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Across the Rio Grande: The U.S. Punitive Expedition:
President Woodrow Wilson's moralistic attitude towards Mexican diplomacy, best described in his own phrase as "teaching those South Americans to elect good men," produced resentment toward the United States. Wilson believed that it was his mission to help Mexican's establish a constitutional government responsive both to the needs of its people and open to American direction.
After Wilson extended formal diplomatic recognition to Venustiano Carranza and the Constitutionalist Party in late 1915, Pancho Villa felt betrayed by the United States. In early 1916, Villa's forces held up a train in northern Mexico and executed sixteen Americans who were aboard. Shortly thereafter, Villa attacked Columbus, New Mexico, burning the town and killing nineteen more Americans.
Following Villa's raid, President Wilson ordered Brigadier General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing to retaliate by leading a punitive expedition into Mexico. Some 6,675 American regulars crossed the Rio Grande in an attempt to capture Villa. But while Pershing's command traveled deep into Mexico, Villa attacked the Texas community of Glen Springs. Enraged, Wilson called out the National Guard. By June 1916, nearly 100,000 Guard members had taken up positions along the international frontier. Mexico and the United States teetered on the brink of war. |