Holy battalion Patrick

The Holy battalion Patrick (Spanish: Batallón de San Patricio ) was a unit of several hundreds of Irish, German and other Europeans Catholique S who deserted the armed with the United States of America and joined the Mexican army at the time of the américano-Mexican Guerre of 1846 with 1848. As later, Abraham Lincoln and well of others, these men saw in the invasion of the Mexico a great error.

For the generation of Americans who took part in the américano-Mexican War, “San Patricios” were cheappest of the traitors and the couards. For the Mexicans of this generation it were of the heroes who made gift of themselves to come to assistance of their catholic co-religionists from Mexico.

Mexican incentive

One does not know exactly how these foreign catholics with the service of the United States were brought to desert and to join the rows of the Mexican combatants. It is known that the Mexican army actively recruited catholics of the American army in spring of 1846 while asserting which it was about a war between Protesting S and catholics. The general Pedro de Ampudia, ordering the Army of North vis-a-vis the general Taylor, had made carry out English leaflets, who it made circulate among his enemies. He was offered grounds to reward those which left the American rows to join the Mexican army.

A sectarian and cruel army

The film of 1999, One Man' S Hero share of the idea that the core of the San Patricios composed catholic soldiers - who attended the Mass in the Mexican locality of Matamoros - were severely punished. Humiliating punishments had course, whereas the army of Taylor camped on northern bank of the Río Grande in Fort Texas (now Brownsville), like showed it Michael Hogan in her work Irish Soldiers off Mexico City , which the film takes as a starting point. Fort Texas was a large ground rampart, just finished by the American army at the beginning of 1846 after its walk since Corpus Christi. Although the US president Polk chose to interpret the southern border of Texas as being Río Grande, the Mexican government, it, had fixed it on Nueces River (close to Corpus Christi). During all the period of Spanish colonization, and later as a province of Mexico, the border of Texas had always been Nueces and not Río Grande. First San Patricios were thus in a zone disputed, a No man' S Land , and not on the territory of the United States when these disciplinary problems occurred.

It is clear that the desertion was a serious problem in the American regular army of the south of Texas and throughout this war. Some 2.800 men will desert its rows is approximately 14% of the American troops implied in the conflict. Physical punishments, of use then in all the armies of the world, which one nowadays compares to torture, were then largely used. Young American officers had any latitude to strike a man constantly. The army at that time, like the american company in general, rejected and discriminated openly the catholics.

The units of the army were then made up of 40% men born abroad. Ironically, the army was one of rare employment which could hope for a catholic immigrant unloading of Ireland or Germany in America in economic depression and whose labor market is submerged new arrivals which work for starvation wages. But very few catholic recruits, even those which were useful in the best armed with Europe, could not hope for a promotion, based on their only merit. American officers, and thus Protestants, will encourage the profanation and the destruction of the Catholic churches during all the program of Mexico, just as they will tolerate the rape of the women, the plundering and the destruction of the goods belonging to catholic civilians.

San Patricios in the Mexican rows

Battle of Monterrey

Battle of Cerro Gordo

Like unit of infantry, San Patricios continue to be distinguished. Knowing that if they are captured they incur the capital punishment, San Patricios, at the time of the Bataille of Cerro Gordo, threaten the Mexican troops of a friendly fire (fratricidal shooting) if ever they are enfuyent. Whereas San Patricios are too heavily engaged to put their threats at execution, the Mexican troops break the combat and are enfuyent, letting San Patricios fight with the body with body with troops U.S.

Battle of Churubusco

With the Bataille of Churubusco (August 20th 1847) they are practically destroyed, the majority of them are killed or made captive (including John Riley). Their unit briefly will be reformed right before the Bataille of Mexico City some two weeks later, but with a manpower of most reduced and will be officially withdrawn from the service of the Mexican army in 1850.

Battle of Chapultepec

Works

Shamrock and Sword, Holy The Patrick' S Battalion in the Custom-Mexican War ; Robert Ryal Miller; (Norman, Oklahoma; University off Okiahoma Near, 1989).
The Irish Soldiers off Mexico City ; Michael Hogan; Guadalajara, Mexico City: Leading Fondo Universitario, 1997; ISBN 968-7846-00-3
The St Patricio Battalion; The Irish Soldiers off Mexico City ; Jaime Fogarty, Published by " Voices off Mexico" magazine, April-June, 2000.
bloody Twilight , James Carlos Blake - Black Shore, 2002

Cinema

The San Patricios is documentary turned in 1996 per Mark R. Day.
One Man' S Hero is a film made in 1999 with Tom Berenger and directed by Lance Hool which recalls the history of the Holy Battalion Patrick.

See too

The Irish Soldiers off Mexico City on irishargentine.org Irish Migration Studies in America Latin.

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