Pancho Villa's trusted commander, the American soldier of fortune, E.L Holmdahl attacked the camp of a group of Huertist who were raiding rebel territory from the US.

A few days after the Battle of Tierra Blanca, Villa's subordinate, the American soldier of fortune E.L Holmdahl, led a patrol of forty mounted men through the desert south east of Juárez, searching for a band of Huerta troops who were raiding Villa's supply lines.

[2] Holmdahl was tipped off to the whereabouts of the raiders by a US army officer, an old comrade in the 20th Infantry Regiment now stationed in El Paso.

Knocked out of the saddle, Holmdahl watched his men shoot many of the raiders and capture 28 of them, while the remaining 172 were killed in the engagement.

[3] The wounded Holmdahl was taken to El Paso, where under the care of American doctors, he recovered and returned to the front.