wanted Punitive Expedition book suggestions

[nagant]

Title pretty much say's it all. Thanks for any help. I have The great pursuit by mason.

[Rakkasan187]

"Villa Raids Columbus, N.M. Mar. 9, 1916" by Bill Rakocy.

 

Local author here in El Paso, Texas.. There are a few copies on amazon right now..

 

Leigh

[BEAST]

I enjoyed John Eisenhower's Intervention! The United Sates and the Mexican Revolution, 1913-1917

[nagant]

Thanks for the book ideas, will be on my shelf soon

[stbryson]

Hello,

 

I have not read this book, but it may be of interest:

 

With the National Guard on the Border; Our National Military Problem

By: Capt. Irving Goff McCann

Published by C. V. Mosby, St. Louis, 1917

 

This was written by an Illinois National Guard captain and tells about his experience during the Mexican campaigns of 1910-17. Many photos in here as well as fascinating & detailed info about the various military actions he was involved in, his opinion of the Base Hospitals, etc.

 

This is 271 pages in length and measures 8” by 5 ½”.

 

Take care,

 

Steve Bryson

[Dragoon]

"Chasing Villa: The Last Campaign of the US Cavalry" by Tompkins. It has been reprinted so should be easy find.

 

Kurt

[Moonraker]

Rather late with this offereing but here it is anyway. A couple of thee have already been mentioned but most have not. Some deal with details you may not want to go into!

 

Braddy, Haldeen. Pancho Villa at Columbus: The Raid of 1916. Texas Western College Press.

Lacks detail but a useful overview.

 

Braddy, Haldeen. Pershing’s Mission in Mexico. Texas Western Press.

Lacks detail – for which see Tompkins

 

Clendenen, Clarence C. Blood On The Border: The United States Army and the Mexican Irregulars. Toronto; Collier-Macmillan, 1969. (Clendenen 1969)

Well written overview of the border from the 1850s through to after the Punitive Expedition. Good summaries of key events and issues from an American perspective and highly recommended especially as a place to start.

 

Cyrulik, John M. A Strategic Examination Of The Punitive Expedition Into Mexico, 1916 – 1917. Masters’ thesis at http://cgsc.cdm.oclc.org/coll2/image/42.pdf

Not as useful or interesting as it sounds.

 

Deuble, John. An Illustrated History of the 1st Aero Squadron at Camp Furlong - Columbus, New Mexico 1916-1917. Gaithersburg, MD; Signature Book Printing, 2016.

 

Finley, James P. ‘Buffalo Soldiers at Huachuca: Military Events in the American Southwest from 1910–1916’. Huachuca Illustrated: A Magazine of the Fort Huachuca Museum. Volume 1, 1993.

Excellent coverage of the wider topic but with much on Columbus and the Punitive Expedition; that I picked my copy up at the fort itself on an Apache Wars tour was a nice bonus.

 

Foulois, Capt Benjamin D. Report Of The Operations Of The First Aero Squadron, Signal Corps, With The Mexican Punitive Expedition, March 15 To August 15, 1916. Signal Corps, US Army, at http://www.earlyaviators.com/esquadr4.htm.

 

Frank Tompkins. Chasing Villa: The Last Campaign of the US Cavalry. 1996, High Lonesome Books

Very detailed account by an officer who was in the US Cavalry force; biased to an entirely ‘American’ in viewpoint and highly patronising if not racist about the Mexicans, but well worth reading for the details.

 

Gonzalez, 1^st Captain Daniel. ‘The Fight At Carrizal’. The Mexican Review, date unknown. (MS translation of Spanish original in the Clendenen Papers, Hoover Institute, qv)

One of those gems you always hope you will find-a fascinating and revealing Mexican account of the battle, with some real details of the Mexican forces involved, the perfect antidote to all the US-skewed versions!

 

Harris, Charles H III and Louis R Sadler. The Great Call-Up: The Guard, the Border, and the Mexican Revolution. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2015.

Detailed coverage of this largely neglected aspect of the tension caused by the Revolution, especially given how close warfare between the US and Mexico was, and the ‘What-if?’ possibility of NG units then being sent over the border.

 

Machado, William C. The Pursuit of Pancho Villa: Uniforms & Equipment of the Last Campaign 1916. Ontario CA: Kengraphics, 1993.

Exactly what it says, exhaustive coverage of all the items used by the Punitive Expedition, regulation issue and private purchase, with the emphasis on the cavalry. Illustrated with photos of all the items.

 

Mason, Herbert Molloy Jr. The Great Pursuit: Pershing’s Expedition to Destroy Pancho Villa. ?: Smithmark Publishers, ?

Rather dull study of an exciting subject.

 

Mexican Punitive Expedition. Air & Space Power Journal, Winter, 2002. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NXL/is_4_16/ai_97737376#continue. Accessed 15 Nov 2005. (ASPJ 2002)

 

Quesada, Alejandro de and Peter Dennis. The Hunt for Pancho Villa-The Columbus Raid and Pershing's Punitive Expedition 1916-17. Osprey, 2012.

A basic introduction to the topic, enhanced by the excellent colour plates.

 

Radiotelegraphy (US Signal Corps), October, 1916, pages 85-86: Radio Apparatus In Use In The Signal Corps. http://earlyradiohistory.us/1916sc.htm (accessed 15 Nov 2005)

Very full technical, account of the equipment in use by the US Army at the time.

 

Rakocy, Bill. Villa Raids: Columbus, New México No 2. El Paso: Bravo Press, 1991

Actually covers the Punitive Expedition too, though confusingly organised; has official reports and first-hand accounts, including Mexican ones, not readily available elsewhere, making it essential reading. An earlier shorter version is OOP but contains some photos not in the expanded version 2.

 

Raun, Gerald G. ‘Pancho Villa, The Columbus Raid, and the El Paso Jail Fire: A Critical Review.’ Journal of Big Bend Studies Vol 15, 2003. (Copy supplied by the author.)

Excellent review of theories why Villa made the raid, reaches a logical choice from amongst them and shows that by some measures the raid was a success!

 

Raun, Gerald G. ‘Refugees or Prisoners of War: The Internment of a Mexican Federal Army after the Battle of Ojinaga, December 1913-January 1914.’ Journal of Big Bend Studies Vol 12 2000. (Copy supplied by the author.)

Fascinating insight into this aspect of the aftermath of the battle, with useful numbers, names etc of the Federale troops.

 

Raun, Gerald G. ‘Seventeen Days in November: The Lynching of Antonio Rodríguez and American-Mexican Relations, November 3-19, 1910.’ Journal of Big Bend Studies Vol 7, 1995. (Copy supplied by Gerry Raun.)

Interesting account of a minor figure impacting international relations.

 

Raun, Gerald G. ‘United States Mobilization in 1911: The Maneuver Division.’ Journal of Big Bend Studies Vol 17, 2005. (Copy supplied by the author.)

Useful overview of this early mobilisation on the border, which paved the way for the later similar events connected with the Punitive Expedition.

 

Rivas, Lt Col XXX. El Carrizal 1916. Undated. Extract from his official report in Spanish. Unofficial Forum of the Mexican Air Force. http://extrafam.mforos.com.

Fascinating all too brief account by the man who was the true hero on the Mexican side, providing, with Gonzales, a useful counterbalance to the American accounts.

 

Toulmin, Colonel H A Jr. With Pershing in Mexico. Harrisburg; Military Service Publishing, 1935.

Written by someone who still believed horses had a part to play in modern warfare, it brings nothing new to the story, but does have excellent maps of two of the clashes.

 

Wallace, Andrew. The Sabre Retires: Pershing’s Cavalry Campaign in Mexico , 1916. The Smoke Signal, the Tucson Corral of the Westerners, No 9 Spring 1964.

Brief coverage using numerous primary sources, with excellent map of the campaign and a very evocative sketch of a US cavalryman in the Expedition.

 

Wharfield, Col H B USAF Ret. ‘The Affair At Carrizal’. Montana The Magazine of Western History, Autumn 1968.

Well illustrated but actually more about political events leading up to the fight than the fight itself.

 

Wharfield, Harold B. Apache Indian Scouts In The Punitive Expedition. Published by the author, 1964, 22-3. At http://www.gwpda.org/comment/huachuca/HI1-23.htm.

An interesting but brief account, the author was a lieutenant with the Apache Scouts in 1918.

 

Williams, Lt S M, 11^th US Cavalry. ‘The Cavalry Fight At Ojos Azules’. US Cavalry Journal 27, January 1917 pp404-8.

Another useful detailed first-hand account by a participant, though from the American viewpoint only of course.