Second Battle of Rellano
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The Second Battle of Rellano of 22 May 1912 was an engagement of the Mexican Revolution between rebel forces under
Pascual Orozco Pascual Orozco Vázquez, Jr. (in contemporary documents, sometimes spelled "Oroszco") (28 January 1882 – 30 August 1915) was a Mexican revolutionary leader who rose up to support Francisco I. Madero in late 1910 to depose long-time presi ...
and government troops under General
Victoriano Huerta José Victoriano Huerta Márquez (; 22 December 1854 – 13 January 1916) was a general in the Mexican Federal Army and 39th President of Mexico, who came to power by coup against the democratically elected government of Francisco I. Madero wit ...
, at the railroad station of Rellano, Chihuahua. The battle was a setback for Orozco, who had defeated another government army at the First Battle of Rellano in March of the same year.


Background

After the overthrow of Porfirio Díaz's regime, which he took part in, Pascual Orozco became dissatisfied with the way that Francisco Madero was running
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. He was also thwarted in his personal ambitions when Madero appointed
Venustiano Carranza José Venustiano Carranza de la Garza (; 29 December 1859 – 21 May 1920) was a Mexican wealthy land owner and politician who was Governor of Coahuila when the constitutionally elected president Francisco I. Madero was overthrown in a Februa ...
as minister of defense, and Abraham González as
governor of Chihuahua According to the Political Constitution of the Free and Sovereign State of Chihuahua, Executive Power in that Mexican state resides with a single individual, the Constitutional Governor of the Free and Sovereign State of Chihuahua, who is chosen ...
.Scheina, p. 16 As a result, in March 1912, Orozco formally declared himself to be in rebellion against Madero.McLynn, p. 131 On 24 March 1912, Orozco defeated a federal army under General
José González Salas José González Salas was a Mexican general who participated in the Mexican Revolution who was Secretary of War and Navy of Mexico twice throughout his career before committing suicide after the First Battle of Rellano. Early years He was bor ...
which had been sent to capture him, near the railroad station of Rellano. This marked the high point of his rebellion, as he controlled all of Chihuahua except the town of Parral which was defended by
Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (, Orozco rebelled in March 1912, both for Madero's continuing failure to enact land reform and because he felt insufficiently rewarded for his role in bringing the new president to power. At the request of Madero's c ...
who had remained loyal to Madero. Orozco proceeded to attack the town. While Villa eventually had to retreat from Parral, his stubborn resistance gave crucial town for another federal army, under Victoriano Huerta, to make its way north to Chihuahua and confront Orozco again. Villa joined Huerta, who was the commander of the
División del Norte The División del Norte was an armed faction formed by Francisco I. Madero and initially led by General José González Salas following Madero's call to arms at the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in 1910. González Salas served in Francisc ...
, and was placed under his command.


The battle

The initial clash between Huerta's and Villa's force and Orozco's rebels took place at a railroad station of Conejos, just north of Torreón, Coahuila. There, the federal forces successfully repulsed several attacks by the ''colorados'' (as Orozco's followers were known due to their red flags) and drove them back. In the retreat, Orozco's men abandoned three of their cannons which was to prove crucial in the engagement that followed.De La Pedraja Tomán, p. 170 After securing his rear and receiving additional reinforcements from Madero (whose redeployment eased the pressure on
Emiliano Zapata Emiliano Zapata Salazar (; August 8, 1879 – April 10, 1919) was a Mexican revolutionary. He was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution of 1910–1920, the main leader of the people's revolution in the Mexican state of Morelos, and the ins ...
, who was also in rebellion in Morelos) Huerta began moving north in pursuit of Orozco, along the railroad. As at the first battle of Rellano, Orozco's troops ripped apart rail tracks as they retreated in order to slow down the federal forces, and then entrenched themselves at the canyon around the railroad station of Rellano. Orozco manned both sides of the canyon, but having lost several cannon at Conejos only had enough artillery to equip the western hill.De La Pedraja Tomán, p. 171 Upon arriving at the Rellano station, Huerta had Villa make several probing attacks to test the enemies. Although these were easily repulsed by Orozco's men, they revealed their positions and the fact that the eastern hill lacked artillery support. As a result, on the night of the 22nd, Huerta ordered Villa to take the hill, while the federal artillery shelled both rebel positions to hide the troops' movements. As soon as Villa succeeded Huerta moved his artillery to this newly captured position. Since the eastern hill of the canyon was higher than the western, from this spot the federals were able to rain down artillery fire on the Orozcistas. The rebels attempted to retake the hill, but faced with artillery fire were beaten back. Huerta continued to shell the rebels, and at 9:45 the following morning, he ordered a cavalry charge which after a few hours' fighting, dislodged the rebels from their positions. The retreating ''colorados'' boarded trains that were waiting for them at the station and left the area. Huerta's troops, which were running low on supplies were unable to engage in immediate pursuit. At this point, Orozco attempted a variation on a tactic that he had successfully employed at the first battle of Rellano.McLynn, p. 138, "(Orozco) in desperation tried a variation on the ''máquina loca'' trick that had won him the first battle of Rellano" There, Orozco had a locomotive filled with dynamite (the ''loco loco'' or the ''máquina loca''), which he then sent against incoming federal troops. This time, he ordered his men to mine the rail tracks behind them, in the hope that Huerta would be too eager to pursue him to take proper precautions. Unfortunately for Orozco, one of the mines detonated prematurely, damaging only a railcar with coal and also alerting Huerta to the possible danger. As a result, Huerta proceeded more carefully, and his engineers managed to find all the remaining mines placed by Orozco's men. Huerta finally caught up with the rebels at the Bachimba rail station. After fierce fighting, Orozco's troops, demoralized and unwilling to face Huerta's artillery, fled to Chihuahua, and then scattered into small guerilla bands.McLynn, p. 139


Aftermath

Orozco's defeat at the Second Battle of Rellano effectively ended his rebellion. Victorious Huerta retook
Chihuahua City The city of Chihuahua ''(La Ciudad de Chihuahua)'' () is the state capital of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. , the city of Chihuahua had a population of 925,762 inhabitants. while the metropolitan area had a population of 988,065 inhabitants. Am ...
on July 8, recaptured Ciudad Juárez in July and reinstated Abraham González as governor. Orozco himself fled into exile to the United States. A young general,
Álvaro Obregón Álvaro Obregón Salido (; 17 February 1880 – 17 July 1928) better known as Álvaro Obregón was a Sonoran-born general in the Mexican Revolution. A pragmatic centrist, natural soldier, and able politician, he became the 46th President of Me ...
mopped up the remains of the ''colorados'' in Chihuahua and Sonora.McLynn, p. 138-139 A longer term effect was that it made Huerta a hero to the federal army staff and forced Madero to double expenditure on the armed forces. This marked the beginning of Madero becoming beholden to the army, which in turn plotted against him. Huerta was further angered because had expected to be promoted by Madero as a reward for his rebellion, but instead was asked to retire (Madero belatedly became aware of the threat that the general posed).Scheina, p. 17 This culminated in Huerta's coup d'état against Madero in February, the assassination of Madero, and the next stage of the revolution.Scheina, pp. 17-18 Ironically, after Madero's fall, Orozco supported his former adversary, Huerta. After Huerta was defeated both men fled to the United States. Orozco was killed while trying to sneak back into Mexico in August 1915.


References


Works cited

*
Frank McLynn Francis James McLynn FRHistS FRGS (born 29 August 1941), known as Frank McLynn, is a British author, biographer, historian and journalist. He is noted for critically acclaimed biographies of Napoleon Bonaparte, Robert Louis Stevenson, Carl Jung, ...
, "Villa and Zapata. A History of the Mexican Revolution", Basic Books, 2000

*
Friedrich Katz Friedrich Katz (13 June 1927 – 16 October 2010) was an Austrian-born anthropologist and historian who specialized in 19th and 20th century history of Latin America, particularly, in the Mexican Revolution. "He was arguably Mexico's most wide ...
, "The Life and Times of Pancho Villa", Stanford University Press, 1998

*René De La Pedraja Tomán, "Wars of Latin America, 1899-1941", McFarland, 2006

*Robert L. Scheina, "Latin America's Wars: The age of the professional soldier, 1900-2001, V.2", Brasey Inc., 2003

{{DEFAULTSORT:Second Battle Of Rellano Battles of the Mexican Revolution, Rellano 2 May 1912 events