Battle of Tierra Blanca 1913
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 23 November 1913 – 25 November 1913 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1913 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | Mexico | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | North America | Natural Earth |
| Coordinates | 18.4569, -96.3478 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Tierra Blanca was fought in 1913 during the Mexican Revolution. It took place about 35 miles (56 km) south of Ciudad Juárez. The outcome was a major victory for Francisco "Pancho" Villa over the forces of José Inés Salazar, commander of the federal forces loyal to then head of state Victoriano Huerta.
The two armies were of relatively equal numbers, 5,500 of Villa's soldiers standing against an estimated 7,000 federal soldiers. But Salazar's troops were in theory more disciplined and had more artillery. The battle began on 23 November 1913; the first day saw fairly indecisive fighting, but before the actual clashes started Fierro had been sent south to destroy the railroad tracks, forcing the federal soldiers to halt.
On the second day, as Villa flanked the well armed federal soldiers with cavalry, a steam locomotive filled with dynamite and percussion caps was rammed into train cars provided for them. The resulting explosion caused Salazar's men to flee to nearby undamaged train cars in retreat. Villa's cavalry then overwhelmed the troopers. This attack, combined with Rodolfo Fierro's mission to explode armaments behind the lines, caused Salazar's forces to collapse.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Tierra Blanca (revision 1370275480), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
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- Battle of San Juan de Ulúa (1568) 1568 · 86 km
Browse more: battles in Mexico · North America · 19th century battles