The Battle of Ambos Nogales

In 1918, the US was at war with Germany and its allies in Europe, while also having a rather testy relationship with its southern neighbor, Mexico. In fact, the proximate cause of US entry into the war had been Germany’s effort, via the Zimmerman Telegram, to exploit the poor relations between the two countries by offering to return to Mexico most of the territories it had lost seventy years prior, if Mexico would distract the US with an attack.

It’s a measure of how poor relations were at the time that Zimmerman’s proposal was not rejected out of hand. The Mexican president, Carranza, decided not to act only after having his generals study the offer. The generals reported back that the offer of military assistance from Germany was an empty one, since Germany had no means to transport either men or arms across the Atlantic (the Royal Navy had the Germans thoroughly bottled up at the time), and without such assistance the Mexicans would get their butts kicked. Carranza never turned down the offer, as I understand it; he simply never replied.

Relations, then, were testy and were exacerbated by the fact that the Mexican army was supplemented by a number of German advisors, whom the US suspected of espionage activities and of trying to incite the Mexicans to cause trouble along the border. These suspicions may well have been overblown, but they seem to have had some foundation in fact; in any case, the fact that US commanders along the border believed the Germans were fomenting trouble played a role in the lead-up to the fighting.

There were also local issues causing problems in the twin cities of Nogales, Sonora and Nogales, Arizona (aka Ambos Nogales), with the Mexicans saying that US customs agents were officious and intimidating. I don’t have a hard time believing such changes about bureaucrats, and can imagine that in the atmosphere of distrust, the border agents might well have been rather more so than usual.

The time was mid/late August of 1918. Though the war in Europe was nearing its end, the question there was still very much unsettled (the western allies’ final offensive had just begun, and the collapse of the German army was imminent, but not yet apparent). According to a US Army report:

About August 15, 1918, the Intelligence Division reported the presence of strange Mexicans, plentifully supplied with arms, ammunition, food and clothing, gathering in increasing numbers in and about Nogales, Sonora; also the presence of several strange white men, apparently Germans, at times engaged in addressing gatherings of Mexicans explaining military terms, movements and methods. At about this time an anonymous letter was received, written by a person who claimed to have been a major in Villa's forces who was sickened and disgusted at the atrocities committed by Villa and his men, and at the lack of pay or reward, and who claimed a feeling of friendly respect for American troops, warning them of the German influences at work near and in Nogales, advising of the financial activities of the German agents, and of a contemplated attack on Nogales about August 25, 1918. This letter rang so true that it became a subject of investigation by Lt. Col. Frederick J. Herman, 10th Cavalry, then acting subdistrict commander at Nogales, and Lieutenant Robert Scott Israel, Infantry Intelligence Officer at Nogales, and so many points of the letter were verified that it was given more than ordinary weight.

In these circumstances, it’s not surprising that a small incident resulted in over-reaction by both sides.

The border at Nogales looked something like this (this pic
is from 1899, but there still was no fence in 1918).

According to all accounts, an individual suspected of smuggling tried to cross the border into Mexico without stopping at US Customs (it should be noted that the border at Nogales was not as we know it today, with a fence; there was simply a street called International Avenue – one side of which was the US, the other side Mexico). An American customs official shouted for him to stop, pulled a gun when he didn't, and chased him. Two US soldiers, armed, followed. A Mexican customs official fired at them, killing one of the US soldiers. The other soldier fired back, killing the Mexican.

(Aside: Who gets the blame for ‘starting it’? It seems uncontested that the Mexican customs official fired the first shot. On the other hand, when three armed Americans are running at the border – it isn’t clear whether any of them had crossed it – shooting at them seems not unreasonable. Ninety-five years after the event, I’m not going to spend a lot of effort on figuring out who’s at fault).

Things escalated rapidly. An American officer wrote later:

I happened to be downtown near the depot when I heard some rifle shots, and then more. I saw them carrying a wounded soldier at the international street. 

Motor transportation was scarce in those days, but I had a good horse, I sped over the hills a couple of miles to camp. On the way I passed Lieutenant Colonel Herman in a car. He had already gotten some news and told me to go on, get my troop out and notify Troop C and Troop F. 

Colonel Herman soon arrived and led the troops for the town at the gallop. I was sent down Morely Avenue. The place was a double street along the railroad tracks. At the little park the troop was dismounted, and one trooper detailed to hold each group of eight horses. Those left behind pleaded with me to go along. 

Dismounted, I told the men to follow me. Not far along before we got a lot of fire. There was so much it was hard to tell where it was coming from. Also it seemed as though everybody in Nogales was shooting from the windows toward the border.

Civilians were involved on both sides, and it appears that a large portion of the casualties were civilians. As with many things in this event, the estimates of casualties vary greatly, from a few dozen (per the Mexicans) to several hundred (the American version). Among those dead on the Mexican side was the city’s mayor.

The American troops moved across the border and pushed through the town. As usual, there was a light side even to so grim an undertaking. From the same officer:

Reaching the line in spite of the fire, we dashed into a big building on the Mexican side without resistance, but bullets from up on a hillside were hitting the place. We ran forward into another connecting building. It was the Concordia Club. In there were some frightened senoritas wearing kimonas. I got a laugh when one of them spoke to a trooper, saying, 'Sergeant Jackson! Are we all glad to see you!" But we did not have time to tarry for the soldier to alibi his acquaintanceship.

The Americans having pushed through the city to the surrounding hills, the Mexicans asked for a truce:

I hope we only hit those who were shooting. But there were a lot of bodies lying around. All of a sudden some one saw a long pole with a sheet tied on being waved from the top of the Mexican customs house down below. 

I ordered the men to cease fire. It was then 7:45 P.M., and getting dark. Where the time passed I do not know. We had five men wounded, and the others wanted to clean out the town. However First Sergeant LaMar and I quickly controlled our skirmish line of troopers.

In the aftermath, the Americans claim to have discovered the bodies of two German officers, though there is some doubt about it. I’m conflicted on what to believe – it seems likely there were German advisers present, and certainly they might well have been killed; on the other hand, I would think the Mexicans would be motivated to keep the Germans out of harm’s way, since their presence would be an embarrassment. Another unanswered question.

Scattered sniping continued for the next day or so, though officials on both sides tried to suppress it.

The quotes above come from US sources. For the other side, here is info from Wikipedia which, as is often the case with that source, has a decidedly anti-US tone.

Among the results of the battle were that one US customs agent was fired for abusing Mexicans, and a fence was built down the middle of International Avenue. Not much of an outcome for all the shooting, but such seems often to be the case.