Last week the only thing I scanned was the book New York Division National Guard War Record. It was about the very short war against Pancho Villa on the US-Mexico border. Villa had been a problem during the Mexican revolution. In March 1916 he attacked Columbus, New Mexico and the nearby US Fort Furlong.

President Wilson called up National Guard troops from many states including New York. General John J. Pershing was put in command of the forces. The US Army was not very well trained at first but quickly learned their new tasks though intensive training. The Army was still using horses for the Cavalry. Pershing had at his command a new Dodge automobile. This short war was the first time that the Army used trucks in convoys for supplies.

Pancho Villa survived against the US troops and the US soldiers came back to their homes in 1917. General Pershing declared that the US had won. Villa would be assassinated in 1923.

This book was written in 1917. In the back of the book are 2 short chapters about the new war that began that year. We know it now as World War I.

Seeing as this book isn’t local history, I put it on Archive.org. You can click on the title at the top of the page to view this book. I did a check on WorldCat and the book is only in 53 libraries around the world.