I'm taking a university course (in Spanish) about the violent phase of the Mexican Revolution, from about 1910 to 1920, and the professor mentioned that Pancho Villa, despite his famous reputation as a rugged bandit and rebel, was actually an astute military leader with a good grasp of tactics and technology. My professor also said that Villa (often making use of goods stolen from other forces, including the Americans) pioneered the use of hospital trains and using (stolen) airplanes to drop bombs.
I thought this was pretty amazing history, but the thing is that I cannot find any sources on the internet (in English or in Spanish) that verify this story. I know Villa is as much myth as he was man and this kind of story might have its origins in a corrido (Mexican folk song) rather than fact, but my professor is a very reputable guy with a long and published history of research into Latin American Revolutions. I really want to believe him, but I can't without some sort of verification, and I don't have the cajones to ask him!
Did Pancho Villa pioneer military technology and tactics during the Mexican Revolution, or is that idea more folklore than reality?
Pancho Villa’s tactics during the revolution were actually outdated especially for the time. He still relayed on Calvary charges and small infantry, which during the Mexican Revolution when ww1 was taking place was already considered old school. towards the end of the revolution he actually did use aircraft. He only had about one or two planes and they were mainly used for reconnaissance more than bombings. But it was actually the American side who used advanced military innovations against Villa. After Villa attacked Columbus New Mexico, the US launched a punitive expedition to find him. The US army went into Mexico and searched for him for months. During the expedition, a young Lieutenant George Patton conducted the first motorized vehicle assault on one of Villa’s officers. Patton and some soldiers drove out to the officers hideout and opened fire on him. The army also used airplanes for reconnaissance as well. They never caught Villa but they came pretty close as they wounded him with a shot to his thigh.