Qualla: Battle of Ojinaga https://qualla.com/battle-of-ojinaga en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:03 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/m/b/battle-of-ojinaga-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Ojinaga https://qualla.com/battle-of-ojinaga Battle of Ojinaga: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-ojinaga/ Photo credit Bain News Service, Public domain. Pancho Villa had a film deal. In January 1914, while preparing to assault the last Federal stronghold in northern Mexico, his representatives in El Paso signed a contract with Mutual Film Company: $25,000 in advance and one-fifth of all revenues for exclusive footage of his revolutionary campaigns. The Huertist newspaper El Pais condemned Villa for speculating on the blood of Mexicans. But the bandit-turned-general had bigger concerns than bad press. At Ojinaga, where the Rio Grande separates Mexico from Texas, 4,500 Federal soldiers with twelve generals had dug in for a last stand. Somewhere among the revolutionaries gathering for the attack was the 71-year-old American writer Ambrose Bierce, author of The Devil's Dictionary, who had crossed into Mexico to witness the revolution. He was never seen again.

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Image: Bain News Service | Public domain

]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/m/b/battle-of-ojinaga-wp/9tmb-battle-of-ojinaga-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Ojinaga: The Making of a Revolutionary https://qualla.com/battle-of-ojinaga/ Photo credit MikSed, CC BY 4.0. Villa had returned to Mexico in the spring of 1913 with just eight companions. The revolution that overthrew dictator Porfirio Diaz in 1911 had devoured itself: President Francisco Madero, the idealist who had sparked the uprising, was murdered by his own general, Victoriano Huer...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/m/b/battle-of-ojinaga-wp/9tmb-battle-of-ojinaga-the-making-of-a-revolutionary.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Ojinaga: Defeat and Defiance https://qualla.com/battle-of-ojinaga/ Photo credit New York Times, Public domain. General Salvador Mercado had fled Chihuahua City with his army at the end of November 1913, choosing Ojinaga precisely because it bordered the United States. If Villa pursued him to the frontier, Mercado calculated, the Americans would intervene. He was half right. Villa first se...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/m/b/battle-of-ojinaga-wp/9tmb-battle-of-ojinaga-defeat-and-defiance.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Ojinaga: Villa Rides to the Sound of the Guns https://qualla.com/battle-of-ojinaga/ Photo credit Los Angles Herald, Public domain. When word of the defeat reached Villa on January 4, he acted with characteristic speed. That same day, he alerted Roslio Hernandez to prepare his Leales de Camargo brigade and telegraphed Maclovio Herrera to bring his forces north. On January 5 at 2 p.m., Villa boarded a train fo...

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Image: Los Angles Herald | Public domain

]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/m/b/battle-of-ojinaga-wp/9tmb-battle-of-ojinaga-villa-rides-to-the-sound-of-the-guns.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Ojinaga: The Jaws Close https://qualla.com/battle-of-ojinaga/ Photo credit Los Angles Herald, Public domain. On January 10, trumpets sounded at 6 a.m. Villa distributed 200 rounds of ammunition per man and convened a war council. The plan was elegant in its simplicity: three brigades under Hernandez, Toribio Ortega, and Herrera would form a semicircle around Ojinaga, leaving only the Am...

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Image: Los Angles Herald | Public domain

]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/m/b/battle-of-ojinaga-wp/9tmb-battle-of-ojinaga-the-jaws-close.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Ojinaga: Into the River https://qualla.com/battle-of-ojinaga/ Photo credit Los Angles Herald, Public domain. The battle lasted only hours. Some villistas infiltrated the town and climbed the church bell tower. The Federal defense collapsed. Soldiers threw down their rifles and plunged into the river, swimming desperately for the Texas side. Pascual Orozco fled to San Antonio, where his ...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/m/b/battle-of-ojinaga-wp/9tmb-battle-of-ojinaga-into-the-river.mp3 0:06 6 full Battle of Ojinaga: The Writer Who Vanished https://qualla.com/battle-of-ojinaga/ Photo credit Los Angles Herald, Public domain. American writer Ambrose Bierce was last definitely seen in Chihuahua in December 1913. The acerbic 71-year-old journalist had told friends he intended to join Villa's army as an observer. His last known letter, dated December 26, ended: "As to me, I leave here tomorrow for an unk...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/m/b/battle-of-ojinaga-wp/9tmb-battle-of-ojinaga-the-writer-who-vanished.mp3 0:06 7 full