X-Nico

6 unusual facts about Pancho Villa Expedition


Columbus, New Mexico

This was known as the Punitive Mexican Expedition or Pancho Villa Expedition.

Leland Devore

Devore was commissioned as a lieutenant in the infantry and accompanied Gen. John J. Pershing on the Pancho Villa Expedition into Mexico in 1916.

Military aircraft insignia

The initial US Army Signal Corps aviation insignia used during the Pancho Villa punitive expedition just before American involvement in World War I began, used on the vertical tail and wings was a red five-pointed star similar to that of the later Soviet Union, without a red or white outline border.

Militia Act of 1903

The improvements to National Guard training and readiness and the resolution of the circumstances under which the National Guard could be federalized led to the call up of National Guard units for service on the Mexico-United States border during the Pancho Villa Expedition.

Robert Franklin Leedy

In June 1916, the 2nd Regiment was one of a number called up from the National Guard in a Border support role in support of the Pancho Villa Expedition.

They Came to Cordura

After a cavalry charge during the 1916 U.S. expedition in Mexico to capture Pancho Villa, Thorn recommends four soldiers for the Medal of Honor.


13th Cavalry Regiment

Under General John J. Pershing, the regiment fought in the Mexican Expedition from 1916 to 1917, which was a response to the attack on Columbus.

Boy's Town, Nuevo Laredo

The origins of the Boy's Town concept along the U.S.-Mexico border can be traced in part to the relationship that developed between the United States Army and various ad hoc entrepreneurs in northern Mexico during the army's 1916–17 Punitive Expedition; specifically when General John J. Pershing's forces were pursuing General Pancho Villa in Chihuahua.

I Corps Observation Group

The assigned 1st Aero Squadron was the first American air unit to ever see action in France, being the same unit which served under General John J. Pershing as part of the Pancho Villa Expedition while chasing Pancho Villa into Mexico in 1916.

Mexican Revolution

In 1916, in retaliation for Pancho Villa's raid on Columbus, New Mexico, and the death of 16 United States citizens, President Wilson sent forces commanded by Brig. Gen. John J. Pershing into Mexico to capture Villa.

Mexico North Western Railway

During the Punitive Expedition led by U.S. General John J. Pershing in 1916 to attempt to capture Pancho Villa, use of the railway for transporting supplies was a point of contention between the US expedition and the provisional Mexican government of Venustiano Carranza.


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