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Estimate: $ 4,000 - $ 6,000
(MEXICO--REVOLUTION.) Papers of General Salvador R. Mercado, a Huerta loyalist doing battle against Villa in the north. Several hundred items (0.4 linear feet) in 2 boxes; some items worn but condition generally strong. Various places, bulk January 1913 to January 1914
General Salvador Mercado (1864-1936) was governor of Chihuahua in 1913, and loyal to the Victoriano Huerta regime. He was a principal military adversary of Pancho Villa's revolutionary army during this period. His federal troops were defeated by Villa in the 11 January 1914 Battle of Ojinaga, and he fled across the Rio Grande into Texas along with most of his surviving troops. He remained in exile in the United States for several years, taking these papers with him. In 1916, he relied upon them when he published a 93-page defense of his actions, "Revelaciones históricas por el General Efectivo de Brigada, Salvador R. Mercado, Jefe de la Division del Norte, en el Ejército Nacional Mexicano, 1913-1914." The papers include hundreds of the original manuscript telegraph messages Mercado received during this period; typescript carbon transcripts of numerous important documents; and original documents signed by noteworthy military leaders. Several key documents are accompanied by typed translations into English. Some of the telegraphic messages are partly in a numeric code; two versions of the code key are present. The collection is additionally illustrated by several Real Photo postcards issued during this period. Some of the highlights include:
Victoriano Huerta, days after assuming control of Mexico, sent Mercado a telegram (here transcribed as received in Parral), thanking Mercado for his note of congratulations, and promoting him to Brigadier General, 23 February 1913. It is accompanied by Mercado's worn broadside "Manifiesto al Pueblo en General," 13 x 9 inches, signed in type with his new title "El Jefe de las Armas", Parral, 24 February 1913. The collection includes at least 5 other later telegraph messages from President Huerta.
Typescript carbons of two diaries kept by General Antonio Rábago (1861-1915), one of Mercado's fellow generals in the north under Huerta. The first is titled "Diario de las operaciones practicadas contra los rebeldes . . . fecha en que se hizo cargo de la dirección de ellas, el General de Brigada Antonio Rábago." It runs 29 pages and covers 1 January to 17 February 1913, and is bound with string. The other is similarly titled, runs 58 pages, and covers 18 February to 18 May 1913; it is bound in modern 1/4 calf gilt. Both appear to be unpublished and do not appear in OCLC. Another certificate is signed by Rábago, 6 April 1913.
Manuel Chao, then the nominal Chihuahua rebel governor under Villa, appeals to Mercado to switch over to the Constitutionalist faction in a Letter Signed dated 11 September 1913 (lacking the third of 4 pages). Chao is also represented by a typescript carbon of his 19 March 1913 "Manifiesto"; also included are two typescript versions of a similar "Manifiesto" by Villa general Tomás Urbina Reyes.
One packet includes 22 letters or documents signed by 11 different Huerta generals, most notably Francisco Castro, Joaquin Tellez, Fernando Trucy Aubert, Jesus Mancilla, and Blas Orpinal.
Manuscript summary of Federal troops in Chihuahua, two pages, 12 June 1913.
Dozens of letters and telegraph messages discuss the series of small battles and skirmishes of the summer of 1913. A folder of 12 messages from early November 1913 relates to the more substantial Battle of Chihuahua, including 3 coded telegrams from President Huerta, one of them decoded in type. Mercado's retained signed telegraph message to the president, announcing the victory of his federal troops, is dated 8 November.
More than a hundred documents cover the period of the Battle of Tierra Blanca (a major defeat for the Federal forces), including several telegrams from the commander of the Federal troops José Inés Salazar, 18 to 25 November 1913. English translations of several key telegrams are included, one of them from General Jesus Mancilla describing the final disastrous day of battle in detail, and placing the blame on General Salazar, 25 November 1913. Other messages have notes on verso in red, presumably by Mercado, generally placing blame for the defeat on Salazar.
The final papers in this archive relate to 11 January 1914 Mercado's defeat at the Battle of Ojinaga and its aftermath. Mercado and thousands of the Federalist refugees were interned at Fort Bliss, El Paso after crossing the Rio Grande. Included are rolls of internees and correspondence among the officers extending through 1916.
Also included are 17 pieces of paper money issued by Villa's provisional rebel government in Chihuahua, December 1913.
A vitally important primary source archive on a key turning point in the Mexican Revolution.
