| Battle of Ambos Nogales | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Mexican Border War | |||||||
 The border between Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora in 1899 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States |
 Mexico Alleged:  Germany | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Frederick Herman | Unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| ~800[3] | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
5 soldiers, 2 civilians killed 28 soldiers, several civilians wounded |
Mexico: Up to 28-30 soldiers, about 100 civilians killed; 129 new graves were counted About 300 total wounded Alleged: 2 German soldiers killed[4] | ||||||
  Location on Arizona/Sonora border  Location on United States/Mexico border | |||||||
The Battle of Ambos Nogales (also known as Battle of 27 August) was an engagement fought on 27 August 1918 between Mexican forces and United States Army elements from the 35th Infantry Regiment and 10th Cavalry Regiment during the Mexican Border War. The American soldiers and militia forces were stationed in Nogales, Arizona, and the Mexican soldiers and armed Mexican militia were in Nogales, Sonora.[5] This battle was notable for being a significant confrontation between U.S. and Mexican forces during the conflict, which took place during the Mexican Revolution and World War I.
Prior to the late 1910s, the international border between the two Nogaleses was a wide-open boulevard named International Street, but during the course of the decade the violence associated with the Mexican Revolution and growing hysteria related to World War I brought stricter U.S. control of the border. Anti-foreign sentiment grew in the border region with the publicizing of the German Empire's Zimmermann telegram in February 1917. (Some U.S. military historians of the 10th Cavalry and 25th Infantry later claimed German military advisors encouraged Mexican rebels under General Francisco "Pancho" Villa to fight against the U.S. in Nogales.) Related to the World War I anti-foreign sentiment, the shooting deaths of Mexican nationals at the border by U.S. soldiers in Nogales in early 1918 increased racial tensions in the two border towns. As a result of the 27 August battle, the U.S. and Mexico agreed to divide the two border communities with a chain-link border fence, the first of many permanent incarnations of the U.S.–Mexico border wall between the two cities along the two countries' border.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Finelywas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Parra, "Valientes Nogalenses," 16-17.
- ^ "1st Surveillance Group".
- ^ Finley, James P.; Reilly, Jeanne (1993). "Buffalo Soldiers at Huachuca: The Battle of Ambos Nogales". BYU Library. Brigham Young University. Archived from the original on 5 July 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
Mexican casualties are not known, but found among the Mexican dead were the bodies of two German agents provocateurs.
Alt URL Archived 24 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine
John Henry Nankivell (1927). Buffalo Soldier Regiment: History of the Twenty-fifth United States Infantry, 1869-1926. U of Nebraska Press. p. 145. ISBN 0-8032-8379-2. Parra, Carlos Francisco (24 August 2018). "Battle of Ambos Nogales signaled birth of border fence". Nogales International. - ^ DeRosey C. Cabell, "Report on Recent Trouble at Nogales, 1 September 1918", Battle of Nogales 1918, Pimeria Alta Historical Society (Nogales, AZ). See also DeRosey Cabell, "Memorandum for the Adjutant General: Subject: Copy of Records to be Furnished to the Secretary of the Treasury. 30 September 1918", PAHS.