San Patricios

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Reconstruction of the flag of the San Patricios as described by John Riley

The San Patricios (also San Patricos , Batallón de San Patricio or St. Patrick's Battalion ) were a group of mainly Irish or Irish -born Americans (approx. 50% Irish, the rest German, Poles, Scots and others) who lived in the Mexican-American War (1846–1848) fought on the side of the Mexicans .

The San Patricios, named after the Irish national saint Patrick , consisted mostly of Catholics who were discriminated against by their Protestant officers because of their beliefs and who did not want to fight against a Catholic country. So they switched sides and fought for Mexico in this war . Others had purely pecuniary reasons for their decision.

They were led by Captain John Riley (also Jon Riley or John O'Riley ) and fought against their former comrades in almost all major battles of this war. They were considered a powerful artillery force.

The person of Captain John Riley is controversial among historians. For some he is a hero and resistance fighter, for others he is a drunkard , others see him as a soldier of fortune. The source situation for this person is in no way neutral, since the American sources of the time (especially files of the court martial) portray him as a deserter and thus a despicable personality, but he was a hero and comrade for the Mexicans. A final assessment of his motives and his character is difficult to conclusively and also depends heavily on the viewer. This assessment is made even more difficult by the increasing formation of legends in the context of hero worship, which this troop also and especially learns from Irish nationalists. John Riley is sometimes even disguised as a prototype of humans in a multicultural society and generally has to serve as an example for many theories and ideologies.

After the US victory, nearly all members of the San Patricios were tried in court martial. The punishment usually consisted of death by hanging , in less severe cases the convicts were whipped and marked with a brand “D” for deserter on their faces. In the most famous case, 72 of the 83 San Patricios captured were brought to court martial after the Battle of Churubusco . 50 of them were hanged, 16 were flogged and branded. John Riley himself survived the war but apparently died an alcoholic in Veracruz in 1850 .

In Mexico, the members of the San Particios were traditionally honored on September 12th each year. A memorial service has also been held in Ireland since 1993 in Clifden , Galway - Riley's hometown. In Mexico there is a street in almost every major city that is named after the San Patricios with the surname "O'Brien".

Cinematically, the story was processed by the Californian Mark Day in his documentary The San Patricios and in the Paramount production One Man's Hero .

The Irish folk group The Chieftains , together with Ry Cooder, retold this special chapter of the Mexican-American war. Her album San Patricio combines Irish folk and Mexican folk music.

The Mexican-American writer James Carlos Blake addressed the history of the battalion in his 1997 novel The evil in the blood ( In the Rogue Blood ).

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