Scenario 6: Attack on the Hydraulic Works Camp, February 25th

Following the successful defense of Mexicali and the conquest of Los Aldagones, José Cardoza led a force of 50 insurrectos south in an attack on a hydraulic works camp on the Colorado River. The work camp, run by the Colorado River Land Company, used Mexican and Chinese labor to redevelop and harness the flow of the Colorado River into the Gulf of Mexico, to irrigate the farms north of the border and prevent flooding there. 

Set up: In the middle of the desert, place a workers camp with cloth tents in rows, and as many civilian workers as possible, in the center of the table. Place a well-guarded supply cache in the camp. A river, canal, or delta should run through the table at one side of the camp. You may use trench terrain pieces to represent new canal construction. Place markers # 1-4 in the four corners of the table. These will represent the cardinal directions as well as entree markers. Ensure there are a few trucks or wagons in the camp, capable of transporting supplies.

Conditions:

Clear day - normal visibility

PLM Forces:

José Cardoza and 50 Liberals

Neutral:

As many civilian workers as possible

Government forces:

20 Rurales/Company guards.

Government Reinforcements:

Platoons of Rurales and Federals

Gameplay:

Before the game, set up the town and the supply cache. Place half of the defenders at the supply cache. The other half should mount random patrols around the camp and surroundings in teams of 2. The full rebel force may enter at the North marker on turn 1. The attackers have 5 turns to capture the camp. After capturing the camp, the rebels have until turn 8 to gather the camp’s workers in a central spot, and deliver an inspiring speech to convince them to join the revolution. Once the workers have been gathered, rebels may roll 1 D6 per round. The resulting number represents the number of workers who join the Liberal Army. These may be armed/replaced with revolutionary soldiers. 

At turn 8, Government forces become the attacker. Roll a 1 D6 per round. Resulting number represents the number of platoons available, which may enter at any marker of the player’s choosing. After round 10, the Government forces receive no more reinforcements.

Rebel Objectives: 

-Capture Camp

-Convince at least 10 workers to join the revolution

-Hold the camp, or escape to the south with more fighters than arrived with, and with at least 2 supply markers.

Government Objectives:

-Defend the camp and supplies

-Keep the workers working

-If camp is lost, retake the camp and recapture any lost workers.

Victory Conditions: 

Rebels: A rebel victory requires the rebels to either defend the camp, or to escape the camp with more fighters than it arrived with, as well as 2 supply markers. A partial victory sees at least 40 rebels escape with at least 1 supply marker.

Government:

Lose fewer than 10 workers to the rebels, lose no supplies, and cause at least 20 casualties against the rebels.

A partial victory allows 40 or fewer rebels to escape the engagement. 

Aftermath:  

The raid was a success for the Magónistas. Cardoza’s group made off with food and other supplies, weapons and ammo, and many new recruits from the workers defecting from the employment of the Colorado River Land Company. The rebels continued south toward the Gulf of California (Bartra and Barrerra 149).

Scenario 5: Raid on Los Algodones, February 21, 1911

In its first action, the 60 or so volunteers of the newly-formed Forieng Legion of the Liberal Army stole a train and drove east into the station of Los Algodones. Los Algodones is the northernmost town in all of Mexico, pressed up against the corner between California to the north, and across the Colorado River to the east, Arizona. The train line runs into town from the south and west, following the Alamo Canal from Mexicali. 

Set up: 

Arrange the town as described above, with the border to the north and to the west, marked by canals or rivers. Train tracks come from the southwest and enter a train station in the town. Place in the town a Rurales’ barracks, and a customs house. Place a marker for supplies in the custom house.

Conditions:

Clear night - low visibility

(photo above from this site )

PLM Forces:

“General” William Stanley and 60 soldiers of the PLM Foregin Legion

Government forces:

Chief Cecilo Garza and 40 Rurales

Rebel Objectives: 

-Eliminate the Rurales at the Barracks

-Capture the Customs house

-Secure the town of all enemies.

Government Objectives:

-Defend the Customs house

-Drive the Magónistas out of Los Algodones.

Victory Conditions: 

Rebels: Successful raid on the Customs House (stealing all supplies and burning the building) before withdrawal will count as a partial victory for the PLM. Full victory requires the completion of all objectives.

Rurales: Victory requires protecting the customs house and defeating the rebels. Partial victory if game ends with town in Government possession, but customs house raided.

Aftermath:  

After this battle, the PLM possessed another town and border crossing, as well as a train, cash, weapons and ammo, and other provisions. Three weeks later, the Mexican government discontinued use of the Inter-California train line in Mexico.

Historic note:

Soon after the influx of recruits from the United States arrived in Mexicali, racial and national tensions appeared within the ranks of the internationalist rebels. The northern volunteers, displaying both impatience and, perhaps, a racist superiority complex common then and now among United States citizens, questioned the seemingly-timid leadership of Leyva. Very quickly, the impetus of a “Foreign Legion” appeared, pushed on by some boisterously-confident leaders of the IWW forces, and the eagerness of the war-dog veterans of the Spanish-American, Boer, and other recent wars. The International volunteers began ignoring and disobeying the wishes of the Junta, acting instead on their own orders. That this undisciplined behavior immediately resulted in victories of growing importance masked the danger to the revolution posed by factions acting outside of strategic command. With Magón himself absent from the field, and with Práxedis Guerrero dead so early in the rising, the weakness of leadership and disunity among the nationalities led to disorganization. A gap opened up in their ranks, a gap which would be exploited by the enemies of the revolution not far down the road.

In the meanwhile, after it became clear that Leyva didn’t intend to follow up the defense of Mexicali with a counterattack, an IWW member named William Stanley, or Stanley Williams (depending on who was asking), began to campaign to replace the commander. Having performed admirably on February 15th, the “Canadian Mestizo with indian blood,” Williams, who was likely a deserter from the US Army and “a veteran of the Spanish American War, was gaining popularity as a field leader. He had helped in planning from the Holtville IWW local the initial actions, but hadn’t joined in Mexicali until a week afterward” (Bartra and Barrerra 149).

The racial tensions boiled over into actual violence. An Indigenous revolutionary, a Yaqui, shot the Ohioan Wobblie W.E. Clark, who survived. In an apparent act of vengeance, Wild Bill Hatfield--who claimed to be of the famous feuding family--murdered a Mexican comrade. There were no court marshals, dismissals, or punishments of any kind for these offenses.

Instead, Leyva gave in to Williams’s constant harassment, and agreed to let the Wobbly form a separate force under his own command. Thus, the Foreign Legion of the Liberal Army was formed. Leyva likely regretted this as soon as he agreed to it, as Williams immediately set off on his own with 60 rebels, mostly from the United States, to capture Los Algodones. As the sun set on February 21st, Williams and his men burst into Packard Station and captured the Inter-California train. They steamed east into Los Algodones, where they stormed the barracks of the Rurales, killing the Rurales Chief, Cecilo Garza, and the Chief of Customs, Tomás Beléndez in the gunfight. The surviving Rurales all fled across the border into Andrade. The Foreign Legion, in its first independent action, captured weapons and ammo, as well as provisions and the cash from the Customs house, which they burnt down along with the homes of the customs inspectors. The rebels secured the town and made off with the spoils and their train without losing a single fighter (Zazueta). Three weeks after the raid, the Mexican Federal Government forbade travel on the Mexican end of the train line. 

Works Cited at this link

Scenario 4: Defence of Mexicali. February 15, 1911

The Federales that recently conquered Picacho Pass continued marching through the rain, ready to sweep away the revolutionaries. The PLM forces, however, defend the canal bed southwest of town, and wait for the arrival of the Federal forces. Only two bridges cross the canal, and Jiménez’s cavalry squad waits at Little’s Ranch, between the Federal soldiers and the Rio Nuevo, to hit the enemy first.

Set up: 

Place a canal or river through the center of the table, running across the length of the table. There are 2 passable bridges over the Rio Nuevo. The east side of the table is the rebel side, with Mexicali behind them (offtable if necessary). On the west half of the table, place desert terrain, with Little’s Ranch close to the canal on the south end. Place two entry markers for the government forces on the western edge of the table - one toward the center, the other toward the north. The defending forces should be placed in the canal bed, except for a small group of advanced defenders on horseback, waiting at Little’s Ranch, and unarmed reinforcements, off table.

Conditions:

Torrential Rain - low visibility

PLM Forces:

Defenders at Rio Nuevo:

HQ: Leyva 9 rebels

Group 1: 25 rebels

Group 2: 25 rebels

Cavalry at Little’s ranch: 

Jiménez and 15 riders

Reinforcements: an additional group (Group 3) may enter the table at any spot on the eastern edge to reinforce the rebels. They have no weapons, however, and must take the weapons of fallen comrades or soldiers before firing. 

Government forces:

HQ: Colonel Vega and 9 soldiers.

1st Company, 50 soldiers (5 platoons of 10). 

2nd Company, 50 soldiers (5 platoons of 10). 

3rd Company, 50 soldiers (5 platoons of 10). 

4th Company, 50 “Volunteers” (5 platoons of 10). 

Rebel Objectives: 

-Blow up both bridges

-Take out Vega.

Government Objectives:

-Capture at least 1 bridge intact.

-Punch through rebel defenses and onto Mexicali.

Victory Conditions: PLM must prevent the government forces from opening a corridor to Mexicali, destroying, capturing, or routing the attackers. The government forces must open a corridor to Mexicali and pass a company off the east end of the table.

Aftermath:  

This great victory for the PLM led to an influx of recruits, the recovery of over 100 guns abandoned by the fleeing soldiers, and widespread prestige, for the Liberals, across the United States and Mexico as the standard bearers of the Mexican Revolution. It also led to increased surveillance and repression from the United States, and, with the influx of United States residents as volunteers, new and unforeseen issues.

Historic note:

On February 15th,1911, Colonel Celso Vega, head of the Northern Party of Baja California and commander of the region, marched on Mexicali. The Federal Column, now numbering over 200 soldiers and irregularly-conscripted citizens, came in contact with the rebels’ first defensive position, at Little’s Ranch, around 2:30pm. There, Jiménez led a small cavalry squad to meet the advancing soldiers and prevented them from surrounding the rebel defensive line. Behind them, the bulk of the PLMistas took cover in the Rio Nuevo embankment, a quarter mile from the town, digging trenches into the canal bed. They placed hats on sticks to draw enemy fire, and destroyed the only 2 bridges over the canal in the area, one with dynamite and the other with fire. The battle raged for three hours. Vega, “Habitually overconfident,...pressed forward with no attempt at concealment. Leyva’s men, entrenched along the canal banks, poured a steady fire into the Federals. In the midst of the fighting, several more Vega volunteers deserted. The coup de grâce came when the colonel, directing his troops in the open, was felled by a bullet in the neck” (Blaisdell 51). According to Bartra and Barrera, it was Jiménez himself who, in the thick of the battle, led a cavalry charge at the Federal command position and shot Vega with his pistol (Bartra and Barrera 157). Jiménez was immediately shot off his horse, and his second-in-command took a bullet to the leg. Jiménez died there, on the field in front of Mexicali, but it was not in vain. His bullet had entered Vega’s neck and shattered his jaw. Vega’s forces pulled him away from the battle on a stretcher. Decapitated, the government’s army wavered, and in short order, fled the battlefield. Vega was among 30 Federal casualties. Many of the routed soldiers ran across the border, where they were disarmed and detained by US soldiers. The severely-wounded colonel also fled to the border, fearing a rebel counterattack, but US authorities returned him, armed, to Mexico at his request when he felt the danger had passed. The Cocopah hero Jiménez was the only rebel killed. Five or six more wounded were transported across the border, where they were arrested, but had their wounds cared for. The revolutionaries also collected enough weapons from the fleeing soldiers to arm 105 additional revolutionaries. These supplies were essential as, according to Bartra and Barrera, the rebels were sorely ill-equipped: “Before the combat they had less than 100 armed men (Leyva says 45 and Turner speaks of 75), most with 30-30 and 44 carbines. Only a few had Springfield rifles from those discarded by the US Army. The diversity of weapons made the problem of ammunition shortages, etc. more serious“ (Bartra and Barrera 157).

The defense of Mexicali was an important victory that backed up the bluster of the Magónista press assault. It may have been the biggest victory of any revolutionary force in Mexico by that time. News of the route sent a stream of volunteers into Mexicali. Soon, the Baja Division had 500 volunteers. The majority were still Mexican and Indigenous fighters, but up to 100 United States residents and other International volunteers made the revolution their cause. Volunteers came from as far as Europe, Australia, and Africa. Blaisdell chides the rebels for not pressing on after the victory, writing “a desert Napoleon would have driven his men across the cold sands and up the high plateaus to Ensenada, beating the shattered enemy back to the undefended capital, in expectation of a spectacular victory. The easygoing Leyva, however,” thought they had done enough for the time. Berthold had missed the whole thing, as he was meeting with leadership in Los Angeles (Blaisdell 51). 

Another outcome of this battle was that the United States government began to take the Mexicali rebels more seriously, and, perhaps due to their anarchist ideology, came to view the revolutionary project as one that could not be allowed to spread. On his trip to the north, U.S. authorities also made it known to Berthold that the border was closed to the revolutionaries, that no volunteers or weapons would be allowed to cross, and that anyone attempting to volunteer for the Baja Division would be arrested. Babcock, the commander of the local U.S. forces on the border, seen by some as too sympathetic to the Magónistas, was, at the prodding of Otis, replaced. General Bliss himself, commander of the California Military Department, arrived to take command of the US border forces (Bartra and Barrera 158). In an unprecedented move and contrary to the neutrality laws of the United States, the federal government offered safe passage for up to 200 of Vega’s forces from Yuma through United States territory, to attack Mexicali from the rear, and even considered marching US soldiers across the border to protect the riverworks. The United States Government grew to fear the PLM revolution would negatively impact the dike-building along the Colorado River east and southeast of Mexicali. Diaz’s government declined the offer without the approval of the US legislative branch, but agreed to station Mexican forces at the Colorado dike construction, asking in return for a US blockade of the border near Mexicali. While in the end, the US decided against direct military intervention to crush the anarchist rebellion--until that point, the biggest threat to Diaz regime--they did undertake a campaign to destroy the PLM Junta operating in California.

Scenario 2: Skirmish as Picacho Pass. February 8, 1911

 

Scenario 2: Skirmish as Picacho Pass. February 8, 1911

Set up: 

Arrange the table, west to east, as a vast desert with a range of mountains coming down the center (north and south) and a long dirt path running west to east through a single mountain pass.

Conditions:

Torrential Rain - low visibility.

Objectives: Just 1 - the mountain pass.

*PLM Forces:

Picacho Pass Garrison:

-22 Cocopah Indian revolutionaries

*Government forces:

-HQ: Colonel Vega, 4 staff, plus MG team in truck

-5 platoons, each as follows : 1 officer, 9 men

-1 platoon “volunteers”.

Potential reinforcements at turn 5:

*PLM Forces:

- 15 IWW reinforcements from the US Border

*Government Forces:

-15 “volunteers”

Gameplay:

Before the game, PLM may set up all defending forces in the mountains, excluding the potential reinforcements.

At turn 1, Government forces may all enter the table on the west end. The “volunteer” platoon will lead, the HQ will take up the rear.

At first contact, roll a D6. If <5, the government’s  “volunteers” will flee.

At turn 5, each side will roll a D6. For the PLM - 4 or more means the IWW contingent reaches the table on the northern edge. For the Government, 4 or more means a group of “volunteers” who had previously deserted (and not necessarily the same platoon from the start of the scenario -ie there can be 2 “volunteer” platoons) regain their loyalty and enter the table on the western edge. 

Victory Conditions: PLM must hold the pass. If they are forced to retreat, the pass is lost and the government wins. Fleeing rebels must reach the east edge of the table to carry on into the next turn.

Aftermath:  

Any surviving PLM forces may be added to the forces in the next scenario.    

Historic Note:

After the victory in Mexicali, the PLM leadership in the field mobilized the entire force to march on Ensenada. Leaving behind only three guards to hold Mexicali, Leyva led 125 fighters, two wagons of food and supplies and a third of ammunition and dynamite, 10 miles south of Mexicali to the Packard railway station, at Little’s Ranch. Most of these forces set up camp, while a small group of Cocopah warriors went on ahead to secure the Pichado Pass, running west through the mountains. 

Meanwhile, Colonel Vega’s column marched straight at Mexicali. His men numbered 115, with somewhere between 15 and 60 horses (depending on the source). Though many of his “volunteers” deserted, Vega easily pushed the Magónistas out of the way. This author could not find any references to PLM numbers in the skirmish, but Blaisdell wrote, “Though there were reports of numerous casualties, the Vega men took no prisoners in this or any other fight” (Blaisdell 51). We may infer that some of the revolutionaries survived and made it back to Leyva’s camp, as the main PLM contingent was well prepared for the following encounter the next week

On that same day, another Federal Column, marching east from Ensenada, engaged with rebels further south in Tres Pozos. Here, too, the Federales easily defeated the PLMistas, killing two men including José Espinoza, of Douglas, Arizona. (Bartra and Barrera 152). Diaz’s forces now had little standing in their way on the march to Mexicali.

Living Diorama - Tierra y Libertad! Magónistas Crossing the desert to liberate Mexicali, January 29, 1911

Living Diorama - Tierra y Libertad! 

Magónistas Crossing the desert to liberate Mexicali, January 29, 1911

Diorama in cactus terrarium, representing the beginning act of the Baja Campaign of the Confederación de Grupos del Ejército Liberal.

The Mexican Liberal Party (PLM) was headed by Ricardo Flores Magón, and other Mexican anarchists and socialists in exile in los Angeles.  Months into a rebellion against the dictator Porfirio Diaz waged by various revolutionary factions, the PLM decided to launch a campaign in Baja, the sparsely-populated and poorly defended north-west corner of Mexico, so as to establish a foothold and move its head quarters into the country. Once in Baja, the PLM junta planned to unite and coordinate the disparate fighting groups and liberate all of Mexico. The junta selected Mexicali at the first objective in the campaign. José María Leyva and Simón Berthold led the small guerrilla group across the border on the cold, snowy night of January 28th. The group splits into three sections and approaches the town from three sides, easily capturing Mexicali by the time the sun rose on January 29th, 110 years ago today.

Game set up - Liberation of Mexicali

Here is the game set up for my first ever game of the Mexican Revolution. I plan to start this tomorrow, playing The Liberation of Mexicali scenario.

The whole force of Rurales, gathered at the Customs buildings by the border. 

The Subprefect at the Yellow House

Customs, with guards in the buildings.

Mexicali Jailhouse

On Patrol at sunrise.

Mexicali from above. Facing North

Facing West

Facing East

PLM Group 1

PLM Group 2

PLM Group 3

The Liberation of Mexicali - war-game scenario

Scenario 1: The Liberation of Mexicali, January 29, 1911.

Mexicali, a town of 500 inhabitants, founded a decade prior, was just then growing along the border with the United States. Porfirio Diaz sold a massive tract at the land junction between Baja and Sonora to the Colorado River Land Company, who were building a canal through the area as part of an irrigation and dike-building project to benefit agriculture in California’s Imperial Valley, across the border. In Calexico, many of the businessmen and other wealthy Americans associated with the company built their homes and offices. The town’s inferior twin, Mexicali, then, was a town of tiny houses and shacks, warehouses and not much else: a colony of workers. The canal as it existed then, called the Alamo Canal, ran south of Mexicali. Train tracks crossed the border on the east edge of town.  

Set up: 

Arrange the town of Mexicali along a strip representing the border between the US and Mexico. The customs house sits in a prominent, central position in the middle of town close to the border. A line of trees and empty desert space on either side sits between the towns. Two other buildings serving as objectives must include the jail and the Subprefect’s home, the “Yellow House”.

Conditions:

Night time - cold desert, light snow.

PLM Forces:

Commanders Leyva and Berthold plus 22 Mexican and Indigenous Cocopah revolutionaries, divided into three groups.

Group 1: Berthold, Camilo Jiménez, mounted on horseback, and 6 insurgents- Attack customs house

Group 2: Leyva, Ramírez Caule, and five insurgents - Attack “Yellow House,” Home of the the Subprefect Gustavo Terrazas and the local government building

Group 3: -Palomares and 6 insurgents - Attack Jail House. 

Government forces:

Commanders: Subprefect Gustavo Terrazas, 20 Rurales officers, distributed as such:

-2 guards at the custom house

-Jailer Jose Villanova at jail with 10 other officers

-2 officers patrolling streets

-5 officers off duty in random homes.

Victory Conditions: PLM must capture all 3 objectives. If all three are not captured, the town is lost and the government wins.

Aftermath:  If Rebel forces capture Mexicali, they maintain control of their sixty rifles, a few pistols, and several thousand rounds of ammunition. They also capture $385 dollars, and 9 new recruits. 

Historic Note:

The Magónistas stockpiled weapons at the ranch of Edwards, near Holtville, and Edwards transported the weapons across the border by cart to a hiding spot near the Laguna Salada, a week before the rising. The plan hit a setback on January 23, when Mariano Barrera was arrested in Mexicali with a letter to Magón. The following day, the Calexico Chronicle had an article warning of revolutionaries in the area, preparing to rise in Mexico. Colonel Vega, in charge of Baja’s defense, paid no mind to the Magónistas, and sent no troops from Ensenada to protect Mexicali.

It was a cold desert night when the Magonistas entered Mexicali. Snow was even falling. The PLMistas took Mexicali before dawn on January 27. Berthold’s force easily conquered the customs house, arresting the two sleeping officers there. Then the rebels torched the small building. The second group, led by Ramírez Caule, detained the Subprefect Gustavo Terrazas in the “Yellow House,” the seat of government where Terrazas and his family lived. They tied the Subprefect to a pole in front of his house, then dragged him to the jail, where the third group, led by Jimenez, had surrounded the building. The rebels forced Terrazas at gunpoint to order his men to surrender the jail, and they complied. The PLMistas arrested 10 officers, and freed the prisoners, including two liberals. Nine prisoners join the revolution. Only Jailer Jose Villanova attempted to resist, and he was killed as soon as he cocked his weapon. Two custom officers bought their release from the rebels for $385, and crossed the border. The Magonistas freed seven of the arrested officers, who fled their country in nothing but their underwear. They also forced the police chief to shout “Long live the PLM! Long live Ricardo Flores Magón!”

 Later that day, the rebels gathered the townspeople in the main square, where Palomars proclaimed: “I want all of Mexico and the whole world to know that we have taken the Plaza de Mexicali on behalf of the PLM, under its program and manifesto, of July 1, 1906. And we want to inform the North American authorities that we are not bandits ” (Bartra and Barrera 147). The rebels decree the closing of the bars, prohibit looting, and invite the locals to join the movement. 17 townspeople sign up, bringing the total forces to 40.  Immediately, new recruits began coming from both sides of the border. Within two days, there were sixty revolutionaries under arms. Many of these were local Indigenous Cocapah people, and other local peasants and farm workers, visited months before the insurrection by the PLM agents Pedro Caule, José Cardoza, Fernando Palomárez, and Camilo Jiménez, themselves Indians of the region. Many other recruits were IWW members, who had been gathering in Holtville for that purpose. At least 55 volunteers crossed the border. Three weeks later, the force swelled to 120. Even more than the Mexican Government, the United State Government took note and mobilized forces in response to this uprising. In the first week after the liberation of Mexicali, owner of the Colorado River Land Company, General Otis, convinced US President Taft to move to protect the company’s lands and assets. 20,000 U.S. soldiers fanned out on the California and Arizona side of the border, and the Pacific Fleet headed south to San Diego. The blockade slowed the rate of recruits and supplies coming into Mexicali.

Mexicali jailhouse

Mexicali jailhouse

Mexicali customs booth, burnt during this action (above)

Works cited and other readings:

Magonismo: 1910-1913. Utopía y Revolución. By Rubén Trejo

https://ielibertarios.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/trejo-rubem-1910-1913-magonismo-utopia-y-revolucion.pdf

La Revolución Magonista (Cronologia narrativa). Armando Bartra and Jacinto Barrera. 2018. www.brigadaparaleerenlibertad.com

Baja California más larga que ancha

http://bajacaliforniamaslargaqueancha.blogspot.com/2014/04/v-la-asonada-magonista-en-el-distrito_10.html

La Geografia de la Rebelion Magonista en Baja California

https://geografiaseptentrional.wordpress.com/2018/01/29/la-geografia-de-la-rebelion-magonista-en-baja-california/

The Desert Revolution: Baja California 1911. Lowell L. Blaisdell

Dreams of Freedom: A Ricardo Flores Magón Reader. Chaz Bufe and Mitchell Cowen Verter