Celaya, Battle of

▪ Mexican history

      (April 1915), decisive military engagement in the wars between revolutionary factions during the Mexican Revoluion of 1910–20. One of the largest and bloodiest battles in Mexican history, it was fought at Celaya, Guanajuato state, between the forces of Álvaro Obregón (Obregón, Álvaro) and Pancho Villa (Villa, Pancho). In the course of the civil wars, Venustiano Carranza (Carranza, Venustiano) and Villa had eclipsed the other revolutionary leaders, and Obregón supported Carranza. After two deadly assaults, Villa's cavalry, the most formidable contingent among the revolutionary armies, failed to capture Obregón's positions, which were protected by trenches, barbed wire, and machine guns. His forces decimated, Villa retreated northward, leaving Carranza in virtual control of Mexico, though he continued his bandit rebel activities in the north until Carranza was overthrown in 1920. Obregón, a future president of Mexico, lost his arm during the battle.

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