Overview
- On March 9, 1916, more than 400 fighters under Pancho Villa crossed into Columbus, New Mexico, killing 18 Americans in a rare attack on U.S. soil.
- Villa expected to face about 50 defenders but encountered roughly 350 soldiers, including the 13th U.S. Cavalry, who counterattacked and forced a retreat.
- In response, U.S. forces launched the Punitive Expedition under Gen. John J. Pershing to pursue Villa inside Mexico.
- Weeks later, Villa’s men struck the Texas towns of Glenn Springs and Boquillas, and vigilantes in Columbus hanged six captured raiders.
- The crisis coincided with the National Defense Act and a broad Guard mobilization that sent more than 800 Utah soldiers to the border, arriving at Nogales in late June 1916.