Battle of Tierra Blanca
1913 CE.
Shown on the map at 18.457°, -96.348°.
The Battle of Tierra Blanca was fought in 1913 during the Mexican Revolution. It took place about 35 miles (56 km) south of Ciudad Juárez. The outcome was a major victory for Francisco "Pancho" Villa over the forces of José Inés Salazar, commander of the federal forces loyal to then head of state Victoriano Huerta. The two armies were of relatively equal numbers, 5,500 of Villa's soldiers standing against an estimated 7,000 federal soldiers. But Salazar's troops were in theory more disciplined and had more artillery. The battle began on 23 November 1913; the first day saw fairly indecisive fighting, but before the actual clashes started Fierro had been sent south to destroy the railroad tracks, forcing the federal soldiers to halt. On the second day, as Villa flanked the well armed federal soldiers with cavalry, a steam locomotive filled with dynamite and percussion caps was rammed into train cars provided for them. The resulting explosion caused Salazar's men to flee to nearby undamaged train cars in retreat. Villa's cavalry then overwhelmed the troopers.
Text from the Wikipedia article Battle of Tierra Blanca, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.