Villistas in the Southwest: Raid on Columbus, New Mexico.

On March 9, 1916, at 4:15 am, a Mexican raiding force of 485 men attacked Columbus, New Mexico, southwest United States, shouting "Viva Villa" and "Viva Mexico". These raiders wore sombreros and khaki-colored uniforms with criss-cross bandoliers over their chests.

Leader of the attack was Mexican revolutionary General Francisco "Pancho" Villa. Villa strung his men out in a long line just south of Columbus hidden in an arroyo or ditch within a hundred yards of an army outpost where a sentry paced his beat. From their positions in the arroyo, the Villistas silently watched their leader and when he raised his arm they sprung up and attacked.

The assault was a complete surprise.

The evening before, when they went to bed, the 300 or so Columbus residents in 1916 felt quite safe from attack from Mexico. They had the protection of soldiers of the 13th US Cavalry stationed at an outpost across the railroad tracks, south of town. That evening, no one knew that on March 8, the previous day, Lieutenant Colonel Cipriano Vargas of General Villa's staff had scouted Columbus including the military garrison. No one knew that evening that Colonel Vargas had reported back to his General Villa that there were only about 30 soldiers at the post, wrongly underestimating the camp's true strength of 120 soldiers.

There was so much confidence in their safety that, on the evening before the attack, Colonel Herbert Slocum, Army Chief at Columbus, together with other officers, had gone 30 miles north to Deming to attend a polo match playoff.

Columbus in 1916 consisted of a cluster of adobe houses and frame buildings, a railroad station, two hotels, an army outpost, several stores, and a few other buildings. Broadway, the main street, ran from east to west and on it was a hardware store operated by J. L. Walker, a grocery owned by J. T. Dean, and C. Dewitt Miller's drug store. On Taft Street, near the railroad station, was the two-story Commercial Hotel, operated by Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Ritchie. Across was a movie theater and over the tracks was the Customs House with an arroyo (a natural ditch) running nearby and parallel to the road to the Mexico border 3 miles south.

One of the largest stores was the Ravel Brothers Mercantile on Boulevard Street. Sam and Louis Ravel handled bolt goods, cooking utensils, boots, overalls, sundries and--rifles, pistols and ammunition. Arthur, their 12-year-old brother, worked as chore boy. The Ravels encouraged Mexican customers to shop as long as they paid in American dollars. And when Mexicans ordered arms, the Ravels never asked embarrassing questions about what use was to be made of them.

On one arms deal, it's said, General Villa paid cash in advance for a large quantity of rifles and ammunition, but after his order arrived he found he'd been cheated out of $2,500 worth of arms that he'd paid for in advance. Some say this sour deal added to General Villa's growing hatred of Americans.

The Attack--March 9, 1916

The attack began with the thunder of Villistas' rifles dropping the sentry. Then in a hostile wave, Villa and his men rose from the arroyo, some afoot and some mounted, swarming across the town, shooting, yelling, smashing windows and doors, looting, destroying, burning, and killing.

Deans' grocery store went up in flames. The Commercial Hotel was a roaring holocaust. Miller, the druggist, died trying to protect his store. Among the first to die were Dr. H. M. Hart, W. A. Davidson, J. J. Moore, and N. H. Walker.

The raiders broke down the doors of Ravel's Mercantile store and once inside searched every nook for Sam Ravel, stealing and destroying as they went. They tore into a pile of cowhides stopping when they were down to the last few not finding Mr. Ravel who was flattened out beneath the very last hide. Two of Villa's men caught young Arthur Ravel on the street, in his underwear. Lieutenant Castleman saw them manhandling Arthur and shot and killed both of the Villistas. It's said that 12-year-old Arthur broke loose and ran four miles before stopping for breath.

At the army encampment, in the absence of Colonel Slocum, Lieutenant Castleman, officer of the day, took charge. He found the guard house locked with no way to reach rifles and ammunition stored inside. Soldiers were forced to fight with whatever they could find. There was one machine gun, which, after a splendid burst, jammed.

By sunrise, about 2 hours later, General Villa finally realized that the American forces were greater than his scouts had reported, and ordered retreat. By 7:30 withdrawal was complete.

Following the bloodshed, the casualties were counted

The raid cost Americans 18 lives while 90 Villistas were killed. Official records list in detail the quantity of food and supplies the raiders stole from Columbus, including 80 fine-bred horses, 30 mules, and an assortment of military equipment including some 300 Mausers. Abortive as the Columbus raid was, Villa succeeded in terms of booty.