Following the US declaration of war
against Mexico in 1846, an Irish-born deserter from the US army, John
O'Reilly, organized a company of soldiers at Matamoros to fight on the
side of Mexi
The Foreign Legion of St. Patrick
In June 1847, Santa Anna created a
foreign legion as part of the Mexican army, and the San Patricios were
transferred from the artillery branch to the infantry and merged into
the Foreign Legion. They then became known as the First and Second
Militia Infantry Companies of San Patricio. Colonel Francisco R.
Moreno was made commander, with Captain John O'Reilly in charge of the
First Company and Captain Santiago 0'Leary of the Second. The
companies were also referred to as "The Foreign Legion of San
Patricio".
The Battle of Churubusco
Dr. Michael Hogan, the Irish-American
author of The Irish Soldiers of Mexico, provides a detailed,
well-documented account of the heroic defence of the "convento"
(monastery) at Churubusco when it was attacked by the invading US
forces on 20 August 1847. The monastery, surrounded by huge, thick
stone walls, provided a natural fortress for the defending Mexican
forces. The San Patricio Companies together with the Los Bravos
Battalion occupied the parapets of the building which was to become
the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of the war. Though
hopelessly outnumbered, the defenders repelled the attacking US forces
with heavy losses until their ammunition ran out, and a Mexican
officer, realizing the hopelessness of the situation, raised the white
flag of surrender. According to Hogan, Captain Patrick Dalton of the
San Patricios tore the white flag down, and General Pedro Anaya
ordered his men to fight on with their bare hands if necessary.
Mexican hare
also justly proud of the heroic stand of their national guardsmen,
"green civilian recruits, fighting to the death against Scotts
well-equipped veterans." [11]
According to General Anaya's written
report, 35 San Patricios were killed in action, 0'Leary and O'Reilly
were wounded and Francis 0'Connor lost both legs as a result of his
heroic stand against the invaders. Eighty-five of the San Patricios
were taken prisoner, while the other survivors (about 85) managed to
escape, and apparently were later able to rejoin the retreating
Mexican forces. Seventy-two were charged with desertion from the US
army, and General Scott ordered that two courts-martial be convened to
try them.
Lashing, Branding and Hanging
A court-mar of a pounded piece of raw beef, the blood oozing from every stripe. "
[13] After the flogging, the prisoners were branded with the letter "D"
with red-hot branding irons. Some were branded on the hip, while
others were branded on the cheek, and O'Reilly was branded on both
cheeks for good measure. San Jacinto Plaza thus became the scene of
bloody and mangled bodies, mingled with the repulsive odor of the
burning flesh of the tortured San Patricios. According to Hogan, five
Mexican priests who sought to give spiritual assistance to the victims
were forced to witness the whippings and brandings and ordered to
withdraw to the gallows to witness the final act of this "gruesome and
carefully orchestrated spectacle."
Eight mule-drawn wagons were brought up, and two prisoners were placed
on each wagon. Sixteen nooses hanging from the crossbeam were placed
around their necks, and the priests were brought forward to administer
the last rites of the Catholic Church. Then, "the whips cracked, and
the wagons drove off leaving the 16 victims dangling from their
nooses." [14] Some, like Captain Patrick Dalton, had asked to be
buried in consecrated ground, and were interred in nearby Tla-copac.
The others were buried beneath the gallows, and C. O'Reilly and his
tortured companions were forced to dig their fallen comrades' graves.
On September 2, four more convicted San Patricios were hanged at the
nearby village of Mixcoac.
The final scene of this macabre and somewhat sadistic "hanging spree"
took place near Tacubaya on September 13, when the remaining 30
convicted San Patricios were hanged. Francis 0'Connor, who had lost
his legs at Churubusco and was dying from his wounds, was nonetheless
dragged from the hospital tent and propped up on a wagon with a noose
around his neck. When the US American flag was raised over Chapultepec
Castle, the San Patricios were "launched into eternity as the wagons
pulled away, and the nooses tightened on their necks." [15]
Mexicans were shocked and outraged by
this cruel and barbaric treatment of the San Patricios. The Diario
del Gobierno expressed its indignation, writing: "This day in cold
blood, these [US American] Caribs from an impulse of superstition, and
after the manner of savages as practiced in the days of Homer, have
hanged these men as a holocaust." [16]
In Memoriam
1997 marked the sesquicentennial of a
bitter and traumatic chapter in the history of the Irish and Mexican
peoples. Mexico remembered the tragic loss of almost half its
territory, "ceded" to the United States; and Ireland remembered the
tragic loss of almost half its total population due to starvation and
emigration brought about by the Great Famine of 1847. It has been
wisely said that those who ignore the lessons of history are destined
to repeat it, and that we do not need to savor the bitterness of the
past in order to understand its lesson for the present and the future.
Each year, on September 12, Mexico pays tribute to the San Patricios
at San Jacinto Plaza. The commemorative plaque on the wall facing the
plaza was designed by Lorenzo Rafael, son of Patricio Cox, who wrote
the first book, a novel in Spanish, about the San Patricios. The
escutcheon at the top of the plaque depicts a Celtic cross protected
by the outstretched wings of the Aztec l" size="2">September
2005
