then revealed her true identity. Even known as a woman she rose to the position of lieutenant and earned the respect from the rest of the troops. She continued fighting against the Federal Army for years under her true identity as a female, and was a true believer that having a revolution would be the start of having justice. Amelio Robles Ávila Amelio Robles Ávila, "El güero", was a distinguished soldier in the Revolutionary Army of the South. Robles had learned to ride horses and shoot from an early age, and after the revolution started, Robles dressed as a man and ultimately became a colonel in the Legionary Cavalry. From 1913 to 1918, Robles fought as "el coronel Robles" with the Zapatistas. Following the military phase of the Revolution, Robles supported revolutionary general Álvaro Obregón, president of Mexico 1920–1924, as well as during the 1924 rebellion of Adolfo de la Huerta. Robles lived as a man for the remainder of his long life, which was marked towards the end by various decorations acknowledging his distinguished military service: decoration as a veteran (veterano) of the Mexican Revolution and the Legion of Honor of the Mexican Army, and in the 1970s, the award of Mérito revolucionario. Robles died December 9, 1984, aged 95. Foreign observers In November 1911, a Swedish mercenary, Ivar Thord-Gray, who was part of Villa's forces observed preparations for battle. "The women camp followers had orders to remain behind, but hundreds of them hanging onto the stirrups followed their men on the road for awhile. Some other women carrying carbines, bandoleers [sic] and who were mounted, managed to slip into the ranks and came with us. These took their places in the firing lines and withstood hardship and machine gun fire as well as the men. They were a brave worthy lot. It was a richly picturesque sight, but the complete silence, the stoic yet anxious faces of the women was depressing, as it gave the impression that all were going to a tremendous funeral, or their doom." A U.S. secret agent, Edwin Emerson, gave reports on Villa's army, with an observation on the women. "The conduct of the women who came along on the railway trains and many of whom accompanied their men into the firing line around Torreón was also notably heroic." Leftist journalist John Reed, a Harvard graduate, is the most well-known foreign observer reporting on