New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-04-21

line the complete strategy OF the cam
paign 70 date. from the Carranzlsta OPP
position at Pslomas, the very day that
our first troops crossed the border, 10
the masterful strategy which IN the
end found every active unit concen-
trated upon the storm centre. Parrsl, al
exactly the psychological moment. II
numberlcss other matters were not 20
the credit OF General Pershing, the lat
ter alone would testify to his unquali-
ned success. considering the power and
equipment and severe restrictions OF
his command.
1t is tale OF heroic effort thvsrted
chiefly By the very forces from which
he had been promised cooperation
those Of the de facto government. The
grotesaueness of the situation is par
alleled by that brought about through
our forbearance in not sciZlng the rail-
road lines.
1t is especially ironicsl when We re-
member that American permission TO
Carranza troops 20 use our lines last
December to Aqua Prie,a drove the nail
into the coffin OF Villas ambitions.
made Carranza finally supreme in Mex
leo and brought on the Columbus raid,
itself an act OF revenge.
will try 70 outline the high lights
OF the campaign. giving the successive
locations and purposes OF our troops
and the movements Of General Per
shing. with whom, except for my week
with the llth Cavalry, ! have been
since leaving Dubsn. on March %.
Villa Slips Out OF Trap.
When Colonel Dodd's flying column
reached Dublan. on March is, expecting
20 find Villa in the vicinity, Villa was
actually A. San Miguel de Babicora,
north % the lake OF that name. No
guides could be found who would con-
sent 10 lead our troops beyond Galeana
and any information Of value was re-
fused. The wreck near Cumbre tunnel
on the railroad delayed Major Evanss
men % the 10th Cavalry and spoiled
The plan of the three. columns then con-
Ncrging upon Villa.
Had proper guides been secured and
the news Of the accident not reached
him the bandit would have been sur
rounded and captured by March y az
the latest. II was here that ne slipped
through the coils for the first time.
Colonel Irwin, with n detachment OF the
eth Cavalry. was then closest 20 him,
but was delayed & whole night by spe-
cious guidance.
Villa next was located al NamlquIpa.
Colonel Dodd Of the Eth. in command
of the three cavalry columns. attempted
10 close in uron him there, Dodd him
self passing thither east OF Las Cruces.
/ This time the plan was frustrated by
the bandits fight with the Carranza
general. Cavassos, on March 81 and -.
/ Villas victory here put him on his
! guard and brought in news OF our
movements. so that when Dodd arrived
: az Namiquipa the quarry had hown.
Villa, passing through L'Oso. now
! went 70 Santa Clara. eastward. Brown.
I Of the 10th. was closest on his heels,
passing due south through Bachineva
toward San Antonio.
Failed to Head of Villa.
Dodd travelled through the Santa
/ Maria valley, a shorter route, but failed
20 head Villa of. Villa had nov
reached the Northwestern Railway.
/ and by il went through Padernalls 10
/ Guerrero. Now come the cIrcums stances
4 Of Dodd's night march and the hght
which have treated so fully. II was
/ the day after the fight that with Cen
/ eral Pershing. leaving Dublan on the
, 9th. we arrived at San Geronimo Al
the same moment as the news OF the
/ victory.
Here the general made his headquar
/ ters until April :. while the hills IN oLr
vicinity were filled with Nillistas, un-
der Martin Lopez and Beltran. driven
northeast by Dodd toward Providenca
and San Tomas. There followed in
! those ten days a period of rearrange-
ment of troops. and dangerous recon
NOTHING by Major j. A. Ryan, staff in
! tclligence officer.
A hitherto imprinted incident of the
! Carranza defeat two days before Dodd's
fight resulted in Villas wound. Ca
vassos. the Carranza general. had been
at a dance in San Isidro. when a mes
senger reached him early on the morn
| ing of the fight. He left his bed and
approached Guerrero with a small
force When near the town, on a Hill
topped by cemetery, Villa was found
some distance from the fight and fired
upon.
After Dodd's victory his force re-
turned 10 Providencia. fifteen miles
from us Mt San Geronimo, for his first
rations since leaving Duban. Temp
! kins, with a detachment OF the 18th,
was sent southwest toward Guerrero;
! Howe. with part of the llth. southeast
to support Brown, of the 10th, who had
swung east.
Villa Continues South.
Ryan, about the 3lst, in a thrillnP
night reconnaissance. located villa In a
mountain cabin about eighteen miles
south of us at San Geronimo. But We
had no troops in camp, and Howe,
who was closest. had crossed the noun
tains too far 10 he recalled till the
following day. by which time the bandit
had trekked onward south.
Every scouting group that We now
sent near Bachineva was fired upon, and
tor days the country teemed with Lopez
and Beltran's men. They were the men
1 who had the brush with the 10th in
Aguascalientes canyon on April I. the
two leaders having passed through
Bachineva the night before.
Major Tompkins's 18th Cavalry de-
tachment now was on the lead on the
J Villa trail southwark. Brown, of the
10th. was close behind him. ad Howe
! OF the llth, swinging southeast toward
Minaca. On April 3. villa was located
near Cusihuirachic. leaving IT on the
5th with Tompkins in pursuit. two days
behind him. Brown reached Cusi on the
6th. Howe the 7th. our column appar-
emily closing in on Villa from all direc-
tions.
Villa was near San Borja, headed for
| parral having on April B. had "A second