The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-31
Many Killed and Wounded
in Thirty-Six- x-HOur
Engagement
REBELS GRADUALLY
APPROACH DEFENSE
Crippled and Disorganized. Federal
Troops Fight Desperately in
Last Stand Before
Breastworks

Preside. Tex. December 3O.--rhc
battle between 5000 rebels under Gem
crnI Toribio orteea and the northern
division of the Mexican federal army,
entrenched around 0iinaga. Mex.
across the border from this place. still
was In progress when darkness fell
tonight. No bullets came across the
border.
The forces had been engaged for
SO hours and many had been killed and
wounded
General Ortega, executing a serious
of flank movements steadily kept on
the offensive, gaining foot by foot the
The federal forces, crippled and dis
organized by the first rebel onslaught,
clung to the hillside trenches, where
their leaders had decided to make a
last stand They rallied somewhat from
the panic that seized many Of them
with the first volleys of the rebels
when daylight disclosed the position of
Ortega's men, and put up a plucSy fight
against heavy odds. although their
losses were heavy from wounds and de-
sertions. Many wounded and desert
ers waded waist deep through the
river to the American side.
1t was impossible to even approxi-
mate the number of dead and wounded.
Fifteen federal wounded who waded
the river We're allowed to remain, and
were cared for by by United States
army physicians. but several score un-
wounded federal deserters We're dis
armed by the United States border pa
troll under Major McNamee and sent
back across the border.
Army officers were convinced that
casualties had been heavy and Red
Cross representatives sent request for
more help and hospital supplies. They
also requested permission to cross the
border to attend the wounded on the
battlefield.
Neither of the opposing forces is pro-
vided with hospital facilities and the
wounded have been loft on the hillsides.
where they fell.
Although 5000 rebels were engaged. much
OF their fire was ineffective IN the early
hours of the battle because of the posi-
ton they occupied below the village.
Ojinaga, a cluster of adobe buildings,
stands a mile from the border at the
top of high hills, which line the valley
through which the rebels advanced. When
day dawned, Ortega's men had gained
the foot of hill. three miles from the
village, where the federals had planted
fort to command approaches To the
town. They spread along the hillsides
and opened a fire which was maintained
all day and which was supported by ten
machine guns they had dragged across
the desert from Chihuahua.
Approach Foot by Foot
Foot by foot the rebels approached the
federal trenches until their fire became
too severe for the defenders. who re-
tired until, as darkness fell all the fed
erals who had not fled were huddled in
the shelter of the town itself.
A small federal force made a gallant
stand i'm the custom house, which stands
on an elevation midway between the vii
lage proper and the plain. They swept a
hail of bullets across the main approach
of the town, and, for a time, held the
rebel forces in check. As the day wore
on however, the sputterng fire from the
loop holes of the customs house grad
ually diminished and finally ceased en-
tirely.
When their last cartridge had been fred
the little handful of federals deserted the
building and scurried across the mile and
half separating them from their COM
rades in the town. Their retreat gave
the rebels additional advantage of po-
sition.
Although the rebels tonight appeared to
have much advantage, the outcome of the
struggle was not clearly defined. That
the federals will surrender is improbable
because General Ortega has explicit or
ders to execute the so-called volunteers
and their commanders. Generals Pascual
Orozco. Ynez Salazar Antonio Rojas,
Bias Orpinal, Lazaro Alanis and Rouge
Gomez. Eighteen hundred volunteers also
come under the sentence OF death inn
posed by order of General villa. That
the federals with all their generals. ex-
cept perhaps Gen. Francisco Castro, Gen.
Jose Mancilla and Gen. Manuel Landa of
the regulars. will be forced over to tho
United States in case OF defeat, was
thought on the American side to be most
likely.
Force Refugees Back
The land which slopes down to the
shallow and muddy Rio Grande on the
American side all day presented the busy
aspect of the rear of an army in action.
Cavalrymen of the border patrol gallopel
along the waters edge ready to send
back any Mexican soldiers who attempted
to cross or to stop possible general
rush of the whole federal army across
the border. Only wounded soldiers were
given assistance.
A few civilians who dared remain In
Ojinaga until the last came across un-
molested. The road leading to Maria. the
nearest railway station, sixty-seven miles
away. was plodded by messengers on va
rious errands In connection with the
fighting across the river and the fence
wire telegraph used by the United States
army was flooded with official messages.
That there was no firing across the bor-
der was due chiefly to the fact that Ojin-
aga stands back from the river Com
manders on both sides promised Major
McNamee that the range of fire would
be directed away from the river if pos
sible
The federals tonight were huddled in
the adobe buildings of the town. Many
occupied an adobe horse corral, built
like stockade. from which they had
operated guns throughout the day
Although Ortega's men had marched
for days handicapped by half fed horses
they showed little signs of fatigue and
seemed in excellent physical condition
when the attack was resumed at day
break They now have the advantage
OF centering their fire directly on the
village itself
Payment Defaulted
New York. December 30.-Disturbec
conditions in Mexico have forced the Ma
tional Railways of Mexico and affiliated
properties to default in the payment OF
! interest. due January /, on bonds amount.