Shamrock and Sword - The San Patricio Battalion

Shamrock and Sword – Robert Ryal Miller

A Book Review by J.C. Sullivan

A part of Irish-American, or perhaps Irish-North American history, is little known in the U.S. but rather well-known in Mexico. The history of the San Patricio Battalion of the Mexican Army is mythological to many Mexicans and unknown to most American-Irish.

In the 1840s, conflict was occurring when the governments of Mexico and the United States could not agree on peaceful terms to resolve their dispute over land. President Polk moved troops opposite the Mexican border along the Rio Grande River. Among these troops were many foreign born soldiers. 25% of them, to be exact, were Irish. War with Mexico was begun in 1846.

Conditions in the American Army were crude – discipline was meted out horrifically when compared to today’s modern Army. Living in tents in the southern Texas’ environment was brutal. Food was ill-prepared and water was brackish. Given these conditions, when soldiers did get some time off in town, alcohol, handsome women and the promise of land in Mexico lured many Irishmen to desert the American Army and cross over to Mexico. Some were enticed with the promise land of their own if they joined the Mexican Army. Unfortunately, they ended up fighting against the American Army. With the latter victorious in the war, military court martials settled the fate of the San Patricios.

Robert Ryan Miller’s Shamrock and Sword (Oklahoma University Press, Norman, OK) is a masterpiece of scholarly research gleaned from American and Mexican newspaper accounts. Mexican government records were not made available to him in his research;  bribery is a way of life south of our border.

For Mexican readers, Miller, Professor Emeritus of History at California State University, sets the story straight, correcting their popular myths. At the same time he educates Americans about what really happened. More importantly, in this reviewer’s opinion, he devotes a chapter to Why They Defected. The American War with Mexico produced the highest rate of desertion in American military history.

A key figure in the San Patricio story is artillerist John Riley (Reilly), who said he was Galway-born.  According to Miller his home parish might have been Clifden. In 1845, when he joined the American Army, he stated he was thirty-five years old. This would give him a birth date of 1817. Miller indicates that by Riley’s own testimony he was a veteran of the British Army. He had demonstrated previous artillery expertise. Miller surmises that he might have deserted the British Army while he was possibly stationed in Canada.

After hostilities between the two nations ceased, the deserters were sentenced to death. Riley and others were eventually spared. However, in San Angel, sixteen San Patricos were hung.  Two days later the remaining thirty convicted deserters were hung when the American flag was raised over Churubusco, signaling the American victory.

Most American soldiers in Mexico approved of the hangings. As far as they were concerned these men were traitors.  But Why They Defected is ably demonstrated and brought to light by Miller.

 Irish men have long jumped into the military uniform of other nations to escape poverty, for adventure or for what they have perceived to be righteous causes. The same reasons Miller postulates are applicable to Irish men throughout history.  One can conclude many things from Shamrock and Sword. This writer believes Irish men, and men the world over, are perhaps a bit too keen to put on the uniform of another nation for whatever reason. Throughout history we have done so gallantly and honorably. However, in the process, we have created many widows and grieving family. And wars go on and on and on.

 My final conclusion in reading Miller’s story is I have come to believe that war is the natural state, peace is unnatural. Irish men, men everywhere, need to think differently about matters and not take matters at face value, i.e. popular thought.

Miller’s work should be taught in military academies. Why They Defect should be coupled with Why They Fight. Maybe in the process all men will be less apt to stand up for others when they should be standing up for their own nation and write another story, Why Aren’t We Being Friends?

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Sullivan is a military veteran and an internationally-published writer residing in northeast Ohio.  He is fifth-generation American-Irish on his maternal side and 4^th generation on his paternal side.