Tijuana, captured by the Second Division (or Foriegn Legion) of the Liberal Army of Baja on May 9th, 1911, came under attack by government forces on June 22nd. In the month and a half between the two battles, the political situation in Mexico changed drastically. Diaz surrendered and left the country, Madero’s party came to power, and both sides cooperated to crush the Liberal revolutionaries and others who wouldn’t give up. Many peasants, workers, and Indigenous communities intended to fight until the aims of the revolution were won. To put down the revolution he had called for less than a year prior, Madero had the eager assistance of both his former enemies in the Federal Army, and the United States.
On June 17, Colonel Vega’s column of 551 troops and 24 officers left Ensenada, marching north on Tijuana. According to Bartra and Barrera, of the 551, “254 soldiers come from the 8th Battalion, 99 from the fixed company under First Captain Juan Lajero, 17 from the machine gun section under Lieutenant Zarzosa, and 181 volunteers from San Diego and Los Angeles,” who sailed into Ensenada two weeks prior on an expedition organized by the Association for the Defense of National Integrity (Bartra and Barrera 238-239).
On June 20th, Brigadier Manuel Gordillo Escudero led 1,000 federal soldiers, from Battalions 6, 12, and 17, and Cavalry units from Regiments 2 and 3, a machine gun section and a mountain artillery section, out of Chihuahua to board trains in Ciudad Juárez. The trains would cross the border and travel through the United States, so the troops could assault Mexicali and Tijuana from behind.
While Madero’s soldiers performed their maneuvers, Madero’s new agents--former PLM members and even a Magón brother--recruited by the new governor of Chihuahua, arrived to attempt to negotiate the surrender of the PLM fighters. The First Division of the Liberal Army in Baja California, stationed at Mexicali, gave in to this pressure on June 17th. On June 20th, former commander Leyva, and other former PLM members Monroy, Elías, and Sandoval were in San Diego, and in communication with Jack Mosby: the Second Division’s new commander (with Pryce in Los Angeles.) The following day, they met with Mosby and Ladflit near the US-Mexican border. The agents of Madero were surprised at Mosby’s “belligerent attitude,” in comparison to “Quijada's peaceful behavior in the Mexicali negotiations'' (Bartra and Barrera 239). The two sides could not agree on terms for the Second Division’s surrender, and they departed to meet again the following day. At 5am, Mosby met the Maderista convoy again, and the sides agreed Mosby would take inventory of his forces, animals, supplies, and equipment, and they would meet again at noon. However, back in town, Mosby learned that Vega’s column from Ensenada was headed north along the San Diego and Arizona Railroad line and would soon arrive in Tijuana.
Mosby and his comrades used the trains at their disposal in Tijuana in their defense plan. They prepared one train to bring the volunteers to meet Vega, leaving some other cars behind to protect the town. At 9:30am, 17 rebels, including the famous IWW folk singer Joe Hill, climbed a hill south of town by the railway bridge over the river, and occupied the farm there. At 10am, the Federal forces arrived along the railroad, and caught sight of the small outpost on the hill. Vega ordered two sections to attack the farm. One section, led by Lieutenant Vázquez, charged the 17 rebels, and the second, fifty volunteers led by Martín Mendoza, attacked on the eastern flank. The rebels retreated to the top of the hill, and stood strong there. Mosby sent the train out to meet the soldiers in the field. The rebels jumped out by the bridge over the Tijuana River.
Set up: At the very north end of the table, place the edge of the town of Tijuana. The Tijuana River will flow down the eastern side of the table, with the railway beginning in the very northeast corner, and crossing the Tijuana River about halfway down the table, to continue running alongside the water, just now to the west. By the train bridge, place two raised sections: large hills on the east side of the river, with a farm on one of them, and a low hill to the west. The low hill will represent the Lomas de Agua Caliente, which translates to hot spring hills. There are a few small buildings, such as a bathhouse, by the hot springs, as well as palm trees, scrub, and other foliage. The rest of the table should be fairly open, with some desert and some coastal flora.
Conditions: Clear - normal visibility
Supply: 10 rounds of ammo for defenders, 7 rounds for rebels.
Forces: The following are as accurate to the true numbers as I could manage. I suggest fielding these forces at ½ size, however. See “Game play” for instructions on when and how to populate the battlefield with these units):
560 pro-government forces face 230 revolutionaries.
PLM Forces:
-Outpost: Joe hill and 16 rebels
-163 infantry
-50 Cavalry
-2 trains
-wagon with 50pts ammunition
Government forces:
-8th Battalion: Vega and 254 soldiers
-Fixed Company: First Captain Juan Lajero and 99 soldiers
-Machine Gun Company: Lieutenant Zarzosa and 17 soldiers
-Defenders of National Integrity: Martín Mendoza and 180 volunteers.
-train or wagon with 100pts ammunition
Gameplay:
Before the game -
Defenders may set up a small outpost on the eastern hill with the farm, with the Joe Hill group of 17.
Defenders may set up 2 trains, one to remain behind to defend the town, the second loaded with 50 rebels from Infantry Group 1.
Defenders may place the 50 rebels of Infantry Group 2 within the town of Tijuana as a last line of defense.
Defenders may place the 25 riders of Cavalry Squadron 1 within the town or behind the train.
Attackers may place Martín Mendoza’s volunteer 1st Company of 50 militia on the southeast corner of the table.
Attackers may place Lieutenant Vázquez’s 1st Company of 50 Federal Soldiers on the southwest corner of the table.
10:00AM June 22, Attackers move first to commence round 1.
Beginning round 2 - both sides may attempt to field (with 4+ by the roll of a D6, per section per round) the following sections:
Defenders:
-Headquarters: Mosby and 12 rebels
-Cavalry Squadron 2: 25 riders
-Infantry Group 3: 50 rebels
-Wagon with 50pts ammunition
Attackers:
-8th Battalion Headquarters: Colonel Vega and 3 officers.
-2nd Company, 50 soldiers
-3rd Company, 50 soldiers
-4th Company, 50 soldiers
-Machine Gun Company HQ, Lieutenant Zarzosa and 4 officers, 4 machine guns with three crew each.
-Fixed Company - First Captain Juan Lajero
99 soldiers
-Defenders of National Integrity
-Headquarters, 6 officers
-2nd Company, 50 soldiers
-3rd Company, 50 soldiers
-4th Company, 50 soldiers
-9th platoon, 20 soldiers
-Train or wagon with 100pts ammunition
Victory Conditions:
-The attackers win if they manage to A. enter the town of Tijuana with at least 50% of any section of their forces; B. destroy all rebels; or C. cause enough damage to convince the defending player to give up.
-Defenders win if they can A. eliminate enough attackers to make a government victory impossible, or B. if they can capture or kill Colonel Vega while at least 50% of rebel forces remain.
Aftermath:
-A Government victory here spells the end of the international involvement in the PLM insurrection, and the beginning of a great decline in the popularity of the Liberal Party. Indigenous and other Mexican workers and peasants would continue on a guerilla struggle in Northern Mexico for years to come, in the name of the PLM, but could no longer liberate any large territory. However, all of Ricardo Flores Magón’s predictions about the Madero government proved accurate. The reformist politician placated the conservatives, rather than solving the social issues which caused the revolution to begin with. Within two years, Madero would be assassinated, and the Mexican Revolution renewed with even greater fury and force, carrying forward the fight for Land and Liberty!
-A rebel victory would shock the world and reignite the Mexican Revolution, this time under the leadership of anarchist ideas and against the reformist capitalism of Madero. With Vega’s force--the largest yet seen in Baja California--crushed, the pathway to Ensenada lay open to the victorious Second Division of the Liberal Army of Baja California (theoretically). On the other hand, the political fallout would include renewed pushes from many sides for the involvement of the United States armed forces to protect the interests of international capitalists.
Historical note:
The battle began on the morning of June 22, when Mosby sent forward a scouting party to meet Vega’s column. At 9:30am, 17 rebels, including the famous IWW folk singer Joe Hill, climbed a hill south of town by the railway bridge over the river, and occupied the farm there.
At 10am, the Federal forces arrived along the railroad, and caught sight of the small outpost on the hill. Vega ordered two sections to attack the farm. One section, led by Lieutenant Vázquez, charged the 17 rebels, and the second, fifty volunteers led by Martín Mendoza, attacked on the eastern flank. The rebels retreated to the top of the hill, and stood strong there.
Mosby decided to meet Vega’s larger force out in the open, hoping to throw them back on their heels. As a desperate skirmish unfolded on the hill by the trainbridge, a railcar full of PLM volunteers lurched out of Tijuana, headed south. Fifty riders of the anarchist cavalry followed the train. The rebels, “at the height of the bridge over the Tijuana River, made contact with Vega’s troops.” The rebels leapt from the train and attacked the Federal column. But Vega had set up his machine guns, and the rebels were caught in the open. The Second Division of the Liberal Army in Baja California held out for an hour, fighting outnumbered and outgunned, until they put the train in reverse and retreated to Tijuana. Joe Hill’s group on the hill continued to resist while the train and column withdrew, but soon they, too, were fleeing north (Bartra and Barrera 240-241).
Back in town, Mosby and the rebels knew the jig was up. They formed an orderly line and walked to the border to surrender to the US forces under Captain Wilcox. At 12:45PM, Mosby and the other foreigners began negotiations with Wilcox. Mosby said:
“We have come to surrender. They have 1500 men and 6 machine guns (...) we have fought the best we know how but we cannot counteract the terrible work of these machines, and the forces outnumber us in such numbers that it would be a suicide to try to continue.... We surrender to you unconditionally, hoping only that we will be given the protection that is due to any human being who fights for a good cause” (Bartra and Barrera 242).
At 1PM, both sides had accepted the terms of the surrender, and the 106 volunteers left Mexican soil, headed for detention at Fort Rosencranz (Bartra and Barrera 242).
But the battle wasn’t quite over. Not wanting to miss out on the glory of defeating the alleged filibusters, a force of anti-Liberal volunteers from the United States, led by the Doctor Horacio López, committed their own Neutrality Act violation by rushing across the border to chase after a group of 50 surviving rebels who had left Tijuana, headed west, instead of north with the rest of the contingent. This final section of the Second Division held out for several more hours, until the rest of Vega’s column managed to defeat them. After the three hour battle, the PLM volunteers had lost 37 men killed, but there was only one rebel reported wounded, as the Federals took no prisoners, executing all captured Liberals on the spot. According to Vega, only 4 of his soldiers died, and an additional five were wounded. Magón claimed in his article in Regeneracción printed two days after the battle, that 30 Federal soldiers had died: “Eight hundred Maderista federals attacked a handful of Liberals. After three hours of fighting, with 16 casualties... the surviving fighting men crossed the dividing line with the United States and were arrested and disarmed. The federals, for their part, had 30 deaths...due to the circumstances in which the combat took place, our defeat is a moral triumph of great value, because it has been shown that liberals fight for principles and are firm” (Magón, Regeneracción June 24, 1911).
The day after the article appeared, on June 25th, most of the international volunteers confined at Fort Rosencranz were set free, except for the leaders Mosby, Ladflin, and Reed.
The final group of home-grown PLMistas had been defeated, but not destroyed. The survivors vanished into the countryside, to regroup and resume raids and attacks. Emilío Guerrero would continue the lead bands of local Indigenous revolutionaries against the towns and labor colonies south of Ensenada. On June 25th, 50 soldiers from Vega’s 8th Battalion attacked Guerrero’s band at their headquarters in Las Animas Canyon, where the rebels were celebrating San Juan’s day. Though caught off-guard, the Indigenous revolutionaries drove off the attackers, killing three and wounding six more. The next day, the 8th Battalion returned in force and, finding the rebels still celebrating, killed two rebels and drove the rest from the canyon. Guerrero’s band survived, however, and fought on for another month until they were defeated on July 27th. According to Bartra and Barrera, “Guerrero and three of his men surrendered to Cantú's forces, who took them to Ensenada, forcing them at bayonet-point to travel 100 kilometers on foot. Upon reaching the port, Guerrero dies” Bartra and Barrera 244). There is, however, evidence that Guerrero survived, for his testimony at his own trial is recorded on September 8th, 1911. (Ensenada. Declaración De Emilio Guerrero a Los Cargos De Asalto En San Quintín. 8 Sept. 1911).
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