File No. 812.00/19396
Mr. Siller to the Secretary of State
Your Excellency: Pursuant to your request to Mr. Arredondo before his departure for Mexico yesterday, I have the honor to inform your excellency that from the telegraphic advices received at this Embassy from official sources in Mexico, relative to the recent attack on the City of Chihuahua by so-called Villa raiders, it appears: That the assault took place between the hours of 3 and 4 in the morning of the 17th instant, after the Independency festivities beginning in the evening of the 15th and ending at midnight of the 16th; that the forces attacking the city, although called Villistas, were made up by remnants of all the parties which have opposed the Constitutionalist Government from the beginning, that is to say, by men formerly belonging to the Federal Army of Porfirio Diaz, by members of the Felix Diaz faction, of the Huerta spurious administration, by robbing Villistas and bandits without [Page 611] political color; that the number of the raiders was between six and seven hundred men at the most; that they succeeded in capturing the Federal palace and the penitentiary, releasing some of its occupants; that they were able to hold both places during two or three hours, just the time required by General Treviño to organize his forces and carry into effect an enveloping movement, the result of which was of a disastrous effect to the raiders, two-thirds of whom were killed, wounded or captured, only one-third escaping, closely chased by Treviño’s cavalry and forced to disband in small numbers; that they did not carry with them any ammunition from the arsenal, first, because whatever supply of arms and ammunition the Government had in the city were in possession of the garrison and not in a separate and unguarded place; that no cannon were captured and carried away by the raiders, as it would have been impossible for them to do so while they were being closely chased by the Government forces; that with the exception of a few civilians, who might have followed the raiders, not a single soldier of the Constitutionalist Army joined them in their precipitated flight from the city; that no one has been able to say, accurately and positively, that Villa was in command of the attacking forces, nor that he has been seen at any point in or out of the city during the attack. As the raiders in their effort to escape from the troops sent by General Treviño in their pursuit divided into small bands, it is difficult to say exactly which road they have taken.
All the reports we are receiving from Chihuahua and Mexico indicate that everything in that region is quiet and that there is no fear that Chihuahua City may again be attacked.
I avail [etc.]