Antique Gelatin Silver Print Photograph of 13th Calvary Soldier

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Antique Gelatin Silver Print Photograph of 13th Calvary Soldier - 1913.

This photograph shows a member of the 13th Calvary … Read more Antique Gelatin Silver Print Photograph of 13th Calvary Soldier - 1913.

This photograph shows a member of the 13th Calvary Regiment, Company H of the United States Army, sitting atop his horse in a desert landscape. The writing on the back of the photograph dates it to 1913. At this time the 13th regiment was stationed along the United States and Mexico border, tasked primarily with stopping bandit raids.

Frame size: 10.88" H x 12.94" W
Image size: 4.38" H x 6.38" W
Under the command of COL Herbert Jermain Slocum, four Troops and a Machine-Gun Troop of the 13th Cavalry were posted at "Cavalry Camp" in Columbus, New Mexico when raiders under Mexican Revolutionary Pancho Villa attacked across the border in the dead of night on 9 March 1916.[3] Most of the garrison was asleep when the raiders entered Columbus from the west and southeast shouting "¡Viva Villa! ¡Viva México!" and other phrases. The Cavalrymen awoke to an army of 600 Villistas burning the city and looting the homes. Despite being taken by surprise, the Troopers quickly recovered. Even the cooks, already up and working on breakfast for the Troopers, fought back, throwing boiling water at the attackers. Soon after the attack began, 2LT John P. Lucas, commanding the 13th Cavalry's Machine-Gun Troop, made his way barefooted from his quarters to the camp's barracks. He organized a hasty defense around the camp's guard tent, where his machine-guns were kept under lock, with two men and a Hotchkiss M1909 machine-gun. He was soon joined by the remainder of his unit and 30 Troopers armed with M1903 Springfield rifles led by 2LT Horace Stringfellow Jr. The Troop's four machine-guns fired more than 5,000 rounds apiece during the fight, their targets illuminated by fires of burning buildings.

The battle raged until a Mexican bugler sounded the retreat after 90 minutes of fighting, and rode away to the south. 8 Cavalry Troopers were killed and 8 were wounded in this raid, but their tenacious defense inflicted over 100 enemy casualties. MAJ Frank Tompkins, commanding the regiment's 3rd Squadron and acting as its Executive Officer, asked and received permission from COL Slocum to pursue the withdrawing Mexicans. He led two Troops 15 miles into Mexico in pursuit of a force approximately six times the size of his, engaged Villa's rearguard four times, and inflicted some losses on them before withdrawing back across the border after running low on ammunition and water. MAJ Tompkins was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal and the Distinguished Service Cross in 1918 for this action. See less