CARRANZA AND MEXICO
[Illustration: DON VENUSTIANO CARRANZA AND GENERAL I. L. PESQUEIRA
First Chief and Minister of War]
CARRANZA AND
MEXICO
BY
CARLO DE FORNARO
[WITH CHAPTERS BY COLONEL I. C.
ENRIQUEZ, CHARLES FERGUSON AND
M. C. ROLLAND]
[Illustration]
NEW YORK · MITCHELL KENNERLEY · 1915
COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY
MITCHELL KENNERLEY
PRINTED IN AMERICA
_TO_
_PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON_
_who discovered_
_real Mexico to the Americans_
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I The Life of Don Venustiano Carranza 9
II Conditions in Mexico During Diaz’ Régime 34
III The Madero Revolution, Its Aims and Failures 50
IV Plotting Which Overthrew Madero 60
V Huerta in Power. The Landing of American
Marines in Vera Cruz 77
VI Financial Organization of the Revolution 86
VII Civil Organization of the Revolution 96
VIII Diplomatic Work in Washington 99
IX The Constitutionalists in Paris 102
X Investigation Work in the United States. By
M. C. Rolland 106
XI General Outline of Campaign Against Huerta 114
XII Campaign of General Obregon in the West.
By Col. I. C. Enriquez 118
XIII Villa and His Campaign in the North 132
XIV Campaign of Gen. Gonzalez in the East 142
XV Zapata and His Campaign in the South 146
XVI One Hundred Years’ Struggle for Land and
Democracy against Clericalism 157
XVII Attempts at the Solution of the Land Question 166
XVIII Behind the Scenes of the Carranza-Villa Imbroglio 176
XIX The Need of a Democratic Finance in Mexico.
By C. Ferguson 184
XX The Foreign Policy of Carranza 192
XXI President Wilson’s Mexican Policy 205
Reflections 214
Appendix 219
ILLUSTRATIONS
Don Venustiano Carranza and General I. L.
Pesqueira _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
Don Rafael Zubáran Capmany 99
Modesto C. Rolland 106
War Map of Mexico 114
General Alvaro Obregon 118
General S. Alvarado 132
General Pablo Gonzalez 142
General Benjamin Hill 176
CHAPTER I
LIFE OF CARRANZA
DON VENUSTIANO CARRANZA!
Who is this man, practically unknown to the American public a year
and a half ago, who with the help of the Mexican Constitutionalists,
overthrew the most cynical, murderous, grafting and powerful military
dictatorship that ever existed in Mexico?
Concentration of power in Mexico City, the support of the foreigners,
of the church, the bankers, the landowners, the militarists, of
foreign bankers and most foreign nations, with the exception of the
United States Government, were at the disposal of General Huerta and
his régime, but Carranza and the Constitutionalists eliminated this
nefarious rule after eighteen months of unbroken victories, sweeping
finally into Mexico City in a peaceful, orderly manner.
The American public is beginning to realize that such a thorough
victory could never have been achieved without a popular movement,
directed by a fearless, statesmanlike chief.
Venustiano Carranza, with the exception of Don Fernando Iglesias
Calderón, is the oldest of all the Constitutionalists, who have fought
for the last year and a half, with every means in their power, against
the rule of General Huerta and his governmental camorra.
Don Venustiano Carranza was born in the State of Coahuila in 1859,
and is therefore, fifty-five years old. In spite of the assertion
of one of the correspondents who interviewed him six months ago for
the _Metropolitan_ magazine, Mr. John Reed, we claim that Carranza
is anything but a “senile old man,” for he rode over 1,500 miles
on horseback, through the States of Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, Durango,
Chihuahua and Sonora, visiting the military camps, organizing all the
state and federal governments, and finally settling down in Hermosillo,
State of Sonora, as his capital. Later, after Torreon had been captured
from the Federals, Carranza with his staff and soldiers again crossed
the State of Sonora into Chihuahua on horseback, a distance of nearly
300 miles.
We must admit that unless Carranza had lived a greater part of his life
on his farm, he would not have been able to stand the hardships and
rigors of that famous ride.
His mental training was that of a lawyer, for he studied in the schools
of Coahuila and finished his law course in Mexico City.
A certain weakness of the eyesight prevented him from practising
law, so he retired on his farm, dedicating his time to improving his
“hacienda” and studying history and political economy.
Like the President of the United States, Carranza is one of the
greatest authorities on the history of his own country.
Just as all student-statesmen, Carranza is the type of man which makes
no direct appeal to the imagination of the public by a strenuous,
romantic life--it is the quiet, clear, thinking, organizing brain which
creates, commands and achieves, without the blaze of trumpets, or the
help of well-salaried press-agents.
One incident in his life stands out glaringly like a solitary facet of
a diamond struck by sunlight. Very few Mexicans, and it can be safely
said even a lesser number of Americans, know that Carranza was the only
man who started a local revolution against General Diaz, during the
rule from 1876 to 1910, and succeeded;--that is to say, continued to
live in Mexico, without sacrificing his life to his bold attempt.
This strange and seemingly incomprehensible incident happened in the
year 1893, when Don Venustiano was only thirty-four years old.
At that time there ruled over the State of Coahuila a governor named
Garza Galán. With the exception of Mucio Martinez and General Cravioto,
he was the worst governor in Mexico. Garza Galán used his great power
to rob, expropriate lands by all manner of tricks and stratagems,
imprison, kill those who stood in his way, and went so far as to kidnap
respectable girls.
Everybody expected that Garza Galán would be eliminated after his
two years of governorship, but when it was discovered that Romero
Rubio stood sponsor for another two years of Garza Galán as Governor
of Coahuila, the inhabitants of that State were in utter dismay and
protested to the President.
At that time Romero Rubio, the father-in-law of President Diaz, was one
of his closest advisers. He is the originator of the party which later
was called the “Cientifico” party, and of which Limantour became the
successor.
As Romero Rubio insisted on the candidacy of Garza Galán for a
second term, and as protests were of no avail with General Diaz, Don
Venustiano Carranza arose in arms with the assistance of his brother,
Don Emilio, and started on the warpath against Garza Galán. General
Diaz sent some federal troops to quell the revolt, but Don Venustiano
and his brother took particular care to avoid coming into armed
conflict with the federal troops, while they attacked Garza Galán’s
state troops and defeated them repeatedly. This strange, three-cornered
fight lasted longer than was expected; very soon, other wiser
counsellors of General Diaz pointed out to him that a continuation of
this armed revolt might communicate itself to the other border States
with disastrous effects to the Federal Government. General Diaz then
recalled the candidacy of Garza Galán, and it was transformed into the
one of Señor Musquiz.
Peace followed, but strangest of all, was the immunity of Venustiano
Carranza and his brother to persecutions and attempts on their lives.
Carranza was not a novice in the politics of his country; he served
as a member of the legislature of his native State, as Senator of the
Federal Government in Mexico City and even as a governor of his State.
Maybe the wily old dictator, Don Porfirio Diaz, made a mistake in the
case of Carranza. For sixteen years after the revolt against Garza
Galán, Carranza gave further proof of his strength of character, by
accepting the gubernatorial candidacy offered to him by the people of
Coahuila and refusing to renounce it in the face of the opposition of
the “cientifico” group in Mexico City, because Carranza stood for the
candidacy of General Reyes as Vice-President, as against Ramon Corral
who was the Mephisto of the “cientifico” party.
The answer of Carranza to the emissary of Diaz, who suggested the
advisability of his refusal to run for Governor, was as follows: “Tell
General Diaz, that as long as there is a single person, who will
propose and work in favor of my candidacy, I shall not renounce it, and
I shall accept all the consequences of my conduct.”
After such an unequivocal answer, everybody expected that either the
door of the penitentiary would close upon the bold candidate, or that
he would mysteriously disappear, in accordance with the policy of
General Diaz.
What saved Carranza from either of these fates, was the publicity given
to this incident in the American press, especially a letter of protest
against the meeting which was to take place in El Paso, between General
Diaz and President Taft. The passage referring to this incident says:
“Even as I write these lines, the report is wired from Mexico that
General Diaz has ordered the demission of the Governor of Coahuila,
as the latter showed a marked tendency in favor of General Reyes’
candidacy. Imagine the Republican President of the United States asking
for the resignation of Governor Johnson of Minnesota, because of his
democratic leanings.”[1]
It is quite logical that a man of the stamp of Carranza should view
with great interest the movement which culminated in the overthrow of
General Diaz in 1911.
Francisco I. Madero wrote his famous book “The Presidential Succession
of 1910,” and published it in San Pedro, Coahuila, in December, 1908.
F. I. Madero, because of his innocence or his fearlessness, tried to
create a working candidacy, with himself as presidential candidate and
Dr. Vasquez Gomez as Vice-President, in opposition to General Diaz and
Ramon Corral. There was however no intention of rising to arms against
the government of Diaz, but the policy of the President made the
opposing candidate realize the futility of his efforts.
F. I. Madero was placed in jail twice for his daring, and after the
second time, he was informed that a third imprisonment would mean his
complete elimination. Madero took the tip, and fled to San Antonio,
Texas. The slogan of the Madero revolution was “Effective suffrage and
no re-election” and not, as many Americans believe, “the land question.”
If any one will take the trouble to peruse the long document of San
Luis Potosí, of October 5th, 1910, signed F. I. Madero, which contains
2,500 words, it will be noticed that the land question takes up very
little space, in comparison to the rest of the Plan.[2]
General Carranza never hesitated for one moment, and was soon over the
border to join Madero, and formed part of his revolutionary junta.
He was appointed chief of the Military Division of the States of
Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, and later Secretary of War in the
provisional cabinet of F. I. Madero.
The premature cessation of hostilities and the installation of
the clerical candidate, L. de la Barra, was strenuously opposed
by Carranza, who said to F. I. Madero, “You are delivering to the
reactionaries a dead revolution, which will have to be fought over
again.” These prophetic words were not heeded, so Don Venustiano went
back to his native State, and calmly awaited the course of events,
while he offered himself as a candidate and was elected as Governor of
Coahuila.
One of the accusations which was published in the American papers
by the Huerta press agents was that F. I. Madero, as President, had
sent several hundred thousand dollars to Governor Carranza, for
the purpose of arming and increasing the state militia against the
Orozco rebellion. About the time of the overthrow of F. I. Madero,
Don Venustiano had been supposedly asked to give an accounting of the
expenditure of the money furnished from Mexico City. As he could not
account for it, it was said, he had decided to start a revolution
against President Madero. When the Huerta treachery took place and
Madero was murdered, Carranza took the opportunity to rebel against the
provisional presidency of General Huerta.
This story may sound plausible to the Huerta type of man, but the facts
in the case dispose of it. A few months before the plot which overthrew
Madero, Don Venustiano Carranza paid a visit to the President. His
watchful eyes and ears detected a very complicated net of plots and
counterplots brewing against Madero. The President did not believe that
there were any plots, and doubted any one’s ability to overthrow him.
Carranza went back to his State and communicated his suspicions to a
few intimate friends. As soon as he heard of the release of Felix Diaz
and General Reyes from their jails, he at once sent several hundred of
the Coahuila volunteers to the assistance of Madero. They took part
in the assault against the citadel, and the reason why General Huerta
lingered so long before turning traitor is now clear.
Besides the Coahuila riflemen, there were several hundred Madero
volunteers who were loyal to the President. General Huerta could not
arrest Madero and Suarez, and make peace with Felix Diaz until the
loyal Madero troops had been eliminated.
So he cautiously kept his own federal regiments back, and sent the
Madero volunteers and the Coahuila riflemen to charge the citadel,
manned by machine guns, in close formation. The Coahuila volunteers who
were mostly mounted, and numbered about 1,150, bravely attacked the
guns, but none of them came back alive; the same happened to the Madero
volunteers.
As soon as Huerta had disposed of the volunteers, he made his peace
with Felix Diaz. What remained of the Madero and Coahuila volunteers
fled to the standard of Zapata after Huerta came into power.
On the 18th of February, 1913, Madero and Suarez were arrested by order
of General Huerta. On the 19th of February all Mexico had heard the
fateful news, and nobody doubted the outcome of the imprisonment.
Don Venustiano Carranza never hesitated one hour, one minute; he
convened at once the legislature of the State of Coahuila, and the
following decree was the result:
_Venustiano Carranza_, Constitutional Governor of the free and
Sovereign State of Coahuila of Zaragoza, informs its inhabitants: That
the Congress of the State has decreed the following:
The Constitutional Congress of the free, independent and sovereign
State of Coahuila of Zaragoza decrees:
No. 1421: Article I.
We disavow General Victoriano Huerta in his character of chief of the
Executive power of the Republic, which he claims was conferred to him
by the Senate, and we likewise disown all the acts and resolutions
which he may dictate under such authority.
Article II. Extraordinary powers are transmitted to the Executive of
this State in all the branches of Public Administration, so that he
may suppress what he may deem convenient and that he shall proceed
by the force of arms to sustain the Constitutionalist order of the
Republic.
To arouse the Governments of the other States and the Chiefs of the
Federal, Rural and Auxiliary Forces, so that they may assist the stand
taken by the Governor of this State.
Decreed in the room of the Congress of the State, in Saltillo, on the
19th of February, 1913. A. Barrera, President of the Legislature. J.
Sanchez Herrera, Secretary. Gabriel Calzada, Secretary.
Let this be printed, communicated and observed.
V. CARRANZA.
E. GARZA PEREZ,
Secretary.
Saltillo, 19 de Febrero de 1913.
After the imprisonment of President Madero and Vice-President Suarez
in February, 1913, a year and a half ago, there were twenty-seven
governors in Mexico, who had the same opportunity to protest against
the usurper Huerta, and refuse to recognize his “coup d’état,” his
dictatorship and his cowardly murders. None of the governors dared
protest. Had all the governors in Mexico arisen together with their
legislatures and refused to recognize the authority of the czar in
Mexico, Huerta with all his money, all his soldiers, all his greed and
ruthlessness, could not have lasted more than three months.
Don Venustiano Carranza was the only governor in Mexico who had the
audacity and patriotism to challenge the great pirate in Mexico City,
who had raised the black flag with the skull and the cross bones over
the national palace.
The chiefs of the States were too terrorized, cowed and frozen by
the brutality, the cynicism, the power of the man in the provisional
presidency, and were aghast at the suddenness of the events which led
to Madero’s downfall. They had not found out what had happened behind
the scenes, the horror of the events and their natural consequence
had not dawned upon their paralyzed minds. Carranza as a real leader
and chief never faltered an instant. Those are the rare and precious
moments which create the national hero.
As soon as Felix Diaz and Victoriano Huerta heard of the stand taken
by Don Venustiano Carranza as Governor of the State of Coahuila, they
realized that a formidable enemy had arisen to spoil their crooked
game. They put their heads together and penned the following epistle to
Carranza, signed it together, and sent a trusted friend as emissary to
find him and convince him:
MEXICO, D. F. 27 de Febrero 1913.
DON VENUSTIANO CARRANZA,
Gov. of the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila,
_Dear Sir_--
By letters of recent date we have informed you of the plausible
reasons which have inspired the army against the dissolving régime of
Don F. Madero, and we have likewise justified the acts which placed
General Huerta in the office of President of the Republic.
We have been informed that it was your intention to rebel against
the legal authority of the Government. We beg to insist, in the name
of the country and for its exclusive benefit, that you change your
announced attitude not to collaborate with us in the work of peace
which we intend to pursue to the end, at any price. If for some
personal reason you wish to leave the office which you occupy, and
if that can be done without offending or hurting our patriotic end,
the Government will give you all sorts of guarantees and will pay your
salary up to the end of your term.
This letter, as you understand, must be absolutely of a particular
and private character. On this basis we beg to inform you that on our
part there will be no obstacles that could arise between ourselves,
which cannot be solved in the manner most suitable to you. It would be
advisable for you to retire into the United States (for your greater
safety). We shall make all sorts of sacrifices (should you demand
them) so as to satisfy all your wishes and demands. Our envoy (agent)
will bring you instructions on the subject. He is empowered to arrange
matters on the spot.
We beg you to accept our assurance of admiration and respect.
(Signed) VICTORIANO HUERTA.
FELIX DIAZ.
Carranza’s answer follows:
11th March, 1913.
MESSRS. V. HUERTA Y FELIX DIAZ:
My only answer to the despicable proposals offered to me in your
letter dated February 27th, is that I want to inform you that men like
myself do not betray, do not sell themselves; that is your function,
you who have no other objects in life than the shameful satisfaction
of ignoble ambitions.
Raise the black flag of your tyranny, and over the country the voice
shouts: “Treason and Death.”
On my part, with the help of the Mexican people, I shall lift from the
mud into which you have thrown it, the flag of the country. Should I
fall defending it, I shall have obtained for my small action in life,
the greatest prize which we honest men can aspire to.
(Signed) VENUSTIANO CARRANZA.
In the month of March, 1913, not satisfied with having defied the
powers in Mexico, General Carranza published the “Plan of Guadalupe,”
so called from the fact that the revolutionary plan was signed by the
officers at the “hacienda” farm of Guadalupe. The plan is the following:
DECLARATION TO THE NATION
Considering that General Victoriano Huerta, to whom the Constitutional
President, Francisco I. Madero, had confided the defence of the
institutions and the legality of his government, on uniting with the
rebel enemies in arms against that same government, to restore the
latest dictatorship, committed the crime of treason to reach power,
arresting the President and Vice-President, as well as their ministers,
exacting from them by violent means the resignation of their posts,
which is proven by the messages that the same General Huerta addressed
to the Governors of the States, advising them that he had the Supreme
Magistrates of the nation and their cabinet prisoners.
Considering that the legislative and judicial powers have recognized
and protected General Victoriano Huerta and his illegal and
anti-patriotic proceedings, contrary to the constitutional laws and
precepts, and considering, finally, that some governors of the States
of the union have recognized the illegitimate government, imposed by
the part of the army which consummated the treason, headed by the same
General Huerta, in spite of the fact that the sovereignty of those same
States whose governors should have been the first in disowning it, had
been violated, those who subscribe, chiefs and officials, in command of
constitutional forces, we have accorded, and shall sustain by arms the
following:
PLAN
1. General Victoriano Huerta, as President of the republic shall be
disowned.
2. The legislative and judicial powers of the federation shall also be
disowned.
3. The governors of the states who still recognize the federal powers
forming the actual administration, 30 days after the publication of
this plan, shall be disowned.
4. For the organization of the army in charge of seeing that our
purposes are carried out, we name as first chief of the army, which
will be called Constitutionalist, Venustiano Carranza, Governor of the
State of Coahuila.
5. The Constitutionalist army on occupying Mexico City, the executive
power will be provisionally in charge of Venustiano Carranza, first
chief of the army, or in charge of that person who might substitute
him in command.
6. The provisional President of the Republic will convene general
elections as soon as peace may have been consolidated, handing the
power to the citizen who may have been elected.
7. The citizen who may act as first chief of the Constitutionalist
army in the States whose government might have recognized that of
Huerta, will assume the charge of provisional governor and will
convoke local elections, after the citizens elected to discharge the
high powers of the federation may have taken possession of their
office, as provided for in the foregoing basis.
The plan was signed at the Hacienda of Guadalupe, Coahuila, on the 26th
of March, 1913. Sixty-four officers of the state troops affixed their
signatures to the protest. Among the most famous on the list was Lieut.
Col. Lucio Blanco, who fought in Tamaulipas and initiated the sale of
lands belonging to Felix Diaz, among Constitutionalist soldiers, and
Major J. B. Trevino.
As Don Venustiano Carranza was leaving Saltillo to take the field
against the federals, he said to a friend: “We are going to fight the
three years’ war over again.”
A coincidence in atavism is that Don Venustiano’s father, Colonel
Carranza, fought in the north during the three years’ war under the
leadership of Benito Juarez (1857-60) and assisted him financially
as well as politically in the struggle. Later, after the
Constitutionalist government had placed Benito Juarez in the presidency
through the elections, Colonel Carranza was offered the reimbursement
of the sixteen thousand odd dollars which he had contributed to the
liberal cause. He refused the money saying that the victory of the
party was sufficient payment to him.
A further coincidence, amusing to students of history, is found in
the case of Gen. Victoriano Huerta, whose father, Gen. Epitacio
Huerta, fought under the same banner as Colonel Carranza. The history
of the three years’ war mentions the name of three generals: The
Constitutionalist Generals Rocha, Huerta and Arteaga.... After the
clericals had been defeated by the Constitutionalists under Benito
Juarez in 1860 they invited foreign intervention, which ended in the
courtmartial and shooting of Emperor Maximilian and Generals Miramón
and Mejia.
In the present instance, Don Victoriano Huerta, when he perceived an
early defeat, heaped indignities and insults upon American citizens so
as to invite an intervention and a quick march of the American troops
into Mexico City. The clericals which he represented preferred the
presence of Americans to that of the Constitutionalists in Mexico City.
Luckily for Mexico, the Chief Magistrate in Washington foresaw the move
and wisely refused to pull the chestnut out of the fire for a Mexican
monkey.
The first battle of the revolution was fought between Saltillo and
Monclova in a small place called “Anhelo,” which, translated from the
Spanish, means a vehement desire.
The reason for going into certain details of the march of Carranza
across the northern States, is for the purpose of showing the physical
endurance, the mental activity, as well as the profound and implicit
faith that Venustiano Carranza had in the people of Mexico.
The personality of Carranza does not seem to have been sympathetic to
foreign newspapermen who have visited him. His presence and manner
seem utterly cold, intellectual; extremely polite, non-committal. When
talking, his speech is devoid of all the superlatives and amenities
which made New York reporters say of L. de la Barra, “He talked
incessantly for fifteen minutes without saying one word for copy.”
Carranza’s talent as a good listener made him the despair of
journalists, who preferred the generals who fought, talked, gave orders
to shoot a few prisoners, and between snatches of food, dictated
incidents from their lives or told what their plans were for the future
of Mexico. Carranza is more subtle if not sufficiently romantic. The
careful observer must read between the lines, when the personality
grows on one, like the taste for olives or the magnitude of the Chief
Magistrate in Washington. Some leaders are unattractive because of
their very uprightness, their justice, their integrity, their polish;
their flawlessness offers no purchase to a sly attack. Aristides asked
an Athenian citizen, who had voted to ostracize him, if Aristides had
personally offended him, “No, but I am tired of hearing him called the
Just!”
Enemies of Carranza have accused him of being too much of an aristocrat
and a puppet in the hands of his lawyers’ cabinet, or again a jingo for
effect and a rebel for power. His conduct towards his general staff,
his generals, his enemies, his attitude towards the United States
and the foreign powers, his promises or silence on the question of
interior policy,--his words, speeches, letters and decrees are his best
witnesses to judge him by.
After the defeat at Anhelo, Carranza went to the border, passing
through Cuatro Cienegas, which is famous as his birthplace, to Eagle
Pass.
In the month of July, 1913, when the Arrietas and Contreras were
attacking Torreon, Carranza joined them in the hope of success, but
even the second time when Villa attacked Torreon, the victories were
empty, except for the arms, ammunition and money captured.
Disconsolate but not discouraged, Carranza, accompanied by about
two hundred men, slowly wended his way across the State of Durango.
General Huerta was at that period on the highest crest of success and
power,--orders had been telegraphed all over the north, to the federal
and counter-guerrilla chiefs, to capture Carranza, dead or alive,
and be rewarded with a bonus of $150,000. Abraham Gonzalez, Governor
of Chihuahua, had been arrested and assassinated by order of Huerta.
Venustiano Carranza, therefore, travelled at night and rested during
the day; his only pilots were the stars, a small compass and a pocket
edition of “Mexico-Atlas.” The chief himself recounts how often during
their night ride, they espied coming towards them in the distance, the
vaguely outlined forms of peons, men and women carrying their children
in their arms. Scouts were sent ahead to discover if the peasants were
only disguised federals in a desperate attempt to assassinate the brain
of the revolution, and capture a kingly reward.
The phantom shadows were “pacificos,” who had walked for miles to greet
the chief who was going to battle for their rights and their lands.
They only wanted to touch his hands, the hem of his coat, to hear the
voice of the great “Jefe,” and then they turned their weary way sending
back a salutation: “May God protect you!” or “May God be with you!”
which rang in the silent night like the voice of the people, the voice
of God.
As Carranza kept his itinerary secret, the first encounter might have
been accidental, but it happened so frequently that it seemed almost
uncanny and supernatural, this triumphant procession accompanied by the
blessings, the wishes, the yearnings of the Mexican peons. Carranza
himself confessed that no incident in his life made a more profound
impression on him, and gave him a deeper insight of the tremendous
faith of the Mexican people in their champions, pathfinders, and
saviors.
Across the mountains in Durango to Tepehuanes, into Parral in
Chihuahua, where he came in contact with General Chao, and from there
across the Sierra Madre, a mountain range, dividing Chihuahua from
Sonora, into the small city of Fuerte, where Carranza met for the first
time General Obregon and his soldiers.
He reached Guaymas, in Sonora, about the middle of September, 1913. The
little band was tired, and their clothes were in rags, their shoes in
tatters, but the goal was reached and they began the work of organizing
the capital of the Constitutional government.
In Mexico the presence of Carranza was known only to the
revolutionists, and as the federals could not discover the whereabouts
of the Chief at that time, they heralded his disappearance and death.
Everywhere that Carranza had passed with his band of followers in the
small cities, away from the federals who cautiously kept within the
city limits and near the railroads, he invariably organized small
local governments until he was able to communicate with his chiefs in
the middle and east. In the State of Coahuila, his brother Don Jesus,
and Gen. Don Pablo Gonzalez, had come to an understanding as to the
great strategic outline of the campaign in combination with General
Villa in the north and General Obregon on the west. In Guaymas a
provisional cabinet was organized with Don Rafael Zubaran Capmany, one
of the keenest intellects of the revolution, a lawyer from Campeche,
with Francisco Escudero as Minister of Foreign Affairs, as Minister
of Finances F. I. Villareal, Engineer G. Bonilla as Minister of
Communications, and General Angeles as Minister of War.
Gen. J. B. Trevino was the chief of the general staff of Carranza; the
chief secretary was G. Espinosa Mireles; there was also a staff of
officers attached to his person. It was in Hermosillo that the great
strategic campaign was outlined with the help of General Angeles and
the general staff. The orders to the three chiefs, Obregon, Villa and
Gonzalez, came from Hermosillo.
After the northern States were conquered slowly, all the city and rural
governments were organized, and although the work was arduous and
continuous, it was not quite as strenuous as the classic ride across
the sierras and the deserts. The daily routine at headquarters was very
simple but efficient. The chief usually got up between five and six in
the morning, and except when he rode across the mountain took his bath
and attended at once to the most important work of the day. At 7 A. M.
there was a light breakfast with whatever could be had, milk, crackers
with peach preserves, or honey and butter. On the march everybody
had to be satisfied with the national tortilla, made of cornmeal and
beans. Sometimes they could get fresh eggs, sometimes not.
In Hermosillo they fared better; Carranza had two Indian attendants,
one who did the cooking and the other who attended to his horses and
those of the general staff. The Mexican cooks have the most wonderful
capacity for being able to light a fire and cook anywhere under the
most distressing conditions.
Thus they were able to get meals and a few luxuries like boiled
and fried meal, vegetables, and the famous chile with cheese, and
a powdered coffee called “Washington coffee,” with milk. Sometimes
they drank a red wine which is grown in the north of Mexico. Carranza
invited at almost every meal, some friends who had travelled many
miles to see him, or soldiers or civilians belonging to his immediate
surroundings.
Between the hours of 7:30 and 1 P. M. the whole staff was again busy
taking orders from the chief,--writing, telegraphing and conferring.
At one o’clock there was a light luncheon and the work was resumed
until six, when the chief took his daily ride, accompanied by an
aide or a friend. Ten o’clock was usually the time to retire, unless
the “Jefe” had been invited to a fiesta or a dance, which happened
quite frequently as Mexicans are very fond of dancing, theatricals,
speech-making, and are in general very sociable. Unlike most Mexicans,
the chief does not smoke, or favor the national drink “tequila,” or the
Mexicanized cognac, or the excellent Monterrey and Toluca beer which
was advertised in Mexico as “the beer that made Milwaukee jealous.”
By February the chief and his staff packed their belongings, and the
state papers, and crossed the State of Sonora into Sinaloa in Culiacán,
the capital, which had been captured by General Obregon. After the
organization of Sinaloa, the peripatetic government moved back to
Hermosillo and towards the border, to Nogales. By that time, Torreon
had been captured and Carranza, accompanied by 300 cavalry and 400
infantry, crossed the Sierra Madre range into Chihuahua, to Juarez, an
excursion which lasted twenty-five days and covered over 400 miles.
They had come from the tropical heat of the deserts of Sonora to the
snow on the Sierra Madre.
From Juarez on, the procession of the Chief rolled downward to
Chihuahua, Torreon, Saltillo, Monterrey, Tampico, down to Tepotzotlan
near Mexico City. The details of his slow organization of the civil
government of all the conquered States, of his foreign attitude and
of the other details of his revolutionary rule, will be discussed in
separate chapters.
Carranza at first sight makes the impression more of a Saxon
personality than of a Mexican type. The Spanish blood, which flows
in his veins three or four generations back must have been of Basque
origin, which is pure northern European. He is about five feet, eight
inches high, proportionately built, neither too thin nor too stout,
and he carries himself erect and in a dignified manner. His white hair
and beard contrast with the very dark brown complexion which is the
result of an active, out-of-door life. The eye-glasses give to his
appearance a slight professional mien. The professorial air is rather
disconcerting at first, for one expects to behold a type of a man
different from the quiet, unassuming, very polite, gentleman farmer,
and instead of a deep, sonorous voice, a rather high and clear tone of
speech. His eyes are hazel, very open,--his nose straight, his forehead
very high, and he has the high brow of an intellectual, rather than of
a fighter, his ears are quite large, denoting a strong constitution and
a long life. The whole impression is of self-restraint, gentleness;
nevertheless, the keen observing eyes prove an alert intelligence,
always watching, weighing, judging and carefully registering all the
impressions for future use. As all men dealing with people politically,
Carranza has a very retentive memory for faces and names. Being a
comprehending and patient listener he always hears a great deal more
than he says, but when an answer is required, the words come out
slowly, as if chosen with extreme care to express a thought with as few
words as possible. While speaking in public, the use of simple language
denotes a clear mind which can express complicated problems in first
principles, and Carranza makes himself understood by cultured Mexicans
as well as by peons.