page_title: Battle of Celaya
section_title: Aftermath of the Battles in the Bajío
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Celaya / Aftermath of the Battles in the Bajío
caption_attribution_description: English: Monument to Alvaro Obregon located in the San Angel colonia of Delegacion Alvaro Obregon in Mexico City
context_page_description: The Battle of Celaya, 6–15 April 1915, was part of a series of military engagements in the Bajío during the Mexican Revolution between the winners, who had allied against the regime of Gen. Victoriano Huerta and then fought each other for control of Mexico. The Constitutionalists under Gen. Venustiano Carranza faced off against the Army of the División del Norte of Pancho Villa. The first battle of Celaya was fought April 6–7, 1915, near Celaya in present-day Guanajuato, Mexico. The second battle of Celaya was fought April 15–16. These encounters between the Constitutionalist Army led by Gen. Álvaro Obregón, Venustiano Carranza's best general, and the army under the command of Pancho Villa were crucial in determining the outcome of the Mexican Revolution.
  Obregón chose the site of battle, arrived in advance to prepare it and kept to his defensive strategy, knowing Villa's propensity for blind cavalry charges over an open field. Villa's defeat was the result of his multiple tactical miscalculations and overconfidence in his much larger, undefeated army's ability to best Obregón's army under any circumstances.
context_section_description: Following the battle at Celaya, Obregón sent a telegram to President Carranza saying, “Fortunately, Villa led the attack personally” explaining his victory against Villa. Estimates of casualties on both sides vary widely, as Villa attempted to soften the blow of his defeat after the battle. The Battle of Celaya is referred to by some historians of the period as Pancho Villa's "Waterloo" in the sense that he was dealt a crippling military defeat. Irreparable damage was done to both his military power and his critical aura of invincibility. Further, a number of domestic and foreign observers of the revolution came to the conclusion that the Villistas were not capable of defeating the Constitutionalist army.
  Militarily, the Villistas were never again as strong as they were before taking the field at Celaya in April 1915. As a result of the disastrous battle, Villa himself was forced to go on the defensive in an attempt to reorganize his forces and procure war materiel lost at Celaya. His faithful adviser Gen. Felipe Angeles argued that Villa should return to northern Mexico, where he had allies and could reconstruct the División del Norte.
  Villa, displaying supreme confidence in his military judgement, decided to conduct a defensive battle at León similar to what Obregón had done at Celaya. Obregón himself continued his to pursue his destruction of Villa in the ensuing battles of the revolution. At the battle of León, Obregón lost his right arm in the fighting and nearly died. 
  The location of the battle of Celaya is in the immediate vicinity of the present-day city of Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico. The site of the battlefield is currently not commemorated by any official major monument or museum. In Mexico City there is a monument to Obregón on the site where he was assassinated in 1928; until 1986, the monument contained Obregón's arm, which he lost at León, preserved in formaldehyde.
  The battle of Celaya would prove to be Villa's last major contribution in the civil war as he was no longer a powerful leader. Thus, the United States began to shift their support to the victorious constitutionalists and forcing Villa to go on the run.
caption: Monument to Álvaro Obregón in the Parque de la Bombilla, Mexico City.
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