Great question, and it's a difficult one to assess. Friedrich Katz has tranced Villa's highs and lows and all of his seeming shifts in ideology. The biggest issue he faced toward the end of the 19-teens, though, was a loss of support, supplies, and men due to the battles he had lost to Obregón. After the raid on Columbus, Villa's movement resurged briefly, but he never became more than a guerrilla fighter after that. He entered into what could best be described as a bloody feud with Carrancista general Francisco Murguía in Chihuahua in 1917-1918 and committed more and more atrocities as his star declined. Villa's saving grace was the return of Felipe Angeles in 1919 as his chief advisor. Angeles brought a "gentler face" to villismo, as Katz has put it.
Going back to Obregón, his hatred for Villa was personal and deep. In 1914, Villa had him arrested and ordered his execution due to a dispute when both men were uneasy Constitutionalist allies. Although one of Villa's advisors convinced him not to go through with it, Obregón held a lasting grudge toward Villa. De la Huerta's deal to get Villa to retire at Canutillo irked Obregón to say the least. Whatever his personal convictions about the revolution, his hot temper and brutal reactions meant that Villa had many mortal enemies.
