In a message dated 4/6/2001 8:51:12 PM Central Daylight Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
<< om Dublin City to San Diego
We witnessed freedom denied
so we formed the St Patrick Batallion
and fought on the Mexican side"
-lyrical clip to a song performed by David Rovics
I have absolutely no idea what this event refers to, aside from Irish
immigrants
siding with Mexicans during the conquest, but that's just from the song. Any
help
here? It seems to have stumped local friends as well.
>>
I went to http://www.google.com, typed in the words "St. Patrick's Battalion"
and "Mexico", and among other things found this:
http://www.hispanianews.com/archive/2000/March17/01.htm
Deserters or unsung heroes: St. Patrick's Battalion
The St. Patrick Battalion ( El Batallón de San Patricio) was a unique unit of
the Mexican Army during the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. Some say they
were heroic men, some say they were just deserters.
What made this outfit exceptional was that it was composed almost entirely of
deserters from the United States Army who, after defecting, fought on the
Mexican side in five major battles.
In Occupied America, Rodolfo Acuña states that "there is ample evidence that
the United States provoked the war...Zachary Taylor's (General of the US Army
of Occupation) artillery leveled the Mexican city of Matamoros, killing
hundreds of innocent civilians with la bomba (the bomb)...The occupation that
followed was even more terrorizing. Taylor's regular army was allegedly kept
in control, but the volunteers (about 2,000 in Matamoros) presented another
matter.
Taylor knew about the atrocities, but...little was done to restrain the men,
of which Taylor himself admitted 'there is scarcely a form of crime that has
not been reported to me as committed by them."
"An interesting sidelight is that many Irish immigrants, as well as some
other Anglos, deserted to the Mexican side, forming the San Patricio Corps
(El Batallón de San Patricio)...due 'to the inborn distaste of the masses of
war, to bad treatment, and to poor subsistence.' Many of the Irish were also
Catholic, and they resented the treatment of Catholic priests and nuns by the
invading Protestants.
According to Miller's book, Shamrock and Sword, renegades who crossed the Rio
Grande formed the nucleus of the unique San Patricio unit of the Mexican
Army. The Irish-born deserter, John Riley, later claimed credit for
organizing the outfit. In a letter to the Mexican president he stated:
'Since April 1846 when I separated from the North American forces...I have
served constantly under the Mexican flag. In Matamoros I formed a company of
48 Irishmen...' By July of 1847, the number of San Patricios had increased
to more than 200.
During the two years of war, Mexicans called this unique outfit by various
names; some designations were official, others coined by the people.
Unofficially, the group was called the Irish Volunteers, or the Colorados -
or Red Guards - so named because of the many redheaded and ruddy-complexioned
men in it, or the San Patricio Guards. Officially, the unit began as the San
Patricio Company, an artillery outfit that later expanded to two companies.
In mid-1847, the Mexican war department reassigned the men as infantrymen and
merged the San Patricio companies into the newly-created Foreign Legion
(Legión Extranjera), which some Britons and Americans called the Legion of
Strangers. In 1848, the Mexican president expanded the companies and formed
the Saint Patrick's Battalion.
The San Patricios served under a distinctive military banner. John Riley
said the emerald green ensign had an image of Saint Patrick emblazoned on one
side, with a shamrock and the harp Erin outlined on the other. A Yankee
soldier commented of the San Patricio's standard: "A beautiful green silk
banner 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 Potosí."
A wartime newspaper correspondent from New Orleans described the San Patricio
flag captured at the battle of Churubusco: 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 para la República Mexicana.' Underneath the
harp is the motto 'Erin go Bragh' (Ireland for Ever). On the other side is
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."
The San Patricios fought in five major battles with the Mexican Army: On May
3, 1846 in Matamoros; on September 21, 1846 in Monterrey; on February 22,
1847 at the Battle of Buena Vista (Angostura, for the Mexicans); on April 17,
1847 at Cerro Gordo, and August 20, 1847 at Churubusco.
Its name being derived from an Aztec word meaning 'place of the war god,'
Churubusco became the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Mexican
war, an engagement that also marked the military zenith of the San Patricios
and their last battle in the war as a unit.
For the Americans, their victory at Churubusco was a momentous and dramatic
event. Besides its strategic and psychological importance, the battle
yielded 1,259 prisoners, including 104 officers...Of special importance were
the captured San Patricios, among them Brevet Major John Riley.
Although the San Patricios were defeated at Churubusco, their proficiency and
bravery elicited praise from various Mexicans: Santa Anna said that if he had
commanded a few hundred more men like them, he would have won the battle.
San Patricio casualties at Churubusco were devastating: when the battle
began, the two companies were apparently at full strength of 102 men each.
Three hours later 60 percent of the men were either dead or had been captured
by the enemy; 85 were taken prisoner, 72 of whom were accused of deserting
the US Army and the remaining up to 90 men had escaped.
In Occupied America, Acuña states that it is estimated that as many as 260
Anglo-Americans fought with the Mexicans at Churubusco in 1847. Some 80
appear to have been captured...A number were found not guilty of deserting
and were released. About 15, who had deserted before the declaration of war,
were merely branded with a "D," and 50 of those taken at Churubusco were
executed.' Others received 200 lashes and were forced to dig graves for
their executed comrades.
With the exception of two prisoners, Ellis and Pieper, the military courts at
Tacubaya and San Angel found all (the San Patricios) guilty of desertion and
they sentenced 68 men "to be hanged by the neck until dead."
While these sentences were being reviewed by the commander-in-chief, dozens
of individuals begged American authorities to spare the lives of the San
Patricios. In his General Orders 281 and 283, issued the second week of
September of 1847, General Scott confirmed the capital punishment verdict for
50 San Patricios, but he pardoned five men and reduced the sentences of 15
others.
Instead of being hanged, John Riley and 14 others reprieved San Patricios
were to be given 50 lashes, "well laid on their bare back," and to be
hot-iron branded with a two-inch letter "D" for deserter; 12 were branded on
the right cheek, the others of the right hip.
Still dressed in their Mexican uniforms, the Americans hanged 16 other San
Patricio traitors, who had white caps drawn over their heads. Their bodies
were buried nearby; ordered to do it, John Riley and the other branded
prisoners dug graves directly under the gallows for nine of their companions.
The other seven were interred by priests in the nearby cemetery of
Tlaquepaque (Tlacopac).
The 16 San Patricios who were hanged in San Angel dangled from a wooden
gallows erected for that purpose, but two American writers claimed that the
culprits were hanged "from limbs of a large tree."
Two days after the San Angel hangings, Colonel William Selby Harney executed
with unwarranted cruelty the remaining 30 convicted San Patricios.
With medals, memorial plaques, annual ceremonies and public schools honoring
them, clearly the San Patricios are treated as heroes in Mexico.
North of the Rio Grande, by contrast, the story of the Saint Patrick's
Battalion is hardly known. Occasionally, there is a passing reference, often
erroneous, in United States history books. As for the individual San
Patricios- at least those who deserted from the United States Army- they have
always been regarded by North Americans as traitors. Yankee writers
invariably have maintained that those defectors who were caught deserved
their fate.
For most, the story of the San Patricios is a tragedy, as all war stories
are.
from Shamrock and Sword, Robert Miller and Occupied America, Rodolfo Acuña .
Special thanks to Prof. Roberto Treviño, UC-CS.
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