Battle of Guerrero

cavalry charge," the Americans assaulted the town and routed the defenders, inflicting over seventy-five casualties on the Mexicans with the loss of only five men wounded.^[1][4]

Carrancista troops whom Villa was also campaigning against. At Minaca and Guerrero the Villistas captured the garrisons without resistance, but at San Ysidro, the Carrancistas repulsed the attack. Villa was wounded in his right knee cap during the affair. The wound greatly impaired his command ability over the next few weeks and it nearly led to his capture by American forces. When the Battle of San Ysidro was over, the Villistas retreated to Guerrero and prepared defenses. Around this time, General Pershing received intelligence regarding the location of Villa at Guerrero, 230 miles south of Columbus, so he sent a messenger to Colonel George A. Dodd to move his 370-man force of cavalry into the area. Colonel Dodd was to ride as fast as possible to catch Villa before he moved on. When the Americans arrived at Guerrero on March 29, they had traveled about 400 miles in fourteen days, following their departure from Camp Harvey J. Jones in southern Arizona, including fifty-five miles in the seventeen hours after receiving news of Villa's position. The entire expedition was equipped with inaccurate maps of the Mexican frontier so Colonel Dodd and his men had to rely on a civilian guide, named J. B. Baker, who led the cavalry on a "circular march" across the rugged Sierra Madre.^[1][2][5]

small arms and some war supplies. Several condemned Carrancista prisoners were liberated.^[1][2][5]