una storia poco conosciuta quella del Battaglione 'San Patricio', formato da disertori irlandesi durante l'invasione del Messico da parte degli USA nel 1846-47.
Costretti a combattere contro altri cattolici per una causa ingiusta, molti giovani irlandesi abbandonarono l'esercito USA e si presentarono per combattere come volontari nell'esercito messicano. Formarono un battaglione di soli irlandesi, con una bandiera verde che conteneva i simboli dell'arpa (Irlanda) e dell'aquila che divora il serpente (Messico).
Dopo aver combattuto valorosamente a prezzo di gravi perdite in diverse battaglie, caddero quasi tutti prigionieri degli yankees durante la difesa di Churubusco, nei pressi di Città del Messico.
Giudicati da un tribunale militare, molti di loro furono impiccati o marchiati a fuoco sul volto con la lettera 'D' nel momento stesso che la bandiera tricolore era ammainata e quella a stelle e strisce veniva izzata sulla rocca di Chapultepec, segnale della resa nazionale all'invasore.*
Il Messico riconobbe il valore di quegli irlandesi, concedendo loro la cittadinanza e un alto riconoscimento nella storia ufficiale del paese. Alcuni rimasero in Messico, loro nuova patria, dove ancora vivono i loro discendenti.

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*l'infame trattato di Guadalupe-Hidalgo del 1848 obbligava il Messico a cedere agli USA la metà del proprio territorio (circa due milioni di kmq), includendo la California, il Nuovo Messico, l'Utah, l'Arizona e il Texas.
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The San Patricios:
Mexico's Fighting Irish

by Mark R. Day

In 1846, thousands of immigrants, mostly Irish, joined the US army and were sent with Gen. Zachary Taylor's army 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 deserted 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.

They fought bravely in most of the campaigns of the two-year conflict, but their efforts failed to stem the yankee onslaught. Soon the US 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 Churubsco, 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.

To this day, many US historians regard these men as traitors, but Mexicans see them as heroes, honoring them every Sept. 12 with a special commenoration. In 1993, the Irish began their own ceremony to honor them in Clifden, Galway, Riley's hometown.

Some historians, relying on court martial testimony, portray the San Patricios as confused and bewildered young men who drank heavily and later regretted their choices. Other analysts wonder what could have motivated a group of drunken adventurers to don the enemy's uniform and fight to the death.

"The San Patricios were alienated both from American society as well as the US Army," says Professor Kirby Miller of the University of Missour, 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."

Riley has hardly an unfocused rebel. As an Irishman and Catholic he was undoubtedly appalled and shocked at the behavior of the Texas Rangers and other volunteers who Gen. Taylor admittedly could not control. Among their crimes were murder, rape, robbery and the desecration of Catholic churches.

While held prisoner in Mexico City, Riley wrote to a friend in Michigan: "Be not deceived by a nation that is at war with Mexico, for a friendlier and more hospitable people than the Mexicans there exists not on the face of the earth."
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vedi anche:
http://www.irish-society.org/Hedgema..._Patricios.htm