Ode to the Irish
The story of St. Patrick’s Battalion
By Brian Brennan 03/10/2010
In 1846, thousands of Irish immigrants arrived in the United States on “coffin ships” escaping the potato famine back home in Ireland. While being processed through Ellis Island in New York, a number of them were given the opportunity to become American citizens by enlisting in the U.S. Army. Not long afterward, they found themselves slogging through the sands of New Mexico on their way to invade Mexico in what some historians have called a war of Manifest Destiny.
Dubious about why they were fighting a Catholic country and fed up with mistreatment from their Anglo-Protestant officers, hundreds of Irish and other immigrants abandoned Zachary Taylor's army and joined forces with Mexico. Led by Captain John Riley of County Galway, they called themselves the St. Patrick's Battalion — in Spanish, the San Patricios.
"The San Patricios were alienated both from American society as well as the U.S. Army," says Professor Kirby Miller of the University of Missouri, an expert on Irish immigration. "They realized that the army was not fighting a war of liberty, but one of conquest against fellow Catholics such as themselves."
They fought bravely in most of the campaigns of the two-year conflict, but their efforts failed to stem the Yankee onslaught. Soon, the U.S. Army occupied the halls of Montezuma, and Mexico eventually surrendered, ceding nearly half its territory to the United States.
Toward the end of the conflict, at the Battle of Churubusco, 83 San Patricios were captured and 72 were court-martialed. Of this number, 50 were sentenced to be hanged and 16 were flogged and branded on their cheeks with the letter "D" for deserter. Prominent civic leaders, members of the clergy and numerous citizens of Mexico City pleaded with the powers that be to spare their lives but to no avail.
To this day, Mexico sees them as heroes, honoring them every Sept. 12 with a special commemoration. In 1993, the Irish began their own ceremony to honor them in Clifden, County Galway, Riley's hometown.
The musical souls of two nations, Ireland and Mexico, are movingly brought to life in “San Patricio,” the latest international collaboration by six-time Grammy winners the Chieftains, the leading practitioners of Irish traditional music for the past four decades. The album features multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer Ry Cooder, another multiple-Grammy winner, who co-produced with the Chieftains' Paddy Moloney. The group revisits the legend of the San Patricio Battalion, with guest appearances by Linda Ronstadt, Liam Neeson, Van Dyke Parks, Lila Downs, Los Tigres del Norte, Carlos Nunez and many others.
Locally, in remembrance of this brave band of Irish immigrants, people from throughout Ventura County will be marching in the Ventura St. Patrick’s Day parade in historic Downtown Ventura on Saturday, March 13, at 10 a.m. There will be a reading of the names of the San Patricios at the corner of Santa Clara and California streets immediately following the parade, and then on to the Dume Room, at 456 E. Main St., for a great afternoon of music and celebration of Irish and Mexican culture.
Beannachtai na Féile Pádraig / Feliz Dia de San Patricio/ Happy St. Patrick’s Day
Brian Brennan is on the Ventura City Council and is an Irish immigrant, having come to America in 1966.
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