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Exhibit Opening: Virginia National Guard & General Pancho Villa
Monday, November 02, 2015, 10:00am
About The Event
The Virginia War Memorial has unveiled a special exhibit documenting the role of the Virginia National Guard in the pursuit of Mexican General Pancho Villa following his incursion into Texas. As a result of their service there, the VNG was one of the first units trained and ready to be sent to Europe upon the United State’s entry into WWI.
In 1916, most Americans watched the war in Europe with increasing concern, unaware there was a fire burning much closer to their own border. On the night of March 8 1916, Pancho Villa, commanding several hundred Mexican revolutionaries, crossed the United States border and attacked the town of Columbus, New Mexico. Seven days later, General John Pershing led the first column of U.S. troops after Villa. Regular Army units moved to the border to take up defensive positions and later moved down into Mexico to protect Pershing’s supply lines.
President Woodrow Wilson realized in order to secure the U.S. border with Mexico and prevent further raids, it would require the use of National Guard units. This call up included National Guard units from nearly every state in the Union including Virginia.
Forbidden by U.S. law from crossing into Mexico, the Guard units had to maintain a defensive position and assume the role of border guards. Virginia contributed infantry and artillery regiments, a cavalry squadron and several companies of engineers and signal troops. All total, there were nearly four thousand Virginians deployed to camps in southern Texas near the Mexican border for almost a year. Though the guard’s time on the border was relatively uneventful, the action prepared the US Military including Virginia National Guard for its upcoming roll in World War I, less than a year later.
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Category: Conferences, Shows & Panels, Virginia
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