During this period, Lieutenant U.S. Grant was involved. Grant was Irish; there was a Kelly on his father's side and many Irish on his mother's side. Lieutenant Ulysses S. Grant received a thorough tongue lashing from Captain Robert E. Lee for his shabby appearance. The next time the two met was at Appomattox. Grant later became the U.S. Army's first four star general. After the Civil War, Grant became President of the United States.

< Lieutenant Grant.................. Captain Lee>

 

The American approach to the convent at Churubusco

The next battle of the Mexican War was the Battle of Churubusco. It was fought at the convent of San Deigo just outside Mexico City. The convent stood on a high hill which was fortified with several guns. Around the convent were ditches and dikes for irrigation from the nearby Churubusco River. The crop in the adjacent fields was corn which, during the battle, stood high on its stalks. The road to the convent crossed the Churubusco River. On the bridge which led to the convent was a fortified Mexican position with five guns, a classic tete de pont (fortified bridgehead). Among the defenders of the bridgehead were the San Patricio Companies. They were now a part of a unit created by Santa Anna known as the Foreign Legion. It was made up of foreign residents of Mexico City. The San Patricio Companies were redesignated as Infantry companies to fill out the unit. The definitive source book for the San Patricio's is Robert Miller's Shamrock and Sword.

A contemporary drawing of the tete de pont at Churubusco

THE SAN PATRICIOS

The San Patricios first saw action as a unit in the Battle of Monterrey. Some of them, as individuals were among the Mexican gunners pounding Fort Texas from Matamoros at the start of the war. The San Patricios were commended for their bravery at La Angostura (Buena Vista) and their Irish leader, John Riley, was made a Captain. It was the San Patricios who supported the Infantry charge with their guns against O'Brien's battery. General Taylor, during the battle, ordered troops to "take that damned battery". More than a third of the San Patricios where killed during the battle. General Francisco Mejia, in whose brigade the San Patricios fought, reported the San Patricios were "worthy of the most consumate praise because the men fought with daring bravery.

The San Patricios also participated in the Battle of Cerro Gordo.

The Irish commander of the San Patricios, John Riley, was born in Clifden, County Galway. He joined the British Army and deserted in Canada. Between 1843 and 1845, Riley worked as a laborer in Mackinac, Michigan for Mayo born Charles M. O'Malley. In September of 1845, Riley joined the United States Army at Fort Mackinac. Two days later his regiment was on their way to Texas. On April 12, 1846, Riley's unit was camped opposite Matamoros. He requested a pass to attend Catholic Mass. He never came back. Riley was thought by his evaluators in the U.S. Army to be officer material, his desertion was a shock.

Riley's next in command was Patrick Dalton, who was born near Ballina in County Mayo, Ireland. He too, was a deserter from the British Army. When he enlisted in the U.S. Army in August of 1845 at Madison Barracks, New York, he told recruiters he was born in Quebec. Dalton left the U. S. Army and crossed into Mexico at Carmargo. Other officers included Captain Saturnino O'Leary and Matthew Doyle.

Other Irish in the U. S. Army as well as men born in Germany, England, Italy, France, Scotland and Poland deserted the U. S. Army and crossed over to the Mexican Army. These men were eventually combined into the San Patricios. On August 20, 1847 at Churubusco, they found themselves defending a Catholic convent from the American Army. The San Patricios definitely slowed the American advance. Several times the Americans were stymied because of the fire from the guns of the San Patricios. Brigadier General David Twiggs led a U. S. charge through the high corn in an attempt to break through. It was repulsed. After a time, the San Patricios withdrew into the convent and the fighting became more desperate.

The American forces kept up the pressure, at a high cost of life. Three times the Mexicans tried to raise a flag of surrender and three times the San Patricios pulled it down. One time they killed a Mexican in the process. The high point of the battle came when 100 U. S. dragoons led by Lieutenants Kearny and McReynolds charged the 6,000 men of the Mexican Army defending the convent and gained entry. The Battle of Churubusco ended when an American officer saw that the defenders were out of ammunition and raised a cease fire that led to the end of the fighting.

Deltail of a painting by Don Troiani showing the fierce resistance of the last San Patricio standing at the convent at Churubusco

It was a terrible fight. Over a thousand Americans were killed, among them 72 officers. The Mexicans suffered casualties of over 20,000. More than 3,000 Mexican prisoners from the battle were ordered paroled by General Scott.

With the United States troops at Churubusco was George Kendall, the founder and a reporter for the New Orleans Picayune and the chronicler of the Santa Fe Expedition. Kendall was the first American correspondent to accompany an American army in battle. He filed his reports via a pony express system.

From Kendall we learned almost half of the San Patricios were captured, the rest were killed or escaped. Of the Eighty five San Patricios captured, Seventy two of them were deserters from the U.S. Army; the others were residents of Mexico. Twenty nine of the deserters were tried at Tacubaya and 43 at San Angel on the 28th of August, eight days after the battle. The 29 were all sentenced to hang. The 43 at San Angel were divided into: 36 to be hung, two to be shot, and three to be lashed and branded. One man was discharged from the service with forfeiture of pay. The remaining San Patricio, Edward Ellis, would receive no punishment. It seems no one bothered to sign his enlistment papers, so he was technically never in the U. S. Army.

General Scott reviewed each and every case. David McElroy was the San Patricio who was discharged from the U. S. Army with forfeiture of pay and released because of his age (15). Five of those sentenced to hang, Scott remitted. One of these was 60 year old Edward McHerron who was released because his son fought with distinction in the same battle, but on the American side. Other men scheduled to hang were instead, branded and lashed as they deserted before war was actually declared. John Riley was one of these. There is a listing of all who served in the San Patricio Battalion in the Appendix V, Section L.

The storming of Chapultapec Castle

The final battle for Mexico City was still underway when he ordered them to stand with the noose about their necks, facing Chapultepec Castle for the moment when the Stars and Stripes replaced the Mexican tricolor.

Colonel William S. Harney pictured to the left, himself of Irish heritage, supervised the execution of 30 San Patricios. One of these San Patricios, Francis O'Conner was in a field hospital because he was wounded in the fight at Churubusco. Even though he was dying and both his legs were amputated, Harney had him propped up with the others facing Capultapec Castle, the last important American objective in the valley of Mexico.

 

 

 

Water color painting of the scene by eyewitness Samuel Chamberlain

Detail from a painting by Don Troiani on the same subject

In memory of the Irish soldiers of the heroic Battalion San Patricio, martyrs who gave their lives for the Mexican cause during the unjustified North American invasion of 1847.

 

The image to the right is detail of the round device at the top of the plaque.

A Mexican historian reported, "Their deportment deserves the greatest eulogies..." Santa Anna is reported to have said that he would have won, had he more fighters like the San Patricios.

The men of the San Patricio Battalion were not all Irish nor were they all Catholic. Of the 72 deserters captured: 27 were Irish, 15 American, 3 German, 3 Scotch, 2 Quebecians, 2 English, 2 French, and one from Messina (in Sicily before it was part of Italy). See the listing in Appendix V, L of known San Patricos. Of those known San Patricios listed (127) 40 were from Ireland and another 11 had Irish surnames but shown as coming from the U.S., Canada or Great Britain;31 from the United States or unknown; 14 were from Germany and there were 7 each from Great Britain/England, Scotland and Mexico. Contrary to some published reports, there was no connection between the San Patricio, Texas Irish and the San Patricio Battalion. While religion may have played a part in some of the desertions, Miller points out that many of the Irish were not gallant soldiers of the romantic era troubled with pangs of religious and conscience concerns but trouble makers in the U.S. Army who had escaped from guard houses where they had been confined for various offenses before they found the need to desert. The real draw, he argues, was the freedom from prosecution not persecution, money, land, rank and senoritas or all of them. He also pointed out the ferocity of some their fighting had more to do with not wanting to be recaptured and face charges than valor and bravery.

Most of the illustrations and pictures used in this section and the one previous were provided courtesy of the website of the Descendants of the Mexican War Veterans and include the paintings of Carl Nebel, Marcus J. Wright and Samuel Chamberlain. All of these men were contemporary artists of the period. The color paintings of the San Patricios are from works done by the highly respected artist Don Troiani. Mr. Troiani's attention to detail and authenticity are well documented and appreciated. Full size and other sized lithographs of his works are available for sale via the internet. Simply due a search of his name. The long vertical maps of the Mexican campaigns were from originals by Edward D. Mansfield.