First Battle of Rellano The First Battle of Rellano was an engagement on 24 March 1912 during the Mexican Revolution at the Rellano railroad station , in the state of Chihuahua . It was fought between government troops loyal to Francisco I . Madero , led by General José González Salas , and rebel troops under Pascual Orozco . The battle was a victory for Orozco . Background . While initially an enthusiastic opponent of Porfirio Díaz ' s dictatorship of Mexico , Pascual Orozco began coming into conflict with Francisco Madero and other revolutionary leaders as early as Battle of Ciudad Juárez . Orozco was resentful over Madero ' s appointment of Venustiano Carranza , rather than himself , as defense minister . Furthermore , over the course of 1911 Orozco began courting the support of the powerful Chihuahuan Terrazas family who were sworn enemies of Pancho Villa . This led to a break between Villa and Orozco . The final straw came when Madero appointed Abraham González , Villa ' s mentor , as governor of Chihuahua . In March 1912 Orozco decreed a formal revolt against Madero ' s government . The battle . General José González Salas was sent from Mexico City in an expedition against Orozco on March 8 . He set up his headquarters in Torreón , Coahuila , with a view of quelling Orozco ' s uprising in middle of March . On March 18 he led 6000 men into Chihuahua . Progress was slow because the troops were forced to repair railroad tracks and bridges that had been blown up by the rebels along the way . Furthermore , González split his force into three columns . A cavalry column under Trucy Aubuert was sent ahead to scout but soon lost communication with the main force . González then sent another unit of cavalry under Joaquín Téllez to continue the scouting . The two cavalry units and the infantry and artillery under González were all supposed to converge together in Ciudad Jiménez . However , the second scouting force also got detached from the main force . As a result , the " colorados " , as Orozco ' s troops were known because of their red flag , managed to surprise Salas ' federal troops at the southern edge of the Bolsón de Mapimí region . However , the first few hours of fighting involved minor skirmishes and proved indecisive . Eventually , the rebel forces retreated to Rellano where , along with newly arrived reinforcements , they dug in . By this point , Orozco had about 3000 men ; González ' s men continued to proceed by rail . At that point , Orozco ' s co - conspirator , Emilio Campa , loaded a locomotive with dynamite and sent it at the federal troops which were moving by rail . Later , the tactic of using explosive - laden trains became known as the " loco loco " ( crazy locomotive ) or the " máquina loca " ( crazy machine ) . Despite the fact that Salas ' troops , upon seeing an incoming train , had taken the precaution of removing some of the rails , the speed of the locomotive was fast enough so that it jumped the missing rails , crashed into Orozco ' s train and exploded . The casualties , however , were fairly low as a good portion of the infantry had disembarked when they saw the locomotive approaching . The soldiers who had been on the train began moving north when they were ambushed by about 1000 Orozquistas troops firing upon them from the surrounding hills . A cavalry squadron under General Aureliano Blanquet attempted to encircle the rebels but had to retreat when more of them arrived . The sound of the battle alerted Téllez ' s cavalry unit which soon arrived on the scene . The federal troops made a fighting retreat towards Torreón , with Téllez fighting a rear guard action , and once again becoming separated from the bulk of Gonzalez ' s soldiers . After arriving in Torreon , González waited a day and a half for news of what had happened to Téllez ' s cavalry , or to the men under Aubuert ( who , unknown to González , managed to reach Jiménez unharmed ) . With none arriving , he grew desperate and committed suicide . The battle was a victory for Orozco , although in purely military terms it was only a minor setback for the federal forces , most of which remained intact and combat ready . However , Orozco effectively used the news of the engagement for propaganda purposes , which with the spectacular tactic of the dynamite filled locomotive and González ' s suicide contributed to the general perception of a military disaster for Madero ' s supporters . Aftermath . Orozco ' s victory at the first battle of Rellano marked the high point of his rebellion . He was in control of all of Chihuahua except for the town of Parral which was garrisoned by Pancho Villa ' s troops . Villa had remained loyal to Madero during the rebellion , partly because of his respect for the Madero - appointed governor of Chihuahua Abraham González , and partly due to his own personal rivalry with Orozco . Attacking Parral was the next logical step for Orozco . In the ensuing battle Orozco eventually took the town , but Villa ' s stubborn resistance bought enough time for General Victoriano Huerta to arrive in Chihuahua with a new federal army . At the Second Battle of Rellano fortunes turned and Huerta defeated Orozco ( who attempted to use a variation on the " loco loco " trick which had worked for him before ) . Subsequently , the rebellion collapsed and Orozco was forced to seek safety in the United States .