Mexican soldiers preparing for a night raid on a French trench. This was one of the few trench battles of the American Western Front.
The American Western Front, also known as the Mexican Front was a theatre of war during World War I in North America that lasted from 1909 to December 24, 1911.
The main forces to fight in the Front were the Mexican Armed Forces and the French Colonial Defense Forces. It saw fluid combat as the front line quickly changed and moved. It consisted mostly of ambushes and small-scale skirmishes, although there was some trench warfare present as well as urban combat.
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1909[]
The war started in New Year's Day for the Mexicans. They launched a massive attack consisting of air, ground, and water-borne troops. The Mexican Army launched a large offensive on the scattered FCDF and forced them back so that they could regroup. In addition to the Army attack, a force of gunboats normally used to patrol the short part of the Arkansas river that was inside of Mexico were used to shell French positions.
The Mexican Air Force also aided the initial offensive with strafing runs as well as recon information and small-scale bombings.
The year started looking good as the cities of Tulsa and Wichita were taken by Mexican troops within two months of the beginning of the war.
Despite the promising start, the Mexican troops then faced tactical problems as they couldn't exactly know where the FCDF were due to the massive battlefield. The Mexican troops faced some of the same problems that the US Army did, they advanced only to find out that they had completely missed a large FCDF altogether. Despite this, Mexican troops started gaining land and closing in around the capital city of Louisville.
In the Gulf of Mexico, the Mexican Navy worked with the US Navy to defeat the French Colonial Navy and gain entrance to the important port city of New Orleans. They weren't successful as the French were very effective in preventing any attempt of a breakthrough, and eventually they were forced to eliminate the French naval forces instead of just "skipping"
1910[]
The second year of the war in the American Western Front was a lot more quiet than the first one, there were few battles and gunfire was quite sporadic. By the end of the year, things started heating up in New Orleans, the Mexican Army tasked to take the city were now sieging the important port and preventing any good from leaving New Orleans to aid the French war effort. In addition to the siege of New Orleans, the Mexican Army, in cooperation with the US Army had finally reached Louisville and surrounded the city, however, it couldn't be taken without large loss of life since it was heavily fortified and had a heavy FCDF presence.
The Mexican Navy continued to fight the the French Navy in the Gulf of Mexico without any major breakthrough but succeeded to shrink enemy forces while receiving almost no casualties.
1911[]
This year started looking bad when the French pushed the US Army laying siege to Louisville back some miles. The Mexican's, however, took advantage of the situation and launched a massive attack consisting of artillery, air support and ground troops into the city. The Mexican Army was able to establish a firm grip inside the city, but it took five months until the French leadership was reached by the Mexican Army and the few remaining French forces surrendered in June 16, 1911.
The french cruisers Normandie and Napoleon II on fire and sinking after being hit with artillery from Mexican warships.
In the Gulf, the Mexican and US navies finally succeeded in defeating the battered and decimated French Colonial Navy. They staged a landing and worked together with the Mexican Army troops that had reached New Orleans. New Orleans was virtually unprotected, so its governor quickly surrendered the town to the Mexican and American soldiers.
The war in America was over for Mexico.