Capture of Mexicali

Significance

The capture of Mexicali on January 29, 1911 marked the first armed action of the Magonista campaign against the federal government of Porfirio Díaz in the Mexican Revolution. Directed by Ricardo Flores Magón and carried out under José María Leyva, the Liberal Party rebels seized the Baja California border town with little resistance. As the opening engagement of the Magonista military effort, it established a foothold in the far northwest of Mexico, far removed from other revolutionary theaters, and demonstrated that the Díaz government was vulnerable to armed challenge at the periphery of its territory.

Commanders (1)