High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Pancho Villa Expedition—officially known in the United States as the Mexican Expedition and sometimes colloquially referred to as the Punitive Expedition—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the paramilitary forces of Mexican insurgent Francisco "Pancho" Villa from 1916 to 1917 during the Mexican Revolution. 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 expeditions had one objective, to capture Villa dead or alive and put a stop to any future forays by his paramilitary forces on American soil. The official beginning and ending dates of the Mexican Expedition are March 14, 1916 and February 7, 1917.