1:34 p.m. - 2003-02-03
Ireland, Saint Patrick�s Battalion
SPANISH
Ayer vi la pel�cula Gangs of New York, y qued� sorprendido. Record� la historia del batall�n de San Patricio, algo que desde la primaria (bueno aqu� en M�xico) nos ense�an. Pero quiero compartirlo con las personas que lleguen a leer esto, y si les produce alguna meoci�n por favor env�enme una nota, �ok?.
ENGLISH
Yesterday I saw the film, Gangs of New York, I was amazed by the film. And I remembered the Saint Patrick�s Battalion, who fought with Mexico against USA, well, the completely story is here.
*ESPA�OL*
LA LEYENDA DEL BATALLON DE SAN PATRICIO
Una de las pocas cosas que los mexicanos recuerdan de la guerra de 1847 -aparte, por supuesto de los "ni�os h�roes"-, lo es sin duda la heroica conducta de los soldados del batall�n de San Patricio. Sin embargo, a pesar de que forman parte ya del imaginario popular, enaltecidos hasta la altura de los pr�ceres que conforman nuestro pante�n c�vico, casi nada en realidad es lo que se conoce de esos hombres fuera de que eran de origen irland�s, de que desertaron del ej�rcito norteamericano invasor y pelearon a favor de M�xico, de que fueron capturados en la batalla de Churubusco y que al final, al perderse la guerra, ellos perdieron la vida, ejecutados por los invasores, muriendo por una causa por la que sintieron simpat�a debido a sus convicciones religiosas, pues tan cat�licos eran ellos como los mexicanos a los que quisieron defender.
Los irlandeses y sus compa�eros fueron asignados al ej�rcito al mando del general Taylor, a quien se confi� las primeras operaciones militares en contra de M�xico, invadiendo la franja fronteriza en Tejas. Situado el ej�rcito invasor frente a Matamoros, en Tamaulipas, a principios del a�o de 1846, comenz� la deserci�n de los irlandeses. Poco a poco fueron escapando de las filas estadounidenses y se presentaban ante los oficiales mexicanos, que gustosamente los recib�an en nuestro ej�rcito. La pregunta obligada es porqu� desertaron y porqu� se unieron a M�xico, a luchar por una causa que desde un principio se ve�a perdida dada la enorme diferencia entre la tecnolog�a militar de una naci�n y otra.
Una de las respuestas es la siguiente: los generales mexicanos al mando de las tropas que guarnec�an la frontera, se percataron de la enorme cantidad de irlandeses y europeos cat�licos que nutr�an al ej�rcito de los Estados Unidos, e iniciaron una campa�a de publicidad para informar a esos soldados primero de la afinidad religiosa que los mexicanos ten�amos con ellos; segundo, les hicieron saber que en M�xico encontrar�an tambi�n posibilidades de asentarse definitivamente y obtendr�an por ello buena paga y tierras al final de la contienda; y tercero, apelaron a su sentido patri�tico, demostrando que M�xico, al igual que Irlanda, sufr�a por el acoso y la hostilidad de una naci�n protestante, los Estados Unidos, as� como su isla natal padec�a tambi�n la animadversi�n y la brutalidad conquistadora de Inglaterra, la madre patria de los estadounidenses. El amor propio de los irlandeses, que recordaban las persecuciones sufridas por parte de los ingleses, despert� para apoyar lo que ellos consideraron como una causa justa: la causa de M�xico, la defensa de una naci�n cat�lica invadida injusta y arteramente por su poderoso vecino, guiado por su af�n expansionista. Un pu�ado de irlandeses y de otros inmigrantes europeos, que llegaron a ser casi cuatrocientos a lo largo de toda la contienda, decidieron pasarse al lado mexicano y combatir por esa naci�n cat�lica, a�n a sabiendas de que la deserci�n, como en todos los pa�ses suced�a, est� castigada con penas sever�simas, incluso con la muerte.
Su historia comenz� menos de dos a�os antes, en abril de 1846. En esa �poca� poco antes de que Estados Unidos invadiera a M�xico� un irland�s de nombre John Riley hab�a organizado a un grupo de 48 irlandeses en Matamoros, la mayor�a desertores como �l del Ej�rcito norteamericano, para formar parte de la Legi�n de Extranjeros en el Ej�rcito Mexicano. Exhortando a sus connacionales que reconcieran las similitudes entre el pueblo mexicano y el irland�s, as� como la existencia del enemigo com�n que ten�an en los opresores anglo-protestantes (ya sea en Gran Breta�a o en Estados Unidos). Riley logr� que dentro de cuatro meses la �Legi�n de Extranjeros� se convertiera en un batall�n con m�s de 200 miembros, formando dos compa��as de artiller�a; y entonces el Capit�n Riley cambi� el nombre de la Legi�n al de �Batall�n de San Patricio�. La mayor�a eran irlandeses y cat�licos, aunque tambi�n formaban parte de los San Patricios algunos ciudadanos mexicanos y varios europeos no-irlandeses. Riley tambi�n mand� a hacer una bandera para el Batall�n: de seda verde, ten�a de un lado la im�gen de San Patricio y por el otro un harpa y un tr�bol, as� como las palabras Erin go bragh � Irlanda para siempre.
Debe tomarse en cuenta que �sta fue la �poca de la migraci�n masiva de irlandeses a los Estados Unidos, gracias a la Gran Hambruna provocada por las pol�ticas de Inglaterra con la isla verde. Esos a�os vieron la muerte de un mill�n de irlandeses por hambre y el �xodo de otros dos millones a Estados Unidos, muchos de los cuales, sufriendo discriminaci�n y maltrato tanto por su religi�n cat�lica como por su nacionalidad, entraron al Ej�rcito como fuente de trabajo. As� que cuando los Estados Unidos �pa�s protestante, racista y anglo-saj�n, como Inglaterra � decidi� evocar su �destino manifiesto� para intentar apoderarse de tierras mexicanas, una buena parte de la tropa norteamericana consist�a ya de inmigrantes irlandeses; y muchos de �stos no se sent�an c�modos con las justificaciones de la invasi�n (�es que son cat�licos� dec�a la prensa gringa, mientras en el Congreso dec�an �es que el destino de la raza anglo-sajona es apoderarse de todo el continente�). Entonces, cuando Riley comenz� a escribir volantes de propaganda para los soldados irlandeses norteamericanos, pidi�ndoles que cambiaran de lado por razones de raza, religi�n o simplemente por la justicia, muchos acudieron a la llamada, a�n cuando sab�an que a lo mejor M�xico iba a perder la guerra.
El Batall�n de San Patricio no solamente vi� combate en todas las batallas importantes de la guerra hasta agosto de 1847, sino tambi�n contaba con el equipo de artiller�a m�ss experto en cualquier de los dos ej�rcitos, y sus soldados estaban determinados a pelear hasta la muerte. La �ltima batalla de los San Patricios ocurri� el d�a 20 de agosto de 1847, en el convento de Churubusco bajo el comando de los Generales Manuel Rinc�n y Pedro Anaya. Fue la batalla m�s ensangrentada de toda la guerra. Como es sabido por la historia, los yanquis eventualmente lograron la victoria, pero fue por nada m�s que una simple cuesti�n de superioridad num�rica: pues aunque llegaron con tres veces m�s soldados que los defensores, sufrieron cuatro veces m�s bajas, y muchas de �stas fueron gracias a los tiros de los San Patricios.
El historiador Michael Hogan cuenta que cuando se les acabaron las municiones, uno de los defensores del convento alz� una bandera blanca. Pronto fue arrebatado por el Capit�n Patrick Dalton, de la compa��a de irlandeses cuando el General Anaya orden� que siguiera la batalla. En el transcurso de la tarde, mientras los defensores del convento peleaban con nada m�s que las manos y sus bayonetas, apareci� dos veces m�s la bandera blanca; y dos veces m�s un San Patricio la arranc� de la asta. Fue finalmente un capit�n del ej�rcito norteamericano quien decret� el cese de fuego, cuando se dio cuenta que los defensores no ten�an con que disparar, y no obstante parec�an dispuestos a pelear mano a mano, hasta el �ltimo hombre. Los San Patricios perdieron dos tenientes, cuatro sargentos, seis cabos, y 23 soldados en esa su �ltima y m�s valiente batalla. M�s de 80 lograron escapar, y muchos de �stos lograron reincorporarse al ej�rcito mexicano despu�s de la guerra. De los 85 que cayeron presos, 72 hab�an desertado de las filas norteamericanas, y fueron puestos ante un tribunal de guerra para ser juzgados por traici�n y deserci�n en tiempos de guerra. Los que hab�an desertado antes del comienzo de la guerra � como su fundador, John Riley �no pod�an, seg�n los reglamentos de guerra, ser ejecutados; as� que fueron condenados a ser torturados y humillados p�blicamente, y posteriormente encarcelados. Cuarenta y seis otros fueron ahorcados, todos por haber decidido abandonar las filas de la injusticia y pelear en su contra.
Este D�a de San Patricio � reconocido en la conciencia popular simplemente como d�a del santo irland�s, del color verde, de los tr�boles y de la cerveza Guinness � debemos recordar a esos honorables irlandeses, quienes hace 152 a�os se negaron a pelear por un ej�rcito invasor, y siendo todo menos cobardes, entregaron la vida por la causa de M�xico; y as� demostraron lo que es el verdadero esp�ritu irland�s.
*ENGLISH*
An Irish Batallion unique in military history.
Anyone who is Irish or of Irish descent and who has lived or travelled in Mexico will no doubt be familiar with one of the best kept secrets in the colourful world of Irish emigrants. The famous Saint Patrick�s Battalion of the Mexican Army during the US-Mexican War has placed the Irish as a revered race in Mexico; even to this day, an Irish person in Mexico will be told a countless number of times about the famous �Irish Martyrs� who defected from the US Army and gave their lives trying to save Mexico from US aggression from 1846-1848.
The legend of the Saint Patrick�s Battalion, or �los San Patricios� as they are referred to in Spanish, has been widely written about in Mexico over the last 150 years. Articles in historical magazines and journals have appeared in the US, as well as a romanticized play about this famous battalion, but not until the recent publication of Shamrock and Sword: The Saint Patrick�s Battalion in the US-Mexican War, by Robert Ryal Miller, a professor of Mexican history at California State University at Hayward, has a major study of the San Patricios been done in the English language.
Since the Saint Patrick�s Battalion was made up of deserters from the US Army, it only seems natural that they have been erased from American history. Professor Miller spent more than two years researching this story in Mexico, the US and Ireland. First and foremost, his book tells the compelling story of this forgotten band of Irish renegades; however, Miller also provides readers with a thorough history of the US-Mexican War, which traditionally has been considered less significant in American history than the Revolutionary War which preceded it and the Civil War which followed shortly afterward.
On the other hand, in Mexico this war has been taught, in a doctrinaire manner, as the most devastating event in Mexican history. Excluding Texas, which had won independence from Mexico a few years earlier, Mexico lost one-half of its total land, which now accounts for the US states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado and Montana; this, more than half a million square miles that Mexico was forced to cede to the US, represents an area larger than France, Spain and Italy combined. Small wonder that this war continues to be a sore point for Mexican attitudes towards the US, especially in light of the fact that the subsequent discovery of rich gold and silver deposits in California and Nevada sparked an economic boom and the westward expansion of the US into a bi-coastal nation.
John Riley
The story of this famed group begins with the founder and chief conspirator, John Riley, a Galway native born in 1817. Riley deserted from the British army while stationed in Canada and went to Michigan, where he later enlisted in the US Army in 1845. He was able to defect to the Mexican Army when his commander granted him permission to cross into Mexico to attend mass. It was there, in Matamoros, Riley joined the Mexican Army as a lieutenant, which resulted in his pay rising from seven dollars per month to 57 dollars per month. While desertion from the US armed forces was punishable by death, Riley was not deterred in capitalizing on the dis-satisfaction of many Irish-born US soldiers with their adopted country. Aided by his second-in-command, Patrick Dalton, who was from the parish of Tirawley, near Ballina, County Mayo, Riley at first was successful in persuading 48 Irishmen to defect, and these men made up the original Saint Patrick�s Battalion. In addition to more Irishmen joining, they welcomed other foreign-born US deserters, as well as American-born deserters. Also, some Irish-born civilian residents of Mexico were persuaded to join the struggle. Even when the number of San Patricios rose to more than 200, Irish-born members still represented nearly 50 per cent.
Miller describes in detail the ways that Riley and Dalton collaborated with Mexican generals to distribute handbills urging Irish and other foreign-born Catholic soldiers to defect. For instance, one such handbill read:
Irishmen! Listen to the words of your brothers, hear the accents of Catholic people . . . Is religion no longer the strongest of human bonds? . . . Can you fight by the side of those who set fire to your temples in Boston and Philadelphia? Are Catholic Irishmen to be the destroyers of Catholic temples, the murderers of Catholic priests . . ? Come over to us; you will be received under the laws of that truly Christian hospitality and good faith which Irish guests are entitled to expect and obtain from a Catholic nation . . .May Mexicans and Irishmen, united by the sacred tie of religion and benevolence, form only one people.
Motivation
While it is widely perceived in Mexico that the San Patricios defected solely on the issue of religion, this myth is examined in a later chapter entitled �Why they Defected�. The fact that there was rampant anti-Catholic bigotry in the US at that time does not play as great a role in the formation of the unit as is believed in Mexico. Miller posits that the religious bond was not a main reason why many defected. The attractive offer of high pay in the Mexican Army and the promise of land grants to defectors after the war outweighed the fraternal bond over religion, according to Miller.
A main reason for their hero status in Mexico is derived from their exemplary performance in the battlefield. The San Patricios ultimately suffered severe casualties at the famous battle at Churubusco, which is considered the Waterloo for the Mexican Army in this war. Mexican President Antonio Lopez Santa Anna, who also commanded the armed forces, stated afterwards that if he had commanded a few hundred more men like the San Patricios, Mexico would have won that ill-famed battle.
Each San Patricio who deserted from the US side was interned after the war in Mexico and subsequently given an individual court-martial trial. Many of the Irish were set free, but some paid the ultimate price. Roughly half of the San Patricio defectors who were executed by the US for desertion were Irish. Those Irish who were released by American authorities did not return to the US; some stayed in Mexico while most returned to Ireland, including John Riley who, surprisingly, was spared execution.
Unique
In addition to the interesting story of how the Saint Patrick�s Battalion was formed and their significant role for Mexico in the war, Miller makes it clear from the beginning how truly unique the San Patricios are in history. He points out that although many famous generals in world history � such as Augustus Caesar, George Washington and Napoleon Bonaparte � made use of foreign legions or alien mercenaries, these foreign brigades were not made up of deserters from the enemy army. Similarly, they cannot be compared to other Irish foreign brigades such as the Royal Irlandais, the Irish contingent that fought with the French at the battle of Malplaquet in 1709; nor to the Irish brigade formed in 1803 that fought with Napoleon Bonaparte; nor to the Irish regiments of Irlanda, Waterford and Ultonia that formed a part of the Spanish Army in the eighteenth century; nor to the famed Irish Legion of several thousand men that aided Simon Bolivar in the liberation of South America; unlike the San Patricios, these groups did not consist of deserters from the enemy either.
Furthermore, Miller makes it clear that the Irish deserters of the Saint Patrick�s Battalion were in no way representative of the Irish-born soldiers who made up one-fourth of all enlisted men in the US Army during the US-Mexican War. There were seventeen totally Irish companies who saw action in this war; many were highly decorated units such as the Emmet Guards from Albany, New York; the Jasper Greens of Savannah, Georgia; the Mobile Volunteers of Alabama; the Pittsburgh Hibernian Greens.
Heroes
Robert Miller relates in his book, Shamrock and Sword: The Saint Patrick�s Battalion in the US-Mexican War, the importance of these Irish renegades has not waned in Mexico over the years. In 1959, the Mexican government dedicated a commemorative plaque to the San Patricios across from San Jacinto Plaza in the Mexico City suburb of San Angel; it lists the names of all members of the battalion who lost their lives fighting for Mexico, either in battle or by execution. There are ceremonies there twice a year, on September 12 which is the anniversary of the executions, and on Saint Patrick�s Day. A major celebration was held there in 1983, when the Mexican government authorized a special commemorative medallion honouring the San Patricios. First there was a special mass at a nearby parish, then school children placed floral wreaths at the plaque; the Mexico City Symphony played the national anthems of both Mexico and Ireland; Mexican officials eulogized the Irish Martyrs, and a few words were spoken by Irish Ambassador Tadgh O�Sullivan.
While the brave soldiers of Saint Patrick�s Battalion are not particularly well-known outside Mexico, it is clear in Miller�s book that their god-like status in Mexico is enough to compensate for the attention they failed to receive in other countries. This book is fascinating in content, and for the fact that it has taken so long for a major work to be written about the San Patricios in the English language.
Fr Eugene Mc Namara
During the trials, another significant event occurred when the apprehension and execution of Fr Eugene McNamara was called for. Fr McNamara was named as a principal conspirator. A native of Ireland who began working as an apostolic missionary in Mexico more than two years before the start of the war, McNamara plotted with the Mexican foreign minister on schemes to encourage Irish-born soldiers to defect from the US army. One plan was to offer them land in California after the war if they defected. Apart from his role in the war, Fr McNamara regularly visited California and even before the war was consulting with the Mexican government about a plan to bring ten thousand Irish immigrants to settle in the Sacramento Valley area. The priest�s plan was foiled because of the outbreak of the war and the fact that Mexico lost what is now the state of California to the US. However, had there not been a war and the ten thousand Irish had settled there, Mexico could have rivalled Argentina as the country with the largest Irish population outside of the English-speaking world. The great success that the Irish community in Argentina has had is a strong indication that the Irish settlers would have been successful in Mexico. While Fr Eugene McNamara did not see his plan become a reality, he was fortunate enough to escape execution by eluding the squads of US soldiers looking for him, and returning to Ireland.
so that's all.
