The Battle of Casas Grandes was fought in March 1911 between the federal Mexican

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

loyal to

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori ( or ; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915), known as Porfirio Díaz, was a Mexican general and politician who served seven terms as President of Mexico, a total of 31 years, from 28 November 1876 to 6 Decem ...

and rebels under

Gen. The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; Hebrew language, Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its i ...

Francisco I. Madero Francisco Ignacio Madero González (; 30 October 1873 – 22 February 1913) was a Mexican businessman, revolutionary, writer and statesman, who became the 37th president of Mexico from 1911 until he was deposed in a coup d'etat in February 1 ...

. Rebel forces attacked the town of

Casas Grandes, Chihuahua Casas Grandes is a town located in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. It serves as the municipal seat A municipal seat or ''cabecera municipal'' is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a municipality or civ ...

, but were driven back by the federal

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

Battle

Francisco I. Madero was leading a rebel army of about 800 troops when he attacked Casas Grandes. Several of Madero's men were in fact

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

citizens from the border states. The garrison included just over 500 infantry, who were commanded by

Col. Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Agustín A. Valdez of Mexico's 18th Battalion. Gen. Madero and his men attacked the federal positions in Casas Grandes at 5:00 am. Fighting lasted for just over two hours until 7:15 am, when another Mexican government column of 562 men reinforced the already engaged 500 troops. With the reinforcing federals were two mortars, which were quickly put into use. The battle continued for several hours more, as the federals and rebels repulsed each other's counter-attacks. By 5:00 pm the battle was over when Gen. Madero ordered the retreat of his forces. The Mexican garrison lost 13 men killed in the battle and another 23 wounded. The reinforcing column lost 24 men and 37 injured, including their commander, Col. Samuel G. Cuellar. Both Gen. Madero and Col. Cuellar were wounded. The rebels lost 58 killed and an unknown number of wounded and 41 captured. Of the rebel casualties, 15 of the dead were Americans, along with 17 of the captured.

Aftermath

In addition to casualties, the rebels lost about 150 horses, 153 mules and 101

firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

s. Madero blamed his

scouts Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

for his defeat at Casas Grandes. He later issued a statement saying that it was his scouts' inability to detect the reinforcing federal column that led to the defeat. All the scouts were subsequently hanged under Gen. Madero's orders.

References

*Rangel, Juan José Flores History of Mexico II Page# 37. Cengage Learning Editors (2003) {{coord missing, Chihuahua History of Mexico

Casas Grandes Casas Grandes (Spanish for ''Great Houses''; also known as Paquimé) is a prehistoric archaeological site in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. Construction of the site is attributed to the Mogollon culture. Casas Grandes has been design ...

March 1911 events

Battle

Aftermath

See also

References