Battle of Ciudad Juárez (1913)
Battle of the Mexican Revolution / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Battle of Ciudad Juárez (1913)?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
The Second Battle of Ciudad Juárez, also known as the Capture of Ciudad Juárez or “Villa’s Trojan Train” was a decisive rebel victory over the forces of Mexican president Victoriano Huerta. The federal garrison of the border city of Juárez was tricked into allowing 2,000 revolutionaries to enter the city on board a hijacked coal train. The revolutionaries crept out of the train under the cover of darkness and easily overcame the federal forces with a surprise attack.
Second Battle of Ciudad Juárez | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Mexican Revolution | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Pancho Villa Victoriano de Anda Venustiano Carranza |
Francisco Castro Salvador Mercado Victoriano Huerta | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
2,000[1][2] | Around 600 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Light | Major |
Upon successfully capturing the city of Torreón in late September 1913, Pancho Villa had moved quickly to seize the state capital of Chihuahua, Ciudad Chihuahua. His effort to take the city was abandoned after three days of frontal assaults failed to break the federal forces. While pulling back from the city Villa's troops captured a coal train at the station of El Sauz. After removing the cargo, Villa's men telegraphed the railway headquarters in the city of Juárez stating that the tracks had been blown up and requesting further orders. Once headquarters replied that the train must return to Juárez, 2,000 men led by Villa hid aboard the now empty cargo cars and entered the city without detection around 2:00 am on November 15. Fighting began at 2:10 am and lasted until roughly 5:00 am when the majority of federal forces surrendered.
The capture of Juárez provided a massive boost to Villa's international fame, being praised by the American press for his ingenuity and the discipline of his men. Domestically, the battle helped to restore the Division del Norte's morale and faith in the leadership of Villa, both of which had been strained by the disastrous assault on Ciudad Chihuahua. Besides bolstering morale, control of the cities’ location on the American border and large number of taxable casinos provided Villa with both a steady source of income and would eventually allow for a direct supply line through which arms could be purchased from the Americans following the end of the American arms embargo to Mexico in early 1914. Finally, the capture of the city forced the federal garrison of Ciudad Chihuahua to take to the field in an effort to reverse Villa's gains. This relief force was decisively defeated by Villa at the climactic Battle of Tierra Blanca, which secured rebel domination over the state of Chihuahua.