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On January 5, 1915, General Felipe Ángeles, commanding the northern portion of the Villa’s Conventionist Army took the town of Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila. A document found in the Constitutionalist headquarters proved conclusively that President Gutiérrez was negotiating with Carranza, and that he intended to “remove” Villa from command. Gutiérrez had been unable to control either Villa or Zapata, and sought to end the fighting any way he could. On January 15th, Villa ordered the execution of the president as a traitor. Gutiérrez resigned his office the following day, and fled to San Luis Potosi to ally himself with the Constitutionalists. On January 17th, the delegates of the Convention named General Roque González Garza President of the Republic. González Garza was one of Villa’s generals, and for a short time it seemed that the Conventionist Government would survive the crisis.
On January 26th, President Gonzalez Garza ordered his government to move south to Cuernavaca, Morelos. When the Constitutionalists, under Obregon, occupied Mexico City on January 28th, communications between Villa and the Conventionist Government were severed. With the Conventionists now in Zapata’s territory, they came under great pressure to implement the general’s Plan de Ayala, a plan to redistribute the lands of the large haciendas to the peasants. As a result of the inability to communicate with the Conventionist Government, General Villa established his own government based in Chihuahua to oversee the territories which he held. Villa’s break with the Conventionists doomed them to failure, and reduced the Conventionist Army to only those forces commanded by General Zapata. |
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Villa continued his advance on Guadalajara which was occupied by the Constitutionalist Division of the West, commanded by General Manuel Diéguez. Cut-off from the main body of the Constitutionalist Army, General Diéguez issued notes in denominations of 1, 5, 10 and 50 pesos, payable in Carranza’s “national currency”. The 1, 5 and 10 pesos denominations were all of similar design, and were dated January 20, 1915. |
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The 50 pesos note, below, issued on January 28th, is one of the more curious of the revolutionary issues. The red overprint indicates that these notes were issued for the purchase of supplies and equipment, and that their circulation was required. Each note was signed in red ink by General Diéguez, himself. The example shown below is stamped RETIRADO (Retired), indicating that the note was redeemed in either currency or metallic assets. It is a genuine Gobierno Provisional de México 50 pesos note, but lacks the city of issue and date, and the signatures of the three treasury officials at the bottom. |
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A little-known general of a small cavalry brigade from the state of San Luis Potosí, Eulalio Gutiérrez was elected as a compromise candidate by the factions that had arisen at the Convention of Aguascalientes. When Carranza recalled his representatives to prepare for civil war, Guiterrez was left with the armies of Villa and Zapata for the contest. He appointed Pancho Villa General-in-Chief of all Conventionist forces. The army of General Emiliano Zapata pledged to adhere to the aims of the Convention, but would operate as an independent command, not under the control of Villa. Carranza appointed Alvaro Obregón Commander-in-Chief of the Constitutionalist Army. |
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The Conventionist Army, under General Villa, began a series of attacks on Constitutionalist forces in central Mexico, while Zapata’s Liberation Army of the South move on Mexico City itself. Carranza and his government were forced to abandon the capital and withdraw to Veracruz. That coastal city had been occupied since April 1914 by U. S. forces with the objective of denying supplies to the Huerta Government. It had been successful in doing so, but had raised antagonism against the United States to new levels among the Mexican populace. With Carranza’s approach, the U. S. decided to abandon Veracruz. As a result, all of the accumulated war supplies impound-ed by the U. S. became the property of the First Chief and his Constitutionalist Government. As soon as he was established at Veracruz, Carranza ordered the continued production of his “national currency” from that city. The only difference in design of these notes is the city of issue printed just below the Gobierno Provisional de México logo and date. |
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General Zapata’s army occupied Mexico City in the wake of Carranza’s departure. On December 3, 1914, Villa’s army arrived north of the capital. A meeting between the two generals proved to be a friendly affair, which seemed to solidify the cooperation of the two major elements of the Conventionist Army. Provisional President Gutiérrez established his headquarters in Mexico City, and things seemed to be going well. On December 6th, the armies of Zapata and Villa made an official and triumphal entry into Mexico City.
President Guitiérrez, in a move that was a propaganda disaster, ordered that the circulating Gobierno Provisional currency of the Carranza government be re-issued by the Conventionist government, stamped REVALIDADO Por decreto de 17 de diciembre de 1914. By allowing Carranza’s notes to continue to circulate with the REVALIDADO stamp, he kept the name of the enemy government constantly before the people. |
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On the 8th of December things began to fall apart for the Conventionist cause. Various cabecillas now in the city began to take revenge on their enemies who were part of the occupying Conventionist Armies. Arrests, assassinations and murders became the order of the day. To maintain a show of solidarity, the army under Villa would swap prisoners with the army under Zapata, with executions to follow. President Gutiérrez was powerless to stop these activities, and in frustration began communicating with Carranza’s agents in an attempt to find a way out of the quagmire in which he found himself.
Villa and Zapata had presented the president with a military plan to pursue Carranza and destroy him in Veracruz, and Gutiérrez had concurred. Zapata would take and hold Puebla while Villa pursued Carranza. Such a plan might have ended the so-called “War of the Winners” within a month or so. Unfortunately, as Zapata was taking Puebla, Villa became distracted by threats in his rear from Constitutionalist forces that had not withdrawn to Veracruz. |
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Carranza’s precipitate flight from Mexico City to Veracruz left a number of Constitutionalist Army units cut-off from both the government and the main body of the army. The Commanding General, 2d Division of the Northeast, General Francisco Murguía, was trapped a Uruapan, Michoacan. He issued 5 pesos notes on December 20, 1914, from Uruapan. These notes were payable in the “national” currency of First Chief Carranza. |
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Villa’s concern with these cut-off units in his rear caused him to fail to follow through with his campaign against Carranza. Instead, he divided his army in two and sent one half off to attack Guadalajara in the west and the other half to Monterrey in the north. It proved to be a fatal move. By changing his plans without consulting either the president or General Zapata, Villa insured that neither Gutiérrez nor Zapata would trust him in the future. President Gutiérrez was left in Mexico City, trying to prop up a crumbling regime. General Zapata had attacked Puebla, as planned, but suffered from the lack of artillery pieces promised, but not delivered by Villa. Zapata called off the attacks in the State of Puebla, and in disgust, took his army home to Morelos. President Gutiérrez’ negotiations with Carranza became more urgent. |
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THE WAR OF THE WINNERS |
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Villa’s government was as short of funds as ever. Villa ordered the continued production of the Estado de Chihuahua notes and new series were issued in January and June 1915 in all denominations except 50 pesos. The only design change occurred in the 50 centavos notes. |
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The mint at Chihuahua was ordered to continue to produce the bronze 5 centavos piece dated 1915, and a bronze 10 centavos coin was added. Although Villa was now at war with the Constitutionalist Army, his bronze coinage continued to carry the legend Ejército Constitucion-alista. The mint also instituted production of a silver 1 peso. The legend Ejército del Norte (Army of the North) appears on the silver peso. |
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In Veracruz, First Chief Carranza ordered the continued production of the “national” 1 peso note and introduced a 2 pesos note. |
