Chasing Pancho Villa
Chasing Pancho Villa
Chasing Pancho Villa
R.L. Tecklenburg
Viva Villa! Viva la Revolución!
Chasing Pancho Villa
Copyright 2011 by R.L. Tecklenburg
Cover Copyright 2011 by Dara England and Untreed Reads Publishing
All rights reserved.
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This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to the living or dead is entirely coincidental.
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For Rebecca, my friend and love
Acknowledgments
To Gabriela and those who believe Pancho Villa is a hero; for George who believes in justice for all.
I want to acknowledge my debt to Chris Pendleton, for taking the time to read and edit the manuscript. Billy Joe Cox, Bruce Richey, and Mike Reddan for their insightful comments. Without their excellent suggestions this book would not have been possible.
Either he is talking, or he is pursuing,
Or he is in a journey, or peradventure, he
Sleepeth, and must be awaked.
The First Book of Kings 18:27
Contents
Northern Mexico, 0830 hours, July 23, 1916
“Rápido! Rápido, muchachos,” General Villa urged in a low voice. “Los invasores vienen.” He sat astride his favorite horse, Siete Leguas, with the morning sun at his back.
A lone rider on a great dark stallion navigated expertly through the column of armed men to move up beside the General. The rider greeted him with a simple nod and he reciprocated, also without speaking. With a weapon strapped tightly to her narrow waist, sombrero pulled low over her eyes, the tall, slim figure, sitting ramrod straight in the saddle, made an unforgettable impression on the war-weary soldiers.
The womanâconsidered very beautiful by both friend and foeâwas dressed in a riding habit that reflected her eclectic tastes and free spiritâa low cut cotton blouse tight against her bosom, dark wool jacket and denim jeans with U.S. Cavalry boots reaching almost to her knees. Like Villa, she rode comfortably in a Mexican saddle.
Maria Washington watched carefully without expression while Villa's men deployed along the rocks. Although just an observer here, still her dark eyes burned with the passion of a revolutionary.
To Villa's peasant soldiers, the young woman mounted on the great stallion seemed fearless and invulnerable. Believing that only good fortune would come from her presence, they smiled, touching the stallion gently on its flank or hind quarter as they walked by.
“Today, the Americans will pay for their arrogance, señorita,” the General finally said in English. “And you will see how you have aided our great cause.”
“Good,” the woman replied, still watching his soldiers take their positions. She was not concerned for her own life, but she knew it would take more than new rifles to stop the American invasion.
Pancho Villa was doing what he knew best. Powerful enemies had pursued him for more than 20 years, since he was 16. Yet he always managed to slip away, proving himself to be a very capable field commander. That had surprised everyone but him.
He understood clearly that this was his chance to hurt the Americans but he had to be quickâhit them and escape. Silently he pointed and one of his soldiers, dressed in home-spun cotton and sandals, wearing a sombrero hanging from his neck and carrying an American Springfield rifle, quietly crawled up the rock embankment. He grasped a bandolier of .30 caliber rounds in his right hand.
Villa consciously masked the adrenalin surging through his body as he carefully supervised the placement of his soldiers, each one a hand-picked sharpshooter. They were deep in Chihuahua Province, and no one knew more about warring here than he. The terrain was rocky, dusty, and bleak.
Perfecto,
he thought.
Villa looked to the woman and smiledâone side of his mouth turned up slightly, cracking the leathery, sun-baked skinâas he prepared his ambush for the great General Pershing. Dressed like his men, he sat stiff-legged and straight, comfortable in the saddle. A dark, bushy mustache on the well-creased and weathered face hung over his upper lip, concealing a mouthful of stained teeth.
“Los carretones, muchachos,” he called, his dark brown eyes intently studying each man's position. Hidden beneath severely lined and half-closed lids, his eyes flashed when he spoke.
He had about 100 men with him, all that remained of the force of 500 who had crossed the border to attack Columbus, New Mexico back in March. But armed now with the American Springfield rifles he had received from the woman only days earlier, he knew he could inflict damage on General Pershing's army.
They had been riding for days under cover of darkness to avoid the Americans' aeroplanes that sometimes accompanied their troop movements, searching for him and his men. Villa had received complete information on General Pershing's line of march, enabling him to elude the Americans and remain undiscovered. He had received that information from the many patriots who remained along the border to watch the enemy.
Villa had chosen this place, west of Torreón in the foothills of the Sierra Madres, for his ambush. The horses were hidden in a narrow, tree-shrouded ravine that led deep into the mountains. The American supply trucks had to travel long distances through country that belonged to him, and the Americans always had to protect those routes.
I, Doroteo Arango, son of Agustin Arango, will again demonstrate just how vulnerable their army is in my landâthe land of my father, and of his father before him, Villa thought.
Villa planned to strike hard at their trucks, destroying transport and creating havoc. Then, he would retreat once again into secure mountain lairs where his army was safe. Confronted with a force of 10,000 American soldiers moving south from the Rio Grande and Carranza's army surging into Chihuahua from Mexico City, he had no choice but to hit and run. As usual, the Sierra Madres were his escape when heavily outnumbered by his enemies.
The deployment of his men was complete.
*
Out of the corner of his eye, First Sergeant Juan Parilla of the United States 24th Infantry noticed a puff of dust from just above the ridgeline. He knew immediately and turned to locate the company commander.
“Captain! Captain!” he called to the younger soldier marching on the other side of the column. “Mire.” He pointed to the ridge. But the dust had dissipated and was no longer visible.
The two men belonged to Company L of the 2nd Battalion, part of a long column of soldiers and vehicles that stretched almost two miles. For two days, the infantry troopers had been eating dust from ten Model T trucks grinding away immediately in front of them. The reddish dust covered their skin and uniforms. Many of the men had tied bandanas around their faces and wrapped socks and other pieces of cloth from their bedrolls over their rifles for protection.
The captain looked, but saw nothing. Still, he knew after four months in Mexico to trust his first sergeant's instincts. He whispered to his Negro orderly, who ran to another officer in the first platoon. That man called to a squad leader.
“First squad, fall out,” the lieutenant ordered over the truck noise. “Follow me.” They ran in the direction of the ridge, meeting with the convoy's flanking forceâa mounted unit of Negro troopers from the 10th U.S. Cavalry. Three horsemen turned and headed off toward the south. The infantry squad spread out and assumed flanking duties.
The Model T trucks loaded down with fuel and supplies continued on, slowly creeping across the dusty brown plateau. At the head of the long column were mounted soldiers from Troops A and B of the Negro 10th CavalryâBuffalo Soldiers. An older man led the formation, riding ramrod straight in the saddle of a great black stallion, his eyes focused on the trail ahead. His aides rode close behind.
General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing, on orders from President Woodrow Wilson, commanded this expeditionary force tasked with finding the elusive bandit, Pancho Villa. They had been chasing him across northern Mexico since March without much success.
*
A volley of shots suddenly rang out from across the ridge. At first, the firing went unnoticed over the loud growls of the truck engines. Using the most modern American weapons, not even puffs of smoke could be detected from the rifle barrels. A soldier fell from his horse.
“Villaistes! Villaistes?” A flanking soldier from L Company finally called out upon seeing the horseman fall and then hearing a bullet snap overhead.
The ambushers found their range, and bullets began to strike cans of fuel packed into the trucks. Suddenly, an explosion and a great ball of flame rose from the rear of the lead Model T. Following too close to the first, the second truck was engulfed in flames. Both driver and passenger bailed out to escape being incinerated in the gasoline blaze.
“Keep moving forward,” an officer yelled to keep the trucks from bunching together. But the inferno ahead effectively halted the convoy, trapping the trucks on the narrow, rutted wagon track. The transport soldiers escaped their vehicles, running for cover away from the shooting. The trucks were left stationary, easy targets for the sharpshooters still firing from the rocks above.
General Pershing reacted immediately. An experienced horseman, he galloped back to the infantry formations and gave an order to the L Company commander. He then wheeled to join the main body of cavalry units more than 40 yards forward in the column. All the while, his aides stayed close.
“Fall out! Form a skirmish line!” the officers of L Company yelled. Their well-disciplined troopers immediately responded. They dropped their packs, unslung their Springfields. Quickly they lined up in ranks facing the ridge. “Lock and load,” the officers called out in unison. Bullets snapped and whined as the ambushers still focused on destroying the supply trucks.
One troop of cavalry was lined up perpendicular to the infantry company, but still well out of their way. General Pershing, who as a young captain led Black troops in combat in Cuba, drew his saber and joined them. They prepared to charge toward the ridge, but waited for the infantry company to begin the engagement.
The command was given, “Move forward!” The infantry marched at quick step up the slope, squad following squad in a long formation that stretched for 50 yards. Each man held his rifle tightly at port arms. No one fired.
“Stay together. Faster,” First Sergeant Parilla called to his men.
“Halt and prepare to fire, first squad,” Captain Bartlett James called. “Fire!” He ordered. James was excited about finally seeing action. He hoped that after four months they would at last come face to face with the notorious Pancho Villa.
His troopers fired. “Reload!” James ordered. “Fire!” Again, the troopers let loose with a volley, all along the line. The bullets kicked up dust and pieces of stone. There was no return fire.
Now in position to attack, with the general himself in the lead, the cavalry swept forward at a full gallop. The mounted Negro soldiers yelled and fired their .45 caliber automatics as they charged up and across the ridgeline.
“Cease fire!” Captain James called to his L Company men upon seeing the horsemen assault the ridge. They watched the troopers reach the top. The mounted troopers continued to shoot and yell as they disappeared over the crest. But the Villaistas were gone. Only brass shell casings in the dust remained to tell the story of Pancho Villa's ambush.
When the Americans realized the Mexicans had escaped into the mountains, silence descended from the ridge down to the men remaining in the convoy. Their enemy had deserted them, denying the Americans their chance at battle and victory. From general to private, all sensed disappointment and frustration.
Later that evening in camp, Captain James was called to General Pershing's tent. No one else was present. “Captain, please sit down,” the General said. “I want a word with you.”
James, a tall, thin man with thick blond hair cut almost to the scalp, removed his campaign hat and sat down in one of the folding wooden chairs. “Yes, sir. Thank you sir,” he said, feeling a little apprehensive. Pershing could display a temper.
“Captain, you're probably wondering why I want to talk with you,” the General said directly. The first thing that James always noticed about the general was his steel grey eyes. They now watched him closely. He felt them examining and measuring.
“Yes sir, I am,” the younger man responded finally. James stared at Pershing's hair. He suddenly realized he had never seen the general without his hat on, having only spoken with him in the field. The general had a full head of hair that was completely gray.
“Something wrong, Captain?” The general asked abruptly. He was sitting, legs crossed, relaxed with his tunic off. James saw that he was trim and appeared in good shape for an older man.
“No sir, “James said, quickly.
“You have an exemplary record, Captain,” Pershing continued, “and that's why I requested that you be given assignment to this expedition.” He looked away briefly, as if distracted by an idea that had suddenly presented itself. “Yes, well, to the point. I have a new mission for you.”
“General?”
Pershing looked down at something on his desk and then smiled. “Top of your class at West Point. Good family. Yes, and I've had the great honor to meet your mother. Charming,” he said, looking up again to the captain. He smiled again. “Yes, I remember her well.”
“My mother usually makes a lasting impression, sir.”
“So she did, Captain James. So she did.” For a second the young captain sensed a softening of that stern character. But it was fleeting. Pershing returned to the brown file. He opened it and pretended to review it. “With your intelligence background and flare for languagesâ¦,” he said. “Yes⦠fluent in Spanish and German, I see. Four years of intelligence work in Washington.”
James waited, confused, knowing well that he had not been ordered here to discuss his mother or his prospects for promotion.
“Captain, we need to have better information on what the hell is going on down here.”
“Yes sir.” James' steady blue eyes fixed on the General without blinking. He waited patiently, knowing the answer was coming.
“They ambushed us again today,” Pershing said. Anger suddenly flashed across the stern features, turning them crimson. “How the hell does that happen? He's just an illiterate bandit, and yet he successfully ambushes the United States Army, even with our aeroplanes flying overhead. We lost four soldiers, three trucks and a week's worth of fuel and supplies. Now we are forced to camp here until those lost supplies and fuel can be replenished from a base camp more than fifty miles away. I have the entire 10th Cav out searching through those mountains looking for him. Do you think we'll catch him?”
“Perhaps not, sir,” James replied slowly. “He knows the mountains well. He'll just disappear again.”
“I agree,” Pershing said, taking a deep breath to calm himself. “We've been chasing Villa since March without success, and without much prospect of success. Not the way we're doing it now.” He looked directly at James, holding his gaze. “I've been thinking.”