A WatchBoom exclusive: Pancho Villa’s secret weapon
Story and photos by Bob Schulman
Video clip by Susan McKee (www.SusanMcKee.com)
General Villa nods to his snare drummer, who starts beating out a long, machinegun-like ratta-tat-tat roll. Next, some trumpets and trombones kick in, then more and more horns blast off, all to fire up Villa's rag-tag troops to charge the cannons of the government federales. The song ends with a chilling bullfight victory flourish – the signal for the attack to begin.
Villa's battle song was La Diana Ranchera, and you can hear it played today at Ostioneria del Puerto, an outside restaurant near the docks of the Mexican Pacific resort of Mazatlan. “It was (Villa's) secret weapon to pump up the fighting spirit of his troops...like pouring red-hot chile sauce in their veins,” says Ernie Sanchez, public relations director for the Mazatlan Hotel Association.
The song, mainly heard at Mexican village fairs and concerts, is played at the Ostioneria by a 14-piece street band called Los Escamillas. Jose Luis, the drummer, bats out the opening rat-a-tats in this video clip made available to WatchBoom.com by freelance travel journalist Susan McKee:
Click here to listen to : Pancho Villa's Battle Song: “La Diana Ranchera”
Visitors to Mexico are likely going to hear a lot more La Diana Ranchera on Nov. 20 when the country celebrates the 100th anniversary of the date patriot leader (later to become president) Francisco Madero sparked a national revolt against a corrupt, tyrannical government.
Villa, who led the patriot army of the north, was one of Madero's two top generals during the nearly 10-year-long war against the federales. The other was General Emiliano Zapata, who led the army of the south.
