The Battle of Columbus, New Mexico, in which 18 Americans were killed, sparked the campaign, led by General John J. Pershing, to eradicate Villa's organization.
One of Pershing's aides-de-camp was Lt. George S. Patton, who had been searching haciendas of known Villa leaders while on a foraging expedition to obtain corn for horses.
Cárdenas and two other men (a private and a captain in the Villa force) were found during a carefully planned search of the San Miguelito Ranch, after Patton arrived in three cars with ten additional American troopers and two civilian guides.
However, in the actual fighting, Patton only reported shooting the horse of one of two other men at close range, allowing that man to be killed shortly thereafter.
However, in the end, all the bodies had multiple wounds and with four or five men in the American force firing at the same time, it was impossible to attribute these kills individually to any one trooper.