page_title: Battle of Ambos Nogales
section_title: Death of Mayor Peñaloza and a cease-fire
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Ambos Nogales / Battle / Death of Mayor Peñaloza and a cease-fire
caption_attribution_description: English: The tomb of Felix B. Penaloza (Mayor of Nogales, Sonora, in August 1918) at the Panteon de los Heroes, Heroica Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.
context_page_description: The Battle of Ambos Nogales, or as it is known in Mexico La batalla del 27 de agosto, was an engagement fought on 27 August 1918 between Mexican military and civilian militia forces and elements of U.S. Army troops of the 35th Infantry Regiment, who were reinforced by the Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry Regiment, and commanded by Lt. Col. Frederick J. Herman. The American soldiers and militia forces were stationed in Nogales, Arizona, and the Mexican soldiers and armed Mexican militia were in Nogales, Sonora. This battle was notable for being a significant confrontation between U.S. and Mexican forces during the Border War, which took place in the context of the Mexican Revolution and the First World War.
  Prior to the late 1910s, the international border between the two Nogaleses was a wide-open boulevard named International Street, but during the course of the decade the violence associated with the Mexican Revolution and growing hysteria related to World War I brought stricter U.S. control of the border. Anti-foreign sentiment grew in the border region with the publicizing of the German Empire's Zimmermann telegram in February 1917.
context_section_description: As the violence escalated, the Mayor of Nogales, Sonora, Felix B. Peñaloza, sought to stop the shooting. The 53-year-old presidente municipal took a white handkerchief, tied it to his cane and ran into the streets of his city hoping to quell the violence. As U.S. troops advanced into the streets of Nogales, Sonora, from their positions across the line, Presidente Peñaloza pleaded with the angry nogalenses to put down their weapons. Despite later accounts to the contrary by U.S. military personnel (including Lt. Col. Herman), an official note from the U.S. Consulate in Nogales, Sonora, confirmed that a shot “from the Arizona side” felled the Mexican mayor. The mortally wounded Peñaloza was dragged into a nearby pharmacy, “where nothing could be done to save him.” He died a half-hour later.
  With Peñaloza's death, panicked officials in the Nogales, Sonora, city hall and the Mexican Consul in Nogales, Arizona, Jose Garza Zertuche, worked to bring about a cease-fire before further bloodshed. After initial contacts with Lt. Col. Herman were unsuccessful in ending the violence—the military commander in Nogales, Arizona, was wounded in the thigh during the fight—local Mexican officials agreed to raise a white flag over the community's most prominent structure at the time, the Mexican customs house. About 7:45 pm the Mexicans waved a large white flag of surrender over their customs building. Lt. Col. Herman observed this and ordered an immediate cease-fire. Snipers on both sides continued shooting for a while after the cease fire, but were eventually silenced by the efforts of their leaders on both sides. As a tenuous and suspicious peace fell on the border community, sporadic rifle shots were heard throughout the night, causing many to fear further violence. Subsequently, many non-combatants in Nogales, Sonora, fled south, away from their city. The international border in this important port of entry remained closed until the late the next day.
caption: The tomb of Felix B. Penaloza (Mayor of Nogales, Sonora, in August 1918) at the Panteon de los Heroes, Heroica Nogales, Sonora, Mexico
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