the raid and camped his army of an estimated 1,500 horsemen outside of
Palomas on the border three miles south of Columbus, which was populated by about 300 Americans and about as many Mexicans that had fled north from the advancing Villistas. The reasons for the raid have never been established with any certainty. An American kidnap victim travelling with the raiding party, Maud Hawk Wright, said that Villa came with 1,500 men but only attacked with about 600 because there was not enough ammunition for more raiders. At their camp, Villa sent spies into the town to assess the presence of U.S. military personnel. Upon their return, the spies told him that only about fifty soldiers were garrisoned in Columbus, a significant error. Villa then moved north and crossed the border at about midnight. The garrison came from the
13th Cavalry Regiment, usually stationed at Cavalry Camp Columbus, which was located immediately south of downtown and consisted of the headquarters troop, machine gun troop, and four of the seven rifle troops deployed to patrol the border, totaling in all 12 officers and 341 men, of which approximately 270 were combat troops. On that night, half were out of camp on patrol or other assignments Villa divided his force into two columns, most of which approached the town on foot, and launched a two-pronged attack on the town in the dark at 4:15 am on March 9. The town's population was asleep, along with most of the garrison, when they entered Columbus from the west and southeast shouting "¡Viva Villa! ¡Viva Mexico!" and other phrases. The townspeople awoke to an army of Villistas burning their settlement and looting their homes. The commander of the 13th Cavalry was Colonel
Herbert Jermain Slocum. He had been advised the day before, from three conflicting reports from Mexican sources, that Villa and his soldiers were on the move, possibly against Columbus. One warning was given by Juan Favela, the foreman of a ranch near Palomas (three miles south in Mexico), who had seen them headed north the day before the attack. Amidst many such reports that had proved false, the warning was ignored as unreliable, although the troop at the Border Gate was reinforced and all three troops in the field were ordered to step up patrolling of the 65-mile long border. However, U.S. soldiers were forbidden to reconnoiter inside Mexico and thus unable to check reports of Villa's whereabouts. Despite being taken by surprise, the Americans quickly recovered. Soon after the attack began, 2nd Lt.
John P. Lucas, commanding the 13th Cavalry's machine gun troop, made his way barefooted from his quarters to the camp's barracks. He organized a hasty defense around the camp's guard tent, where his troop's machine guns were kept under lock, with two men and a
Hotchkiss M1909 Benét–Mercié machine gun. He was soon joined by the remainder of his unit and 30 troopers armed with
M1903 Springfield rifles led by 2nd Lt. Horace Stringfellow, Jr. The troop's four machine guns fired more than 5,000 rounds apiece during a 90-minute fight, their targets illuminated by fires of burning buildings. In addition, many of the townspeople were armed with rifles and shotguns. Villa's men looted and burned several houses and commercial buildings, fighting civilians that were defending their homes. It is not known if Villa was with the raiding party at any time. However, it is known that during most of the battle, Villa, his commanders, and about two dozen other men took up position on Cootes Hill overlooking Columbus where they could observe the action and where some of Villa's men acted as sharpshooters to fire upon the town. The Villistas fought the pursuing American troops and civilians until a bugler sounded the order to retreat.
Major Frank Tompkins, commanding the regiment's 3rd Squadron and acting as its
executive officer, asked and received permission from Slocum to pursue the withdrawing Mexicans. Disregarding the
rules of engagement, he led two troops 15 miles into Mexico in pursuit of a force approximately six times the size of his, engaged Villa's rearguard four times, and inflicted some losses on them before withdrawing back across the border after running low on ammunition and water. Tompkins was awarded the
Army Distinguished Service Medal and the
Distinguished Service Cross in 1918 for this action. Captain A.W. Brock and his troops from Company 1 of the National Guard arrived as the sun came up. They were alerted by the 20 year old telephone switchboard operator,
Susie Parks, who was trapped with her baby in the Courier Newspaper office during the battle. She was later awarded a tribute for her bravery by Mrs. L.B. Prince of Santa Fe, (wife of former territorial governor of New Mexico), and the Daughters of the American Revolution on August 27, 1916, at the Crystal Theater in Columbus. ==Aftermath==