Battalion in the Mexican Army during the Mexican?American War
Military unit
The
Saint Patrick's Battalion
(
Spanish
:
Batallon de San Patricio
), later reorganized as the
Foreign Legion of Patricios
, was a
Mexican Army
unit which fought against the
United States
in the
Mexican?American War
. Consisting of between 175 and several hundred mostly European
expatriates
and
immigrants
, including numerous men who had
deserted
or
defected
from the
United States Army
, the battalion was formed and led by Irishman
John Riley
. It served as an artillery unit for much of the war, and despite later being formally designated as an infantry unit of two
companies
, the battalion continued to operate artillery pieces throughout the conflict. The
San Patricios
participated in many of the bloodiest battles during the American invasion of Mexico, with
Ulysses S. Grant
remarking that "
Churubusco
proved to be about the severest battle fought in the
valley of Mexico
".
Composed primarily of
Irish
immigrants, the battalion also included
German
,
Canadian
,
English
,
French
,
Italian
,
Polish
,
Scottish
,
Spanish
,
Swiss
and
Mexican
soldiers, most of whom were
Catholic
.
Several
native-born Americans
were in the ranks, including
fugitive slaves
from the
Southern United States
.
Only a few members of the battalion were
U.S. citizens
. The Mexican government printed propaganda in different languages to entice immigrants serving in the
United States Army
to switch sides and offered incentives to foreigners who would enlist in its army, including being granted citizenship, being paid higher wages and generous
land grants
. U.S. Army regiments which had members defect included the
1st Artillery
, the
2nd Artillery
, the
3rd Artillery
, the
4th Artillery
, the
2nd Dragoons
, the
2nd Infantry
, the
3rd Infantry
, the
4th Infantry
, the
5th Infantry
, the
6th Infantry
, the
7th Infantry
and the
8th Infantry
.
The
San Patricios
are honored in both Mexico and Ireland.
Historical perspective
[
edit
]
For those Mexicans who had fought in the
Mexican?American War
and for generations to come after, the
San Patricios
were heroes who came to their aid in an hour of need. For Americans, the
San Patricios
were traitors, fighting in an unjust attempt by Mexico to reconquer Texas.
Successive Mexican presidents have praised the
San Patricios
;
Vicente Fox Quesada
stated that, "The affinities between Ireland and Mexico go back to the first years of our nation, when our country fought to preserve its national sovereignty... Then, a brave group of Irish soldiers... in a heroic gesture, decided to fight against the foreign ground invasion",
and Mexican president
Ernesto Zedillo
stated "Members of the St. Patrick's Battalion were executed for following their consciences. They were martyred for adhering to the highest ideals... we honor their memory. In the name of the people of Mexico, I salute today the people of Ireland and express my eternal gratitude".
Motivations
[
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]
The great majority of those men who formed Saint Patrick's Battalion were recent immigrants who had arrived at northeastern U.S. ports. They were part of the
Irish diaspora
then escaping the
Great Irish Famine
and extremely poor economic conditions in
Ireland
, which was at the time part of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
.
[8]
The U.S. Army often recruited the Irish and other immigrants into military service shortly or sometimes immediately after arrival in America in
coffin ships
with promises of salaries and land after the war.
[
citation needed
]
Numerous theories have been proposed as to their motives for desertion, including cultural alienation,
mistreatment of
immigrant
soldiers by
nativist
soldiers and senior officers,
brutal military discipline and dislike of service in the U.S. military,
being forced to attend Protestant church services and being unable to practice their
Catholic religion freely
as well as religious ideological convictions,
[13]
[14]
the incentive of higher wages and land grants starting at 320 acres (1.3 km
2
) offered by Mexico,
and viewing the U.S. invasion of Mexico as unjust.
It is believed primary motivations were shared religion with the Mexicans and sympathy for the Mexican cause based on similarities between the situations in Mexico and Ireland. This hypothesis is based on evidence of the number of Irish Catholics in the battalion, the letters of
John Riley
, and the field entries of senior officers.
Irish immigrants had been faced with animosity both as a result of their
Catholic faith
and
ethnicity
.
[19]
Catholic immigrants were regularly met with discrimination from their Protestant peers, sentiments which sometimes boiled over into events such as the
Philadelphia nativist riots
against Irish Catholic immigrants. Catholic churches had been similarly defaced by the American military in Mexico during the war. Additionally, both the Mexicans and the Irish were subjected to racism and
xenophobia
based on
racist pseudo-science
and treated as inferior to American nativists.
Another hypothesis is that the members of the Saint Patrick's Battalion had been unhappy with their treatment in the U.S. Army; this was the conviction of George Ballentine, an Englishman who served in the American army. Ballentine stated that while "there was a portion of truth" in the view?commonly assigned by officers?that the deserters joined the Mexican army due to their Catholicism; he said, "I have good reason to believe, in fact in some cases I know, that harsh and unjust treatment by their officers operated far more strongly than any other consideration to produce the deplorable result [desertion]," and described how he found the punishments used for "trivial offensives" to be "revolting and disgusting".
Another theory some historians hold is that the soldiers were attracted by the incentives offered by the Mexican government: safe passage throughout Mexico for deserters, generous land grants, and the offer of potential military commissions.
For poor people coming from famine conditions, economics was often an important incentive.
Mexican author Jose Raul Conseco noted that many Irish lived in northern Texas, and were forced to move south due to regional insecurity. Mainly Irish settlers from
San Patricio, Texas
, had previously sided with Mexican forces against Texan rebels at the
Battle of Lipantitlan
in the
Texan Revolution
.
Irish expatriates had a long tradition of serving as mercenaries in the military forces of Catholic countries, including in
European countries after the Williamite War
. In the decades leading up to the Mexican-American War many Irish fought in the
South American wars of independence
.
[c]
Service as a military unit
[
edit
]
Formation and early engagements
[
edit
]
Present in the Mexican Army for the battles of
Palo Alto
and
Resaca de la Palma
were the
Legion de Extranjeros
(Legion of Foreigners); the men who would later make up the core of the Saint Patrick's battalion. Meanwhile, deserters were abandoning General Taylor's army on the
Rio Grande
.
Riley and "a company of 48 Irishmen"
manned Mexican artillery at the
Siege of Fort Texas
, which took place concurrently to the two other battles.
Martin Tritschler
,
German Mexican
and a Captain at the
Battle of Cerro Gordo
, is attributed with convincing a large number of German soldiers to defect from the U.S. occupying forces in
Puebla, Puebla
.
The first major engagement of the Saint Patrick's Battalion, as a recognised Mexican unit, was as an
artillery battery
in the
Battle of Monterrey
of 21 September 1846.
[27]
Popularly they were called
Los Colorados
by the Mexicans because of their ruddy, sun-burnt complexions and red hair color.
They were commanded by
John Riley
,
[b]
an Irish artilleryman and veteran
non-commissioned officer
of the British Army, who possibly arrived in Canada in 1843 whilst serving in the
British Army
(the assertion that he served as a
Sergeant
in the
66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot
,
is known to be inaccurate)
going on to join the U.S. Army in Michigan in September 1845. He deserted in Matamoros in April 1846.
Upon meeting Mexican forces he was initially given the
Officer
rank of
Lieutenant
by
General
Pedro de Ampudia
.
At the battle of Monterrey the
San Patricios
proved their artillery skills by causing the deaths of many American soldiers, and they are credited with defeating two
to three
separate assaults into the heart of the city. Among their targets were companies led by such officers as
Braxton Bragg
, many of whose soldiers would end up in their own ranks later in the war.
Their tenacity, however, did not affect the Mexican commanders' decision to capitulate and abandon the position.
Following the engagement at
Monterrey
, the
San Patricios
grew in number, by some estimates reaching an enlistment of over 700 men.
Forces re-assembled at
San Luis Potosi
and they had their distinct green silk flag embroidered there.
[36]
Buena Vista
[
edit
]
They then marched northward after joining a larger force commanded by
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna
sent from Mexico City, the "liberating army of the North". At the
Battle of Buena Vista
(known as the battle of Angostura in Mexico) in
Coahuila
on 23 February, the Patricios became engaged with U.S. forces. They were assigned the three heaviest?18 and 24 pound?
cannons
the Mexican army possessed, which were positioned on high ground overlooking the battlefield, at the base of a hillside (just below what is now a gravel mine).
They were later described as "a strong Mexican battery ... moved ... by dint of extraordinary exertions ... [that] commanded the entire plateau".
They started the battle supporting Mexican infantry by firing on U.S. lines as the Mexicans advanced on them, then later decimating an artillery battery directly opposite them on the battlefield (Washington's 4th Artillery, D Battery). A small number of
San Patricios
were dispatched with a
division
commanded by
Manuel Lombardini
with the express purpose of capturing the 4th's cannons once the crews had been dealt with. As the division got close enough they charged the artillery battery, bayoneting whoever remained and
routing
the rest, leaving the attached
San Patricios
free to haul away two six-pound cannons.
These cannons would later be used by Mexican forces at the
Battle of Contreras
.
In frustration U.S. Commander
Zachary Taylor
, referring to the Saint Patrick's Battalion, ordered a
squadron
of the
1st Dragoons
to "take that damned battery".
In this task they failed, and, badly bloodied, were forced to retreat.
At about 1 p.m. the
San Patricios
covered a Mexican retreat as a disordered mass of infantry sought refuge during a lull in the fighting.
The
San Patricios
rode out the day in a costly artillery duel with several American batteries,
which killed and injured roughly one third of them.
General Francisco Mejia's Battle Report for Buena Vista described the
San Patricios
' as "worthy of the most consummate praise because the men fought with daring bravery."
Several Irishmen were awarded the
War Cross
by the Mexican government for their conduct in that battle, and many received field promotions.
Re-organization and final battles
[
edit
]
Despite their excellent performance in a number of engagements as artillery, the much-reduced
San Patricios
were ordered to muster a larger
infantry
battalion
, as well as a cavalry unit, in mid-1847 by personal order of Santa Anna. It was renamed the
Foreign Legion of Patricios
and consisted of volunteers from many European countries, commanded by Col. Francisco R. Moreno, with Riley in charge of 1st
company
and Santiago O'Leary heading up the second.
Desertion handbills were produced, specially targeting Catholic Irish, French and German immigrants in the invading U.S. army and stating that "You must not fight against a religious people, nor should you be seen in the ranks of those who proclaim slavery of mankind as a constitutive principle ... liberty is not on the part of those who desire to be lords of the world, robbing properties and territories which do not belong to them and shedding so much blood in order to accomplish their views, views in open war to the principles of our holy religion".
The
Battle of Churubusco
(20 August 1847) took place about four months after the defeat at Cerro Gordo. Gen. Santa Anna gave a verbal order to "preserve the point at all risk".
The San Patricio Companies initially met the attackers outside the walls of the convent at a
tete-de-pont
, which was about 500 yards (457 m) from a fortified convent.
A battery of three
to five
heavy cannons were used from this position to hold off the American advance along with support from
Los Independencia Batallon
and
Los Bravos Batallon
.
The Americans were under the command of
Col. William Hoffman
.
Several U.S. charges towards the bridgehead were thrown off,
with the
San Patricio
companies serving as an example to the supporting battalions.
Unlike the
San Patricios
, most of whom were veterans (many having served in the armies of the United Kingdom and various German states), the supporting Mexican battalions were simply
militia
(the term 'National Guard' is also used
) who had been untested by battle.
A lack of ammunition led the Mexican soldiers in the trenches between the bridgehead and the convent to disband; without ammunition, they had no way to fight back.
Santa Anna had ordered half of these soldiers to a different part of the battlefield.
When the requested ammunition wagon finally arrived, the 9 ½
drachm
cartridges were compatible with none but the San Patricio Companies "
Brown Bess
" muskets, and they made up only a fraction of the defending forces.
Further hampering Mexican efforts, a stray spark from an artillery piece firing
grapeshot
at the on-coming U.S. troops caused the just-arrived ammunition to explode and set fire to several men, including Captain O'Leary and Gen. Anaya.
A
withdrawal
behind the walls of the
convento de Churubusco
was called when the threat of being outflanked proved too great.
The
San Patricios
used this battle as a chance to settle old scores with U.S. troops: "The large number of officers killed in the affair was ... ascribed to them, as for the gratification of their revenge they aimed at no other objects during the engagement".
At some point during the fighting for the convent, two American officers led fifteen men against a point in the Mexican defenses, and mistook
San Patricio
members for friendly U.S. army troops; the
San Patricios
opened fire on them, killing or wounding all but one of the group.
Though hopelessly outnumbered and under-equipped, the defenders repelled the attacking U.S. forces with heavy losses until their ammunition ran out and a Mexican officer raised the white flag of surrender. Officer Patrick Dalton of the
San Patricios
tore the white flag down, prompting Gen.
Pedro Anaya
to order his men to fight on, with their bare hands if necessary.
American Private Ballentine reported that when the Mexicans attempted to raise the
white flag
two more times, members of the
San Patricios
shot and killed them.
After brutal
close-quarters
fighting with
bayonets
and
sabers
through the halls and rooms inside the convent, U.S. Army
Captain
James M. Smith suggested a surrender after raising his white handkerchief.
Following the U.S. victory, the Americans "ventilat[ed] their vocabulary of Saxon expletives, not very "courteously", on Riley and his beautiful disciples of St. Patrick."
Gen. Anaya stated in his written battle report that 35
San Patricios
were killed, 85 taken prisoner (including a wounded John Riley, Captain O'Leary, and Anaya); about 85 escaped with retreating Mexican forces.
Some 60% of the
San Patricios
were killed or captured in the engagement.
The survivors were reformed before the
Battle of Mexico City
some two weeks later and were stationed at
Queretaro
where the Mexican government had decamped, with some 50 members serving as a body-guard for the commander-in-chief.
The battalion were caught up in the infighting and politicking of Mexico at the time, and were under the patronage of a faction that favored suing for ending of the conflict peacefully.
New units were later made up of the free survivors of the battle of Churubusco and a roughly equal number of fresh deserters from the U.S. Army.
Following the war, the Mexican Government insisted in a clause of the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
that the remaining
San Patricio
prisoners held by the Americans were to be left in Mexico, and Major General
William Orlando Butler
issued General Orders 116 on 1 June 1848 stating that; "The prisoners confined at the Citadel, known as the
San Patricio
prisoners, will be immediately discharged"?
Rogue's March
was played upon their release.
The Saint Patrick's Battalion continued to function as two infantry companies under the command of John Riley, with one unit tasked with sentry duty in Mexico City and the other was stationed in the suburbs of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
The
San Patricios
were officially mustered out of Mexican military service in 1848; some members were alleged to have been involved in an abortive
military coup
,
while historians have said the group was disbanded because of Mexican budget cuts.
[
citation needed
]
Aftermath of Churubusco
[
edit
]
Trials
[
edit
]
The
San Patricios
captured by the U.S. Army were treated and punished as traitors for desertion in time of war. Seventy-two men were immediately charged with desertion by the Army.
Two separate courts-martial were held, one at
Tacubaya
on 23 August, and another at
San Angel
on 26 August. At neither of these trials were the men represented by lawyers nor were transcripts made of the proceedings. This lack of formal legal advice could account for the fact that several of the men claimed that drunkenness had led them to desert (a common defense in military trials at the time that sometimes led to lighter sentences), and others described how they were forced to join the Mexican Army in some form or another. The majority of the
San Patricios
either offered no defense or their defenses were not recorded. Wealthy Mexicans came to the
San Patricios
' defence at the trials, and members of Mexico's first families visited them in prison.
Sentences
[
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]
One soldier who claimed he was forced to fight by the Mexicans after he was captured by them, and who subsequently refused to do so, was sentenced to death by firing squad instead of hanging, along with another who was found not to have officially joined the Mexican Army.
Most of the convicted
San Patricios
were sentenced to death by hanging: 30 from the Tacubaya trial and 18 from San Angel. The rationale was that they had entered Mexican military service following the declaration of war. Execution by hanging was in violation of the contemporary
Articles of War
, which stipulated that the penalty for desertion and/or defecting to the enemy during a time of war was death by
firing squad
, regardless of the circumstances. Hanging was reserved only for spies (without uniform) and for "atrocities against civilians", neither of which activities were among the charges brought against any members of the Saint Patrick's Battalion.
Although more than 9,000 U.S. soldiers deserted the army during the Mexican?American War, only the
San Patricios
(who unlike almost all other deserters had also fought against the United States) were punished by hanging.
Those soldiers who had left military service before the official
declaration of war
on Mexico (Riley among them) were sentenced to "... receive 50 lashes on their bare backs, to be branded with the letter 'D' for deserter, and to wear iron yokes around their necks for the duration of the war."
This, too, went against the Articles of War; deserters who left prior to a declaration of war were supposed to be branded,
scourged
,
or
sentenced to hard labor. The
San Patricios
instead received all three punishments, a fate that once again was given to no other deserters during the war.
Executions
[
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]
In all, 50 Saint Patrick's Battalion members were officially executed by the U.S. Army, all but two by hanging. Collectively, this was the largest
mass execution
in United States history. (The hanging of 38
Sioux
at the conclusion of the
Dakota War of 1862
appears to have been the largest execution by hanging at a single event.) En masse executions for
treason
took place at three separate locations on three separate dates; 16 were executed on 10 September 1847 at San Angel, four were executed the following day at the village of Mixcoac on 11 September, and 30 were hanged at
Chapultepec
on 13 September.
One
San Patricio
was murdered by American soldiers when he was recognised among the prisoners of war in the aftermath of the
Battle of Molino del Rey
, by being thrown "into a mill flume and crushed by the wheel".
At the San Angel hangings all prisoners were executed without incident except for Patrick Dalton, who, as an American captain described, was "literally choked to death". Dalton had previously voiced concerns regarding his treatment.
By order of Gen.
Winfield Scott
, thirty
San Patricios
were to be executed at Chapultepec in full view of the two armies while they fought the
Battle of Chapultepec
, at the precise moment that the flag of the U.S. replaced the flag of Mexico atop the citadel. This order was carried out by Col.
William Harney
.
Harney was taunted and jeered by the condemned men.
While overseeing the hangings, Harney ordered Francis O'Connor hanged although he had had both legs amputated the previous day. When the army surgeon informed the colonel that the absent soldier had lost both his legs in battle, Harney replied: "Bring the damned son of a bitch out! My order was to hang 30 and by God I'll do it!"
The U.S. flag appeared on the flagpole at 9.30 a.m. Legend has it that the Mexican flag had been taken by a cadet,
Juan Escutia
[
es
]
of the
Ninos Heroes
, who leapt with it to his death from
Chapultepec Castle
to deny the Americans the honor of capturing it. In a final act of defiance, the men about to be hanged cheered the
Mexican flag
, as one onlooker remarked; "Hands tied, feet tied, their voices still free".
At Harney's signal, the carts holding the tied and noosed men pulled away.
Harney refused to cut the bodies down, stating that "I was ordered to have them hanged, and have no orders to
unhang
them".
Harney was subsequently promoted to brigadier general, which rank he held while the U.S. Army occupied Mexico City.
The Mexican government described the hangings as "a cruel death or horrible torments, improper in a civilized age, and [ironic] for a people who aspire to the title of illustrious and humane",
and by a writer covering the war as "a refinement of cruelty and ... fiendish".
George Ballentine remarked, in his account of his American military service in Mexico,
"[T]he desertion of our soldiers to the Mexican army ... were still numerous, in spite of the fearful example of the executions at Churubusco, [and] also served to inspire that party with hope."
Legacy
[
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]
Those who survived either made lives for themselves in Mexico or returned to their home nations such as Ireland. Some former
San Patricios
found work at the arsenal in
Guadalajara
making
gun stocks
.
One former
San Patricio
, an Irishman, started a military academy teaching "the sword exercise", also in Guadalajara.
Others were reportedly killed while travelling through Mexico,
while others were reduced to living on handouts.
A handful are on record as having made use of the land claims promised them by the Mexican government. Americans in Mexico who had been taken prisoner by Mexico or who were common deserters were known to falsely present themselves as members of the Saint Patrick's Battalion; American William W. Carpenter, who found himself in this predicament, stated that: "the reputation of the San Patricio battalion was spread from ocean to ocean, and to that, more than any thing else, do I owe my present safety".
The men have continued to be honored and revered as heroes in Mexico.
The
Batallon de San Patricio
is memorialised on two separate days; 12 September, the generally accepted anniversary of the executions of those battalion members captured by the U.S. Army, and 17 March,
Saint Patrick's Day
. Numerous schools, churches and other landmarks in Mexico take their name from the battalion, including:
- Monterrey: The street in front of the Irish School is named
Batallon de San Patricio
(Battalion of Saint Patrick).
- Mexico City: The street in front of the Santa Maria de
Churubusco
convent was named
Martires Irlandeses
("the Irish martyrs").
- The Wall of Honor in Mexico's
Chamber of Deputies
: On Thursday, 28 October 2002 the LVII Mexican Congress held a ceremony where the inscription "
Defensores de la Patria 1846?1848 y Batallon de San Patricio
" [Defenders of the Motherland 1846?1848 and the San Patricio Battalion] was inscribed in gold letters.
- Banda de Gaitas del Batallon de San Patricio
[St. Patrick's Battalion Pipes & Drums]: The only bagpipe band in Mexico is named after the battalion, and based at the former Convent of Churubusco in Mexico City, which now houses the
Museum of Foreign Interventions
(
Museo Nacional de las Intervenciones
). The band was inducted into the
Irish America Hall of Fame
in 2013.
- San Patricio station:
Metro Zapata
was renamed for one day to Metro San Patricio, on 17 March 2015, to commemorate Saint Patrick's day and the Saint Patrick's Battalion. This was the first time a metro had been renamed in such a manner.
In the U.S., the memory of the battalion has been different. In Winfield Scott's
1852 run for President of the United States
, his treatment of the
San Patricios
was brought up by his opponents to sway Irish American voters.
The U.S. Army long denied the existence of the Saint Patrick's Battalion, as a
cover-up
and an attempt to discourage other deserters. In 1915, an
inquiry
was initiated by U.S.
congressmen
William Henry Coleman
and
Frank L. Greene
. This resulted in the U.S. Army's admitting its denial of the matter. The U.S. Congress ordered the army to turn over its records on the battalion to the
National Archives
.
In 1999,
MGM
cancelled the U.S. distribution of a film depicting the battalion,
One Man's Hero
.
The
San Patricios
are rarely covered in American education; on the rare occasion that they are mentioned, it is pointed out that they were traitors (if holding US citizenship), and small in number. Reasons given for having abandoned the United States included religious sympathy, and pursuit of money and land.
Preferring to fight with the Catholic Mexicans against the Protestant Americans, the San Patricios were the only group of deserters in American history to band together in the service of a foreign enemy.
?Peter Quinn,
Looking for Jimmy: A Search for Irish America
In 1997, President of Mexico
Ernesto Zedillo
commemorated the 150th anniversary of the execution of the
San Patricios
at a ceremony in Mexico City's San Jacinto Plaza. This is where the U.S. Army conducted the first 16 hangings after the men were convicted of desertion at court martial.
Ireland
and Mexico
jointly issued
commemorative postage stamps to mark the anniversary.
In 2004, at an official ceremony attended by numerous international dignitaries, including directors Lance and Jason Hool and several actors from the film
One Man's Hero
, the Mexican government gave a commemorative statue to the Irish government in perpetual thanks for the bravery, honor and sacrifice of the Saint Patrick's Battalion. The statue was erected in the town of
Clifden
, Connemara, Ireland, where leader
John Riley
was born. Clifden flies the
Mexican flag
in honor of Riley every year on 12 September. In 2014,
Sinn Fein
named a
cumann
in Clifden in honor of Reilly.
The battalion has inspired numerous responses: it is the name of an supporters's association of the
association football
team Club Deportivo
Chivas USA
. The unit was evoked in a
Saint Patrick's Day
message from
Subcomandante Marcos
of the
Zapatista Army of National Liberation
,
The
San Patricios
have been remembered as a symbol of international solidarity with Mexico.
Flag
[
edit
]
There are conflicting accounts of the design of the flag of the Saint Patrick's Battalion. No flags or depictions of them are known to have survived to the present day. The only version of the flag known to have survived the war was subsequently lost or stolen from the chapel at
West Point
.
John Riley, who left an account of the battalion, noted the flag in a letter:
In all my letter, I forgot to tell you under what banner we fought so bravely. It was that glorious Emblem of native rights, that being the banner which should have floated over our native Soil many years ago, it was St. Patrick, the
Harp of Erin
, the
Shamrock
upon a green field.
According to
George Wilkins Kendall
, an American journalist covering the war with Mexico:
The banner is of green silk, and on one side is a harp, surmounted by the Mexican coat of arms, with a scroll on which is painted
Libertad por la Republica Mexicana
[Liberty for the Mexican Republic]. Under the harp is the motto of
Erin go Bragh!
On the other side is a painting ... made to represent St. Patrick, in his left hand a key and in his right a crook or staff resting upon a serpent. Underneath is painted
San Patricio
.
Two other eye-witness accounts of the flag exist, both from American soldiers. The first describes it as:
... a beautiful green silk banner [which] waved over their heads; on it glittered a silver cross and a golden harp, embroidered by the hands of the fair nuns of
San Luis Potosi
.
The second notes only:
Among the mighty host we passed was O'Reilly [
sic
] and his company of deserters bearing aloft in high disgrace the holy banner of St. Patrick.
A radically different version of the flag was described in a Mexican source:
They had a white flag/standard, on which were found the shields of Ireland and Mexico, and the name of their captain, John O'Reilly [
sic
] embroidered in green.
Whatever the case, in 1997 a reproduction military flag was created by the Clifden and Connemara Heritage Group. Another was created the following year for the MGM film
One Man's Hero
, a romanticised version of the
San Patricios
' history. A third version embodying the description of the San Luis Potosi flag was made for the Irish Society of Chicago, which hung it in the city's
Union League Club
.
Some writers suggest that the Saint Patrick's Battalion might have used different banners (as an artillery unit, as an infantry company, and as a reconstructed unit).
Music
[
edit
]
A number of musical works have covered the battalion, including:
[
citation needed
]
Films and fiction
[
edit
]
- 1962 ?
Saint Patrick's Battalion
, by Carl Krueger
- 1985 ?
A Flag to Fly: Based on True Story of the St. Patrick's Battalion in Mexico 1847
, by Chris Matthews
- 1996 ?
The San Patricios
, directed by Mark R. Day
- 1997 ?
In the Rogue Blood
, by
James Carlos Blake
, winner of
Los Angeles Times Book Prize
for Fiction,
- 1998 ?
St. Patrick's Battalion
, documentary film directed by Jason Hool
- 1999 ?
One Man's Hero
, feature film directed by Lance Hool, written by Milton S. Gelman
- 2001 ?
Gone for Soldiers
, novel by Jeff Shaara
- 2006 ?
Saint Patrick's Battalion
, novel by
James Alexander Thom
, published by Blue River Press of Indianapolis
- 2009 ?
Just like me
, novel by Michael Fallaw.
ISBN
978-1436385084
- 2011 ?
Saol John Riley
, TG4 (Ireland) documentary, directed by Kieran Concannon
- 2012 ?
Country of the Bad Wolfes
, novel by
James Carlos Blake
, published by Cinco Puntos Press, El Paso, TX
- 2018 ?
El Batallon de San Patricio
, novel by Pino Cacucci, published by Grijalbo
- 2017 -
The Battle of Churubusco
, novel by Andrea Ferraris, published by Fantagraphics
Notes
[
edit
]
a.
^
The coats were Turkish-blue with yellow
lapels
and crimson-red
cuffs
as well as piping. The trousers were sky-blue with red piping. Officers wore black or blue
Kepis
and privates wore dark-blue cloth barracks caps, with red tassels similar to a
Fez
, also with red piping.
b.
1
2
Variably spelled in
English
as John Reily, Riely, Reilly, O'Reily and O'Reilly. His name is given as Juan Reyle, Reley, Reely and Reiley in Mexican army documents written in
Spanish
. Regardless of other variant spellings, the name was Sean O Raghailligh in the original
Irish Gaelic
.
c.
^
See articles
1st Venezuelan Rifles
,
Bernardo O'Higgins
,
Daniel Florencio O'Leary
,
Juan O'Donoju
,
Morgan O'Connell
, &
William Lamport
.
d.
^
Monterrey is here spelled "Monterey" as it appears in the
Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant
(Not to be confused with
Monterey
of the
Battle of Monterey
, also in the Mexican?American War).
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Sanders, James E. (3 October 2014).
The Vanguard of the Atlantic World: Creating Modernity, Nation, and Democracy in Nineteenth-Century Latin America
. Duke University Press. pp. 64?80.
doi
:
10.1215/9780822376132-004
.
ISBN
978-0-8223-7613-2
.
- ^
Pinheiro, John C. (26 September 2017),
"Religion, Anti-Catholicism, and the Mexican-American War"
,
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion
,
doi
:
10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.395
,
ISBN
978-0-19-934037-8
, retrieved
18 February
2024
- ^
Pinheiro, John C. (2014).
Missionaries of Republicanism: A Religious History of the Mexican-American War
. Oxford University Press. pp. 68?148.
ISBN
978-0-19-994867-3
.
- ^
Hendrickson, Brett (2021),
"Religion and race: The U.S.-Mexican War and Mexican Americans"
,
Mexican American Religions
, Routledge,
doi
:
10.4324/9780429285516-5
,
ISBN
978-0-429-28551-6
,
S2CID
238671319
, retrieved
18 February
2024
- ^
Tucker, Arnold & Wiener 2013
, p. 197: "The battalion was formed as an artillery company and fought at Matamoros and Monterrey".
- ^
"The San Patricio Battalion"
.
the medal hound
. Retrieved
25 May
2024
.
Sources
[
edit
]
Primary sources
[
edit
]
- Ballentine, George (1860).
The Mexican War, by an English Soldier: Comprising Incidents and Adventures in the United States and Mexico with the American Army
. New York: W. A. Townsend & Co.
- Carpenter, William W. (1851).
Travels and adventures in Mexico : in the course of journeys of upward of 2500 miles, performed on foot; giving an account of the manners and customs of the people, and the agricultural and mineral resources of that country
. New York: Harper & Bros
. Retrieved
24 March
2015
.
- Chamberlain, Samuel
(1853).
My Confession: Recollections of a Rogue
. New York: Harper & Bros.
- Grant, Ulysses S.
(1998) [1885].
Personal memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, Volume I
. Scituate, Massachusetts.
ISBN
978-1582181899
– via Digital Scanning Inc.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- Kendall, George Wilkins (1999). Cress, Lawrence Delbert (ed.).
Dispatches from the Mexican-American War
.
University of Oklahoma Press
.
ISBN
0806131217
.
- Ramsey, Albert C., ed. (1850).
The other side; or, notes for the history of the war between Mexico and the United States
. New York:
John Wiley
.
- "CL Aniversario del batallon de San patricio"
(in Spanish). Presidency of the Republic of Mexico. 12 September 1997. Archived from
the original
on 2 April 2015
. Retrieved
20 March
2015
.
Al conmemorar la gesta heroica del Batallon de San Patricio honramos la memoria de todos los hombres y de todas las mujeres que han luchado y siguen luchando por construir un mundo mas justo, mas incluyente y mas democratico, independientemente de su origen etnico, su condicion social, su herencia cultural y su filosofia de vida.
[As we commemorate the heroic gesture of the St. Patrick's Battalion, we honor the memory of all men and all women who have fought and are still struggling to build a world more just, more democratic and inclusive, regardless of their ethnic origin, social status, cultural heritage and philosophy of life]
- "Mexico City renames Metro Station after St Patrick for one day"
.
MerrionStreet.com
. Irish Government News Service. 17 March 2015
. Retrieved
25 March
2015
.
Secondary sources
[
edit
]
- Bauer, K. Jack (1992).
The Mexican War, 1846?48
.
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.
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0803261071
.
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"Defying a war of conquest"
.
socialistworker.org
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2015
.
- Callaghan, James (November 1995).
"The San Patricios"
.
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46
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.
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"A Reminder of a Conflict That Faded into History"
.
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. Retrieved
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.
- Connaughton, Michael G. (September 2005).
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.
irlandeses.org
. Society for Irish Latin American Studies
. Retrieved
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2015
.
- Downey, Fairfax (June 1955).
"Tragic Story of the San Patricio Battalion"
.
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.
6
(4). American Heritage Publishing Co
. Retrieved
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- Eisenhower, John S. D. (1999).
Agent of Destiny: The Life and Times of General Winfield Scott
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ISBN
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.
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(February 1993).
"Inglorious Tale from the Mexican War"
.
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- Ferrigan III, James J. (8 February 2000).
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
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. Society for Irish Latin American Studies
. Retrieved
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.
- Foos, Paul (2002).
A Short, Offhand, Killing Affair: Soldiers and Social Conflict during the Mexican?American War
.
University of North Carolina Press
.
ISBN
978-0807854051
.
- Frias, Heriberto (1984).
La guerra contra los gringos
[
The war against the gringos
] (in Spanish). Mexico City: Ediciones Leega / Jucar.
ISBN
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.
- Gonzales, Manuel G. (2000).
Mexicanos: A history of Mexicans in the United States
.
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.
ISBN
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.
- Hawley, Chris (10 March 2008).
"Bagpipers honor Irish who fought for Mexico"
.
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. Retrieved
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2008
.
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History Ireland
.
5
(4): 39?43.
JSTOR
27724506
.
- Hogan, Michael (2011).
Irish Soldiers of Mexico
. Guadalajara, Mexico: Fondo Editorial Universitario.
ISBN
978-9687846002
.
- Hogan, Michael (15 September 2006).
"Los San Patricios: The Irish Soldiers of Mexico"
.
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. Retrieved
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2015
.
- Hopkins, G. T. (September 1913). "The San Patricio Battalion in the Mexican War".
Cavalry Journal
.
XXIV
: 279?284.
- Howes, Kelly King (2003).
Mexican American war
. UXL.
ISBN
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.
- Leahy, Dan; et al. (June 2002).
"Students Seek To Have Expulsion Order Annulled"
.
Mexican Labor News & Analysis
.
7
(5). UE International Solidarity. Archived from
the original
on 2 April 2015
. Retrieved
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2015
.
- Lloyd, David (2000).
Ireland After History
.
University of Notre Dame Press
.
ISBN
0268012180
.
- Looby, David (13 August 2015).
"Mexican-Irish historical link celebrated"
.
Independent.ie
. Retrieved
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2015
.
- McCaffery, James M. (1994).
Army of Manifest Destiny: The American Soldier in the Mexican War, 1846?1848
.
New York University Press
.
ISBN
978-0814755051
.
- McCornack, Richard (1958). "The San Patricio Deserters in the Mexican War, 1847".
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. Vol. 3.
- Mermann-Jozwiak, Elisabeth (Fall 2001). "An interview with Montserrat Fontes".
MELUS
.
26
(3).
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/
Oxford University Press
: 145?161.
doi
:
10.2307/3185561
.
JSTOR
3185561
.
- Miller, Robert Ryal (1989).
Shamrock and Sword, The Saint Patrick's Battalion in the US?Mexican War
. Norman, Oklahoma:
University of Oklahoma Press
.
ISBN
0806129646
.
- Meltzer, Milton (1974).
Bound for the Rio Grande; the Mexican Struggle, 1845?1850
. New York: Knopf.
ISBN
0394824407
.
- Newark, Tim (2012).
The Fighting Irish: The Story of the Extraordinary Irish Soldier
. Hachette UK.
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9781780335117
.
- Nordstrom, Pat (18 January 2008).
"San Patricio Battalion"
.
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. Retrieved
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2015
.
- Paredes, Martin (4 December 2010).
"The Irish Heroes of Mexico"
. Clifden and Connemara Heritage Society
. Retrieved
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2015
.
- Quinn, Peter (2007).
Looking for Jimmy: A Search for Irish America
. New York: The Overlook Press.
ISBN
978-1590200230
.
- Rollins, Peter C. (2008).
Why We Fought: America's Wars in Film and History
.
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.
ISBN
978-0813191911
.
- Radford Ruether, Rosemary (2007).
America, Amerikkka: Elect Nation and Imperial Violence
.
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.
ISBN
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.
- Ramold, Steven (2010).
Baring the Iron Hand: Discipline in the Union Army
.
Northern Illinois University Press
.
ISBN
978-0875804088
.
- Smith, Justin H. (1919a).
The War with Mexico, vol 1
. New York: Macmillan.
- Smith, Justin H. (1919b).
The War with Mexico, vol 2
. New York: Macmillan.
- Stevens, Peter F. (1999).
The Rogue's March: John Riley and the St. Patrick's Battalion
. Washington, DC: Brassey's.
ISBN
1574887386
.
- Super, John C. (1992).
The United States at War
. Salem Press.
ISBN
978-1587652363
.
- Tucker, Spencer; Arnold, James R.; Wiener, Roberta, eds. (2013).
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. ABC-CLIO.
ISBN
9781851098538
.
- Wallace, Edward S (Summer 1950).
"The Battalion of Saint Patrick in the Mexican War"
(PDF)
.
Military Affairs
.
14
(2): 84?91.
doi
:
10.2307/1982456
.
JSTOR
1982456
.
- Woolf, Christopher (17 March 2015).
"On St. Patrick's Day, Mexico remembers the Irishmen who fought for Mexico against the US"
.
Public Radio International
. Retrieved
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2015
.
- Wunn, Dennis J. (1984).
San Patricio Soldiers: Mexico's Foreign Legion
. Texas Western Press.
ISBN
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.
- Zinn, Howard
; Arnove, Anthony (2004).
A People's History of the United States
(1st ed.). New York: Seven Stories Press.
ISBN
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.
- Wagenen, Michael Van (2012).
Remembering the Forgotten War: The Enduring Legacies of the U.S./Mexican War
. University of Massachusetts Press.
ISBN
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.
- "Mexican-Irish hero to be honoured in Clifden"
.
Galway Advertiser
. 6 November 2014
. Retrieved
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2015
.
Tertiary sources
[
edit
]
- Garibay, Angel Maria; Teixidor, Felipe, eds. (1971).
Diccionario Porrua de historia, biografia y geografia de Mexico
. Vol. 3 (3rd ed.). Mexico City:
Editorial Porrua
. p. 3146.
Tenian una insignia blanca, en la que se encontraban los escudos de Irlanda y Mexico, y el nombre de su capitan, John O'Reilly bordado en verde.
- The United States in Latin America: A Historical Dictionary
, vol. S, 2008, p. 311
- "The Chieftains And Ry Cooder Tell 'San Patricio' History"
.
npr.org
.
NPR
. 7 March 2010
. Retrieved
17 June
2020
.
- Dickson, Ted, ed. (2008).
America on the World Stage: A Global Approach to U.S. History
. University of Illinois Press. p. 145.
ISBN
978-0252075520
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]