Pancho Villa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the 1972 film, see Pancho Villa (film). For the boxer known as "Pancho Villa",
see Francisco Guilledo. For Finnish restaurant franchise, see Pancho Villa (restaurant).
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Arango and the
second or maternal family name is Armbula.

Francisco "Pancho" Villa

Pancho Villa

Birth name Jos Doroteo Arango Armbula

Nickname(s) Francisco Villa

Pancho Villa
El Centauro del Norte (The Centaur of

the North)

Born 5 June 1878

La Coyotada, San Juan del Ro,

Durango, Mexico

Died 20 July 1923 (aged 45)

Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico

Buried Parral, Chihuahua, 1923; reburied

1976 Monument to the

Revolution, Mexico City

Allegiance Mexico
(antireeleccionistarevolutionary forces)

Rank General

Commands Divisin del Norte

held

Battles/wars Mexican Revolution

First Battle of Ciudad Jurez

Battle of Zacatecas

First Battle of Agua Prieta

First Battle of Nogales

Battle of Guerrero

Battle of Celaya

Battle of Columbus New

Mexico

Third Battle of Ciudad Jurez

Agreement with Mexican government

to cease hostilities 1920

Spouse(s) Mara Luz Corral, church marriage

1911.[1]

Signature

Governor of Chihuahua
 In office

19131914

Preceded by Salvador R. Mercado

Succeeded by Manuel Chao

Francisco "Pancho" Villa (born Jos Doroteo Arango Armbula; 5 June 1878 20 July
1923) was a Mexican Revolutionarygeneral and one of the most prominent figures of the
Mexican Revolution.
As commander of the Divisin del Norte (Division of the North) in the Constitutionalist Army, he
was a military-landowner (caudillo) of the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. Given the
area's size and mineral wealth, it provided him with extensive resources. Villa was also
provisional Governor of Chihuahua in 1913 and 1914. Villa can be credited with decisive
military victories leading to the ousting of Victoriano Huerta from the presidency in July 1914.
Villa then fought his erstwhile leader in the coalition against Huerta, "First Chief" of the
Constitutionalists Venustiano Carranza. Villa was in alliance with southern
revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who remained fighting in his own region of Morelos. The two
revolutionary generals briefly came together to take Mexico City after Carranza's forces
retreated from it. Later, Villa's heretofore undefeated Divisin del Norte engaged the military
forces of Carranza under Carrancista general lvaro Obregn and was defeated in the
1915 Battle of Celaya. Villa was again defeated by Carranza, 1 November 1915, at the Second
Battle of Agua Prieta 1 November 1915, after which Villa's army collapsed as a significant
military force.
Villa subsequently led a hit and run raid against the small U.S.Mexican border town in
the Battle of Columbus 9 March 1916 and then fled in fear of U.S. retaliation. The U.S.
government sent U.S. Army General John J. Pershing to capture Villa who continued to run
and hide in an unsuccessful nine-month incursion into Mexican sovereign territory (Pancho
Villa Expedition) that ended when the United States entered World War I and Pershing was
recalled.
In 1920, Villa made an agreement with the Mexican government, following the ouster and
death of Carranza, to retire from hostilities and was given an hacienda near Parral, Chihuahua,
which he turned into a "military colony" for his former soldiers. In 1923, as presidential
elections approached, he re-involved himself in Mexican politics. Shortly thereafter he was
assassinated, most likely on the orders of Obregn.
In life, Villa helped fashion his own image as an internationally known revolutionary hero,
starring as himself in Hollywood films and giving interviews to foreign journalists, most
notably John Reed.[2]
After his death, he was excluded from the pantheon of revolutionary heroes until the Sonoran
generals Obregn and Calles, whom he battled during the Revolution, were gone from the
political stage. Villa's exclusion from the official narrative of the Revolution might have
contributed to his continued posthumous popular acclaim. He was celebrated during the
Revolution and long afterward by corridos, movies about his life, and novels by prominent
writers. In 1976, his remains were reburied in the Monument to the Revolution in Mexico City in
a huge public ceremony not attended by his widow Luz Corral.[3][4]

Contents
[hide]
 1Early life
2Madero, Villa, and the Mexican Revolution
3Fighting Huerta, 191314
o 3.1Governor of Chihuahua
o 3.2Victory at Zacatecas, 1914
4Alliance with Zapata against Carranza, 191415
5After Celaya, 1915: from national leader to guerrilla leader
o 5.1Attack on New Mexico
o 5.2Pancho Villa Expedition
o 5.3German involvement in Villa's later campaigns
6Final years: guerrilla leader to hacienda owner
7Personal life
8Assassination in 1923
9Pancho Villa in death and historical memory
o 9.1Gallery
10In popular culture
o 10.1In films, video, and television
o 10.2In literature
11Villa's battles and military actions
12References
13Further reading
14Media
15External links