This Day In Latino History

On this day in 1914, Mexican Revolutionary Francisco “Pancho” Villa’s División del Norte defeated the Federales in the Toma de Zacatecas (Taking of Zacatecas), the single bloodiest battle of the Mexican Revolution, with the military forces counting approximately 7,000 dead and 5,000 wounded, and unknown numbers of civilian casualties. A mountainous town holding much of the country’s silver, Zacatecas, (or, as we like to call it, Zacky Tackies), was thought impenetrable and whoever held it held the keys to the country. Indeed, the loss of Zacatecas broke the back of Mexican president/dictator Victoriano Huerta’s regime, and Huerta left for exile on 14 July 1914, bringing peace back to Mexico. For a while, anyway. Today tourists in Zacatecas take a tram up the steep Cerro de la Bufa which Pancho Villa’s troops had to scale to dislodge the President’s army.