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Contact Info
Home Town Fort Meade, South Dakota
Last Address Falls Church, Virginia
Date of Passing Sep 03, 1970
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
US Army General. Nicknamed Harry and the son of career soldier William H. Abendroth, Sr., he joined Idaho's National Guard in 1913 and served in Texas during the Villa Expedition. Abendroth served in France during World War I, and was a First Sergeant at his 1919 discharge. In 1927 he rejoined the National Guard as a Second Lieutenant. Quickly advancing through the ranks, as a Colonel he commanded the 116th Cavalry Regiment immediately before World War II. He also worked in state government, including serving as Idaho's Budget Director. Assigned to the IX Corps Headquarters during World War II, he served successively as Officer Candidate School Commandant, Provost Marshal, and corps headquarters Commandant. He graduated from the Command and General Staff College in 1946 and served briefly as Idaho's Adjutant General with the rank of Brigadier General. From 1947 to 1949 he served on the staff of the Army Chief of Staff. From 1949 until retiring in 1967 he was a Major General and commander of the District of Columbia National Guard, and from 1951 to 1955 he served concurrently as Chief of the National Guard Bureau's Army Division. His awards included the Distinguished Service Medal and Legion of Merit.
Mexican Service Campaign (1911-1919)/Pancho Villa Expedition (1916-1917)
From Month/Year
March / 1916
To Month/Year
February / 1917
Description The Pancho Villa Expedition—now known officially in the United States as the Mexican Expedition but originally referred to as the "Punitive Expedition, U.S. Army"—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the paramilitary forces of Mexican revolutionary Francisco "Pancho" Villa from March 14, 1916, to February 7, 1917, during the Mexican Revolution 1910–1920.
The expedition was launched in retaliation for Villa's attack on the town of Columbus, New Mexico, and was the most remembered event of the Border War. The declared objective of the expedition by the Wilson administration was the capture of Villa. Despite successfully locating and defeating the main body of Villa's command, responsible for the raid on Columbus, U.S. forces were unable to prevent Villa's escape and so the main objective of the U.S. incursion was not achieved.
The active search for Villa ended after a month in the field when troops sent by Venustiano Carranza, the head of the Constitutionalist faction of the revolution and now the head of the Mexican government, resisted the U.S. incursion. The Constitutionalist forces used arms at the town of Parral to resist passage of a U.S. Army column. The U.S. mission was changed to prevent further attacks on it by Mexican troops and to plan for war in the eventuality it broke out. When war was averted diplomatically, the expedition remained in Mexico until February 1917 to encourage Carranza's government to pursue Villa and prevent further raids across the border.
