Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-11-02
Withdraws Troops Following
AH-Night Attack on Aqua
Prieta Garrison.
ATTACKING FORCE FIRES
ON U. S. CUSTOMSHOUSE
Bullets Rain on the American Side
Of Line and Eight Persons
Are Wounded.

DOUGLAS, Ariz., Novembe,
2.-After four desperate attacks
on Aqua Prieta, which kept the
Carranza defenses blazing practi.
cally all night with flashing guns
and bursting shells, Gen. Fran.
cisco Villa drew off shortly afte,
daylight today.
| At that time eight persons on the
American side OF the boundary had
been wounded, as follows:
Louis F. Taylor. restaurant employe,
struck in spine. paralyzed
Corp. E. M. Jones, Company G, 7th In
fantry. shot through both thighs.
| Ollie Y. Whiddon. private Company A.
7th Infantry. hit in neck.
H. K Jones. letter carrier, wounded
| in shoulder.
Eightyear-old Mexican boy. shot in
stomach.
| Harry Jones, private Company c, 18th
| Infantry. struck in stomach, probably
fatally wounded.
James Tank. private Company D, 18th
Infantry, wounded in leg.
Mexican woman, lost a finger.
Report Of Mexican Losses.
| Losses of the Carranza garrison were
reported by Gen. Gales as forty-five
killed and seventy-five wounded, al
though unofficial reports stated his
casualties were $50. Villa dead and
| wounded IN largo Numbers were scat
tered over the desert outside the barbed
wire entanglements which surrounded
| the Mexican town.
| The battle continued practically
| without intermission from yesterday
afternoon at las o'clock until o'clock
this morning. At o'clock Villa
launched his fercest attack with the
combined fire of rifles, machine guns
and cannon. American army officers
who with their men were in the
| trenches facing the border all night.
| pronounced the firing the most violent
they had ever heard.
Villa opened on the western trenches
Of Aqua Prieta with every gun avail
Yaqui Indians about o'clock. Gales
| replied with every weapon in his gar
rison.
Douglas trembled under the vibra-
conclusions. Bullets from the Mexican
side rained upon the American town.
from the United States Army trenches
at the border to points mile or more
from the line. Scores OF women and
children covered behind brick or
adobe walls.
Villa Fires on q. s. Customs House.
The United States customs house.
which was fred on by Villa machine
gun platoon yesterday, when Louis F.
Taylor was shot in the back. was again
peppered by Mexican bullets. IT'S roof
and porches were perforated in many
places.
The American trenches were plentt-
fully sprinkled with bullets also. Pri-
vate Harry Jones, Company {, 11th In
fantry, was hit In the stomach and
probably fatally wounded while guard
| ing a company wagon near the army
field hospital.
Private James Tank. Company D,
| 18th Infantry, was struck in the legs
by bullet that fell into section OF
the trench a few feet from the customs
house. No move was made by any OF
! the United States army detachments to
return the fire.
When villa forces drew off after day
| light it was reported they were not In
| retreat. but had ceased their attack
| in order to procure water. Their can
teens were empty and many had not
tasted food for twenty-four hours or
more, according to Mexican officers
| who approached the border. Villa still
| intends to take Aqua Prleta, these or
ficers declared.
Exploding Mines Cause Slaughter.
Mines exploded by Gales west of
Aqua Prieta killed 400 Yaquis. accord
ing to reports from the Mexican town.
One Mexican woman refugee among
l%1 Of no
ing the machine gun fusillade yester-
day lost a finger by bullet.
Twenty-three hundred refugees were
concentrated at a camp at Pirtleville.
a suburb of Douglas. They were prac-
tically without water last night DR..
]. J. P Armstrong, Gales chief sur
geon, declared this was due to dilatori-
ness of American officials. The ref
ugees were without lights last night
and food supplies were scant until to-
day.
Daybreak showed that little damage
to the defenses of Aqua Prieta had
been done in last nights battle.
Barbed Wire Effective
The barbed wire entanglements. with
the exception of one gap Of about
twenty feet. appeared intact, white the
earthworks showed little effect Of the
night The town. however. showed
many damaged buildings. and the list
of dead and wounded was a heavy one.
After the last heavy bombardment.
the Villa forces, which at some points
had approached to within a few hun
dred yards of the wire entanglements,
fell back about mile and began in
trenching The right flank Of the Villa
forces rested squarely on the boundary
fence.
Villa soldiers. although weak from
want of food and water, expressed grim
determination to force their way into
Aqua Prieta, no matter at what cost.
Except in the serious attempt made
last night to break through the wire
entanglements, Villas losses on the east
were comparatively small, notwith-
standing the terrific fire to which they
were subjected.
There was Intermittent firing from
both sides after daybreak, but It ap-
parently was mostly scattered shots to
correct ranges.
Gen. Villa sent about thousand cav
airy eastward to the pass near Niger
head mountain early this morning to
bring up supplies of ammunition for his
big guns, under escort of four thousand
achievements, which Villa leaders
this morning said should arrive by
noon.
Determined to Storm the Works.