ground. Although Holmdahl was wounded, the cavalry reached the federal positions and quickly overan the trenches and routed the enemy from the field. The federals had lost 1,000 dead and 400 captured, as well as losing more than fifty artillery pieces, 400 Mauser rifles, 20,000 rounds of ammunition and seven railroad trains loaded with food, medical supplies, and uniforms. The glory of victory was soured with the brutal murders of captured troops. According to one of Villas wives, Luz Corral, Orozco sympathizers, had poisoned her daughter. Villa as an outraged father, cried out for vengeance and turned the prisoners over to his faithful killer, Rodolfo Fierro, who called himself a frugal executioner. Fierro lined up more than four hundred helpless prisoners in groups of three. Forcing them to hug each other back-to-front, Fierro then strode down their lines firing one shot from a high-powered pistol into each trio, fatally drilling all three bodies in a single shot. Fierro would giggle to Villa "Look how much ammunition I saved." Aftermath The battle broke the back of federal forces in the stats and was a major victory for Villa and his men. Holmdahl, for his part was promoted to Colonel at only age 29, and later awarded an honorary legion of honor. A contemporary pamphlet described Holmdahl's charge as heroic and bold, noting that his courage should be memorialized in marble and bronze. Martín Luis Guzmán, a Mexican Journalist, novelist, and historian credited Holmdahl with winning the battle. References Sources Guzmán, Luis Guzmán. Memoirs of Pancho Villa. "Victorias Del General Villa" (Victories With General Villa) T.F. Serrano and C. Del Vando. El Paso, Texas, 1913. Mexican Revolution 1913 in Mexico August 1913 events Battles of the Mexican Revolution