Battle of Ambos Nogales

Battle of Ambos Nogales
Part of the Mexican Border War
The border between Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora in 1899
Date 27 August 1918 Location Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora 31°19′58″N 110°56′32″W / 31.3328°N 110.942224°W / 31.3328; -110.942224 Result American victory[1][2] Binational ceasefire Permanent border wall established in Ambos Nogales
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]
class=notpageimage| Location on Arizona/Sonora border Show map of Arizona class=notpageimage| Location on United States/Mexico border Show map of the United States

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.