El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-11-30
department into q company which Il
now being drilled in the city.
Sundays Battle

4
now being drilled in the city.
! Sundays Battle
Sundays battle was a surprise to
| the government and the regiment OF
troops that sailed out of Chihuahua.
The statement that the fight took
place at Fresno station on the Mex
leo North Western railway is incor-
rect, as this lies eight miles west OF
Chihuahua, and the battle ground was
just about two and one-quarter miles
west of the city, in a rolling country
broken by hills
In order to better understand the
scene of action and the country where
the battle was fought it is necessary
TO state that the country to the west
Of the city is occupied by isolated
spurs of the Sierra Madre proper,
where that great system disappears to
the east These spurs reach out to the
eastward like the vast jagged teeth
OF an enormous saw Some rise to
great heights, and eight miles south
west Of the battle ground is found the
peck Of Botopilas that rises to the
magnitude of 1850 feet above the sea
level. while the city of chihuahua lies
IL a narrow valley 1850 feet high.
Vast canyons have been eroded into
these mountains and nature has sup
piled them with numberless impreg-
liable fortresses that if fortified are
as strong as Gibraltar itself Within
this region and all of the territory
west Of the Chubiscar dam a force of
a few men could hold legions at bay if
supplied with rapid firing guns. About
10 miles from Chihuahua, along the
Mexico North Western road is a mar
row canyon or pass through which the
railway passes to reach the high
planes of Salas and Palomas- In the
mountain pass on the north side of the
railway is an old fort built during the
indian invasion.
Was a Gala Occasion.
1T was a gala morning in Chihlia-
hua just before the troops under Gen.
Navarro left Sunday. Gaily dressed
society women waved farewell to the
multicolored uniforms of the Officers,
off TO the conquest, while the humber
women babe farewell to their .ldier
sweethearts with as much grace as
such affairs permit.
There were over 500 troops and 200
camp followers who left Chihuahua.
These were divided into six companies
Of infantry and two of cavalry
small squad of cavalry secuted ahead
OF the infantry and some of these
reached to within sight of Fresno sta
ton, but the main body of troops re-
turned long before reaching that
point.
1T is said by an insurrectionist that
the attack on the rear guard of the
federal troops was the result Of an
accident or the work Of traitor. in
their own camp
The public wagon ROAD parallels the
railway and it was along this open
road that the federal troops had to
pass As the railway has to take the
water grade it lies in a hollow every
where surrounded By small and large
hills The country here is one mass
Of loose rocks, and it is impossible to
pass over any part of it except the
road, on horseback faster than a walk
so that the cavalry was practically
useless.
Cavalry Guards Road
As matter of precaution Gen
Navarro left a cavalry detachment of
l5O men to guard the road against an
Insurrectionary at -ack from the rear
and the insurrectionary forces that
formed the left sskirmish detoured
to the, south and took posi-