The Battle of Zacatecas

The victory of the revolutionary army at Zacatecas devastated the morale of the federal army and planted the unthinkable idea of defeat in the mind of General Victoriano Huerta. Soon afterward he fled Mexico.

Personal accounts of this pivotal battle are valuable, fragile documents available in only a handful of university archives. This book consists of English translations of two such documents, diaries of the battle.

One account is by General Felipe Angeles, the highest-ranking officer of the Mexican military to oppose the coup d'etat against President Francisco I. Madero. Angeles was a respected academic, the director of the Colegio Militar de Chapultepec, the West Point of Mexico. When General Pancho Villa requested an artillery-general, Angeles volunteered. The successful partnership between the educated Angeles and Villa, the illiterate peasant leader, remains one of history's intriguing mysteries.

The second account is by Major Federico Cervantes, an outstanding graduate of the military college, chosen by President Madero to create an air force for Mexico. He was in France preparing for this task when Madero was assassinated. He returned to Mexico to join those who opposed Huerta and became aide to General Angeles. Cervantes is also the author of an exhaustive biography of Felipe Angeles.