George A . Dodd Brigadier General George Allan Dodd ( July 26 , 1852 – June 28 , 1925 ) was an officer in the United States military . He was known for his victory over the Villistas in 1916 at the Battle of Guerrero , Mexico , during the Pancho Villa Expedition . Biography . Dodd was born in Lycoming County , Pennsylvania on July 26 , 1852 . Dodd ' s father was killed during the American Civil War in 1865 , at the Siege of Petersburg , just before the battle ended so he helped raise his younger brothers and sisters with his mother . In 1872 Dodd passed the entrance exam at West Point and passed so he was accepted into the United States Military Academy and graduated on June 15 , 1876 . Immediately following this he joined the 3rd Cavalry and was sent to Dakota Territory to fight in the Great Sioux War against various native American tribes of the Northern Plains . During the war Dodd led Sioux scouts and fought in the Battle of Bates Creek , in which the Cheyenne leader Dull Knife was killed . In 1880 , he married Clara Agnes Steele . They had nine children together , Emily , Catherine , Allen , Charles , George Allen , Mary Ethel , William Alexander , Reginald Alden , and Lida Dorothy . In 1882 , during Geronimo ' s War , Dodd commanded Apache scouts in the Southwest and northern Mexico . It was at this time he participated in the Battle of Big Dry Wash on July 17 , 1882 , the last major battle involving the Apache . When the Spanish - American War began on April 25 , 1898 , Dodd was still serving in the 3rd Cavalry when he received orders to sail to Cuba from Florida with a large American invasion force in order to capture the island from its Spanish garrison . At the Battle of San Juan Hill on July 1 , Dodd distinguished himself while fighting alongside Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders . He was also wounded in the Siege of Santiago from July 3 through July 17 while serving as a captain . When the war with Spain ended , Dodd returned to the United States for a brief time and was promoted to the rank of major . In 1899 , the Filippino Rebellion began so that year the 3rd Cavalry sailed for Manila . For the next few years , until 1902 , Dodd and the 3rd Cavalry remained on duty mainly in the Philippines , occasionally returning to America . In 1904 he received the rank of lieutenant colonel and was placed in second command of the 10th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers . In 1916 , at the age of sixty - three , Dodd was the colonel of approximately 400 men of the 7th Cavalry , stationed at Camp Harvey J . Jones in Arizona . Following Pancho Villa ' s attack on Columbus , New Mexico in March , Dodd and his command were ordered to ride south into Chihuahua , Mexico to participate in General John J . Pershing ' s punitive expedition . On March 29 , Dodd arrived at the town of Guerrero which was held by hundreds of Villistas , led by Villa himself . In what was called the " " last true cavalry charge " " in history , the 7th Cavalry attacked Guerrero and routed the Mexicans after five hours of fighting . Fifty - six of Villa ' s men , including one of his generals , were killed in the fighting and another thirty - five were wounded . On the American side only five men were wounded but the battle wasn ' t a complete victory as Villa escaped capture with the majority of his men . However , over the next few months the Villistas remained dispersed amongst the hills of the Sierra Madre and were no longer consider a threat to the United States Army . News of the battle quickly spread to the United States where Dodd was declared a national hero , shortly thereafter , the Senate approved Dodd ' s promotion to brigadier general . Though Dodd accepted the promotion , he retired from the army on July 26 , 1916 to live at his farm near Ithaca , New York . He later moved to a home in Orlando , Florida and died on June 28 , 1925 . General Dodd was buried with his wife and one son at Arlington National Cemetery .