The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1914-05-11
VILLA POWERFUL
U. S. Is TOLD
Expsrtl Reports He Would Be a
Formidable Enemy

Washington. May l1.-"Never be-
fore I'm the history of Mexico has there
been an army so splendidly equipped
and well organized as that which Is
under the command of Villa
This is "A statement carried In the
confidential report Of "A United states
army expert received AT the war de-
partment The expert was AT the bat
tie of Torreon and has been making a
study of the military movements IN
northern Mexico. The report char
acterizes Villa as "A greater military
commander than the elder Diaz. II
is Judgment formed after close
first hand study of the methods of
the revolutionary elader.
The nature of this report indicates
why the military heads of this gov
eminent are just now watching with
intense interest every move made by
the Mexican Constitutionalist leader.
should the present policy of the
United States drift into a combat with
all the people of Mexico, it is recog-
nized by the Washington authorities
that Villa will make the most stub
born resistance To the American fore
es of any of the Mexican commanders.
He is described as a splendid organ
izer and a bold leader.
villa. according to the report to the
war department, probably would
avoid so far as possible any open en-
gaGement with American troops. An
effort by Villa To engineer spectac-
ular dash across the Texas border as
"A means of arousing the enthusiasm
of his followers is set forth as "A strong
possibility. This, the report says,
probably would he attempted at night,
The report says that Villa i'm his cam
paign around Torreon relied on night
attacks.
Villas Night Attacks.
He generally began his engage
m..ts about o'clock in the after
noon, just long enough before dark
To locate his enemy. He would bring
his artillery into action and draw out
the fire from the federalists SO AS
To locate their line and the general
disposition of the troops. Then after
dark he would order his infantry
forward to attack the enemy's works.
In order TO insure successful move
ment OF his troops i'm a night attack
villa had Il system of marking his
soldiers for every battle. one night
they would be ordered to turn up
their hats and another night To roll
up their sleeves. In the final charge
of Torreon officers and men went
into battle with their sleeves rolled
to their elbows.
His troops are trained to the use OF
dynamite bombs. Some of them are
equipped with leather sings with
which they are able To hurl bombs a
distance OF from 600 to 400 feet
on a number of occasions, il is re-
ported, a small detac hment of Villas
troops routed an entire regiment OF
the enemy. According To the report
Villas troops are far from being the
ragged and dilapidated soldiers that
compose Huerta's command near
Vera Cruz. His entire force has been
recently clothed with modern uni
forms. new underclothes, socks. and
shoes. They are aristocratic i'm APP
pearance compared with the federal
army and other Mexican commands.
They are armed for the most part
with either Mauser rifles or high
power Remingtons. They are now
carrying 800 rounds Of ammunition,
and villa says has thirty-five OF
the most modern guns.
But what is considered one of the
most interesting points i'm the report
on the condition of Villas forces Is
the excellent system for supplying the
not neglected the smallest detail in
this respect which is entirely new
feature of Mexican military force.
He had water train so that during
the Torrcon campaign his troops were
kept constantly supplied with water
while on the firing line. While the
federaists were dropping down from
exhaustion and extreme heat, Gen.
Villas troops for the most part were
rcsh and vigorous.
Splendid Medical Service.
The medical corps of Villas army
is In command of Col. DR.. Andres
Nillareal, a graduate of the Johns
Hopkins university. There is "A hos
pital train capable of taking care of
1,sO0 wounded soldiers for forty days.
In the train is "A complete field hos
pital of the most modern type manned
by splendid corps of trained nurses.
After the battle of Torreon the fed
eral commander asked for truce to
bury the dead and take care of the
wounded but Villa replied that he had
no Mnunlnl TINT nnnlnd nnrn Ilunr,.