Against him, a nationwide coalition developed among former revolutionaries, the main commander of the antihuertist movement in Chihuahua was Pancho Villa, although it was Governor Venustiano Carranza of Coahuila who appointed himself commander-in-chief of the entire uprising.

Villa returned to Mexico with only 8 companions from the United States in the spring, but as the months passed, more and more people joined him and acquired more and more weapons.

After the Battle of Ojinaga, Carranza wanted Villa to attack Torreón as soon as possible, but he asked for time to gather more people, more money, and more weapons.

[5] On 10 February, the Northern Division's Commercial and Financial Agency, the governing body of the Villista's finances, was also set up under the leadership of Lázaro de la Garza.

[6] From the money raised, they bought a lot of weapons and ammunition, new uniforms, and even a two-engine, two-person aircraft, in addition to which two foreign pilots were contracted.

[7] Villa recently formed a personal escort called the Dorados, led by Jesús M. Ríos, and equipped with new, initially oil-green jacket uniforms, 7mm Mauser rifles, and Colt pistols, .44 ammunition.

[8] Meanwhile, the revolutionaries opened a number of recruitment offices and published posters inviting people to join, including even Americans: for them, announcements were made in part in English.

Villa also sought good relationships with American physicians: for high salaries, he employed many of them in his newly equipped hospital trains.

[11] They arrived at the Santa Rosalía de Camargo station at 3 a.m. on March 17, where the wedding of one of the Villista leaders, Rosalío Hernández, was held in the city that day, accompanied by a dance party.

Toribio Ortega's forces defeated Benjamín Argumedo's 300-strong unit of the Reds at Estación Peronal, where he ran away from a cavalry attack.

[17] Meanwhile, the battle was over in Sacramento: the men of Allied Captain Alfonso Durón raised white flags, dropped their weapons, and with exclamations "Long live Villa!"

Although the majority of the population sympathized with the Villistas, they did not dare to help them because the Confederates threatened that if they fired a single shot from a house, it would be destroyed along with its residents.

[21] The Cerro de la Pila in Gómez Palació, protected by 500 people and fortified with trenches, machine gun nests and stone-walled walls, however, seemed impregnable to the insurgents.

At 8:45 p.m., 2,000 men from Rodriguez, Urbina, and Herrera launched an attack on the heights, but it was very difficult that before they reached it, they had to cross a large, open area so they could be shot from above.

[24] Meanwhile, the revolutionaries also cleared the area between Gómez Palacio and Lerdo of government forces, and at night more help came from Durango (Severino Ceniceros' people), but even more were expected to arrive soon.

During the day's fighting, José Isabel Robles also arrived from Durango, bringing 1,500 people with them, but they had little ammunition, their clothes were ragged, and not many even had shoes.

The exact reasons for the abandonment of the city are still unknown today, it was probably planned earlier that the main clash would take place in Torreón, leaving Gómez Palació only temporarily to exhaust and wear down the Villistas.

[26] At night (and the next day), which dawned from March 26 to 27, Villa telegraphed to the people of Ciudad Juárez, who had played an important role in providing care, asking for clothes and food.

During the day, the revolutionaries sent a message to Torreón asking for the city to be handed over, but the Velascos were optimistic: they believed they would soon receive reinforcements from San Pedro, who would then “chased Villa to Chihuahua,” so the request was denied.

Meanwhile, Toribio de los Santos, who had been left to defend Monterrey Road east of the city, clashed with the protector of the federal fortification coming from there.

They were asked for a 48-hour ceasefire, during which they could gather the dead to prevent a possible epidemic, but the Villistas also refused, because they believed it was only a matter of time to get federal troops from there in the meantime.

In the afternoon, 300 federal surrendered in Calabazas and were asked to be led in front of Villa, but Carrillo still shot them, leaving only 50 to arrive at Gómez Palacio.

The next day, a large team of defenders wanted to break out of the ring around them on the side of La Fortuna Mountain, but they were shot by the revolutionaries, so their attempt failed.

It was then that news came that De los Santos had arrested the Confederates from the East, while Chao's Chihuahua revolutionaries had arrived, giving the attackers a significant advantage.

[31] Around 2 a.m. on April 2, Miguel González recaptured Calabazas (although this was lost again three hours later), Eladio Contreras and La Polvareda, and then two barracks in the city fell into the hands of revolutionaries.

It is likely that his decree (as he was famous for his teetotalism) was overtaken the next day by calls from Comarca Lagunera towns forbidding the consumption of alcoholic beverages, and those who violated it would be shot without warning.

[37] After the Battle of Torreón, another major clash took place between the federal army, which gathered in San Pedro de las Colonias, numbering just over 10,000, and no less than 22 generals in its ranks,[38] and the Villistas: the 12-16 thousand revolutionaries[39] defeated the government forces on 14 April, the remaining ones left for Saltillo.