Battle of Ciudad Juárez

Battle of Ciudad Juárez, (7 April–10 May 1911), defining battle that marked the end of the first phase of the Mexican Revolution (1910–20). Seeking to end the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz, rebel forces, led by Pancho Villa and Pascual Orozco, attacked Federal forces at Ciudad Juárez (located just across the modern border from El Paso, Texas) in the first major battle of the Mexican Revolution. The untrained rebel force emerged victorious, ending Díaz’s rule and bringing Francisco Madero to power.

By the end of 1910, opposition to the dictatorship of Díaz had resulted in a guerrilla campaign against his Federal soldiers. The attacks, led by Francisco "Pancho" Villa, Pascual Orozco, and Emiliano Zapata, convinced exiled opposition leader Francisco Madero to return to Mexico. On 7 April, Madero, Villa, and Orozco launched an attack, with a force of 2,500 untrained men, at the strategically important Ciudad Juárez, which lay on Mexico’s border with the United States and served as an important entrepôt from which weapons and other ordnance supplied by the U.S. government were sent south to Mexico City. Díaz rewarded this support with favourable concessions to U.S. businesses, and the U.S. government remained opposed to Villa and other revolutionaries throughout the decade of civil war that followed the battle even as President William Howard Taft declared American neutrality.

The city was defended by 700 Federal soldiers commanded by General Juan Navarro. With the Federal army heavily outnumbered, Díaz attempted to negotiate a truce. Although Madero ordered a cease-fire, Villa and Orozco continued the offensive. Across the border, in the U.S. town of El Paso, thousands of Americans gathered to watch the battle. Using barricades and machine guns, Navarro had prepared a strong, well-organized defense of the city. To counter this, the rebels avoided an open attack through the streets, instead using dynamite to blow their way through the rows of houses and remain concealed. By 8 May, the besieged Federal troops occupied a few buildings in the city center and had run out of water. With fighting restricted to close combat, the Federal army’s superior artillery was of little use. The fighting was ferocious, and few prisoners were taken by either side. Two days later, Navarro surrendered; Madero, to his great credit, ordered that the federales be shown clemency, with none of the customary retribution taken. Together with the Battle of Cuautla, Ciudad Juárez led to Diaz’s resignation, which brought Francisco Madero to power.

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Losses: Unknown. Conservative estimates place the death toll at about 400, while other estimates range as high as 800 or more.