Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-04-08
Guerrero Fight Described
BY One Of Army Leaders

rFioyd p. Gibbons in Chicago Trlbune.1
Rancho Providencia, thirty miles
south Of Namiquipa, April l. by cour-
Ter to Columbus. N NJ, April 5.--Here
is the first eyewitness story Of the first
battle Of the American Mexican cam
paign at Guerrero, as 1t was related
to me this afternoon by one Of the
participants in the fight, which dissi-
pated the bandit Villas forces on
Wednesday morning. Fg&>" - 81
In the Tribune car, which has en-
abled, Robert Dunn of the New York
Tribune and myself to be the only two
correspondents Immediately at the
front with the American forces, drove
all day behind the two automobiles
carrying General Pershing and his es-
cort. ytEaa. aSE Vi 3. g.. .~s
congratulates Yankees. I
We arrived at this deserted ranch
as the. first civilians to greet and con-
graduate the $50 men Of the Seventh
cavalry who were victorious in the first
contact with the bandits forces.
Col. George A. Dodd's bearded.
hungry land tired men. were vora-
ciously-- attacking the regular rations
after long marching and hard fight
ing. The supplies arrived with us in
a train of motor tories which had
been rushed forward as special re-
| ward for the victorious Seventh.
d Around the broad ranch yard bacon
was sizzling and black coffee simmer
| ing oyer a hundred fires, while in the
large corral under the cottonwood
| trees that fringe the water hole the
| horses munched their first oats in
limbs in the dust. y ~
1--WE Hit EN- First"--Dodd.
eve met them first; hit them first,
! and routed them" Colonel Dodd told
me with pardonable pride after he had
/ eral Pershfng and conferred with the
Aexpedftionary commander. eve are
| all sorry that the real quarry slipped
away before we surrounded the town.
1t was great race. fight against
| time and distance. That was the real
FEST %. The battle itself was nothing.
It really came as relish to the
men after the heavy marching we had
been doing.
1.-THE command marched over 425
miles in fourteen days, and on the
night before the fight the men were in
the saddle seventeen hours, covering
| ffty-four miles. At the end Of this
| test Of endurance, which was per-
formed on empty stomachs, the men
went into the fight and made things
hot and fast for five hours longer.
I Hungry, Tired, But scrappy.
"They deserve the greatest credit.
Out Of food and fodder, coffee and to-
bacco all gone, horses exhausted, dirty,
tired, hungry and sleepless, they never
Tagged once. Every man in the COM
Imand knew that other columns were
i out after the same game and we want
Fed to be the one to deliver the first
blow" ...E. H.,
I When pressed for details Of the
I fight, Colonel Dodd referred me to
tCapt. E. M. Leary, reginental ad-
jutant Of the Seventh cavalry, who
was with the expedition turnout the
long march. took part in the engage
ment, and was assigned by Colonel
tDodd to assemble the Representatives
ilof the eight troop commanders. who
participated in the fight. ~ T..
Before telling me the, story, Captain
| Leary took me to a large room in the
].ranchhouse, where the five troopers
! who were wounded in the fight were
1;receiving clean dressings for their
wounds. ''t'2 -. e
/ Here are the names Of the wounded:
Private Thomas P. Brown, shot
Twice in the side and once in the head.
\ Farrier Palmer E. Vaudeville, shot
| in the left forearm.
Private Joseph Garbell, shot in the
upper left arm.
Private Walter Gardner, shot in the
t1eft hand and right thigh. - ~ .a>.
f Private Joseph Bennett, shot in the
fright ankle. ~ = "
I Private Browns name was men
toned in the official dispatches for
/ his bravery and fortitude Altho twice
/ shot In the side, he continued to use
4 his rifle until a third bullet struck him
| a CHANGING blow on the sideAof the
lhead and stunned him. When he re-
Evived after the fight he not only re-
fused the assistance of comrades who
/ wanted to carry him into camp but led
his horse rather than ride the ex-
! hausted animal. +. s4i.sI
None Of the wounded is in serious
condition ss - r s5@sz, a.
In Saddle All Night.
I'VE left Bachineva at 4 o'clock
Tuesday afternoon" Captain Leary
told me. I'VE were in the saddle all
nlSnt en- route across the mountains
from the valley of the Rio Santa Maria
| to the Guerrero valley by way Of the
! pass Of Aguascalientes. On the march
not a man or animal tasted food in
spite Of the fact that we had only
reached Bachineva the day before
after long marches. which had been
severe on the horses.
| DAY was just breaking when our
column reached the tracks Of the
Mexican Northwestern railroad, att a
little cluster of mud huts called San
Antonio. eight miles directly east of
Guerrero. "a
when we attacked at Guerrero our
forces were divided as follows:
MAI. E. B. Winans with troops e, F,
g, and H.. comprising the second
squadron numbering about one hum
dred and sixty men. turned to the
south and crossed the river several
miles south Of the town. His orders
were to station his men to the west
/ and south Of the town.
Lieut. Col. Thomas Tompkins, who
! by the way, Just came down from
/ Fort sneridan. took UP q position east
Of the town and q little south Of Its
center with troops c and B.