How Did via Choose Columbus, New Mexico?

After two weeks, via's forces, you can hardly call it an army, camped about three miles south of the border. Via was now traveling at night to avoid detection and lying to his men to avoid desertions. At midnight on march ninth, 19 16, poncho via led about 500 men across the border to attack the us Army. He divided this force into two columns. One would hit down town columbus, which is an extremely generous way to describe the area where some buildings happened to be clustered.