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48 Irishmen during this period, and that they formed the initial company.

As the war went on the St. Patrick's unit grew to over 200 men in two companies. Aside from the Irish who formed just under half the outfit they ranged in nationality from Americans to Germans to English, with seemingly a bit of everything in between, but the Irish nature of the unit, at least in the popular imagination, was set by Riley's choice of its name and the decision, almost certainly taken by him, to create Irish-themed colours for the company. This emerald green flag had an Irish harp on one side surmounted by the Mexican coat of arms. Above were the words "Libertad por la Republica Mexicana," and below "Erin go Bragh". The other side of the colours contained the image of Saint Patrick, with the words "San Patricio" underneath. These colours were first sighted in January 1847 and may have been stitched together by the nuns of San Luis Potasi.

Fighting For Mexico

The unit served in the defence of Monterrey and then at the Battle of Angostura - which the Americans call Buena Vista - on the 23rd February 1847. They seem to have been equipped with two 24 pound cannon and one 16 pounder. (Jack Bauer, the author of The Mexican War claims that all three cannon were 16 pounders) They used these weapons to great effect to blast holes in the American ranks. The Mexicans were able to take advantage of the chaos to advance and capture two American 6 pounder guns.

Although the battle was technically a draw, the Mexican forces withdrew south the next day. The St. Patrick's men had suffered horrendous casualties: 23 dead and 6 wounded out of their complement of about 80.

On the 18th April 1847 the foreign volunteers fought in the battle of Cerro Gordo in Veracruz. We don't know what their casualties were, but given that Cerro Gordo was a clear defeat for the Mexicans, they cannot have been any less than those suffered at Angostura.

The final battle took place on the 20th August 1847 at Churubusco, a large, walled monastery in Mexico City that guarded the southern approach to the city. In preparation for the city's defence, the government had created a foreign legion that was open to any foreign national resident in Mexico. Many of the recruits were actually deserters from the American army who had made the way to Mexico City, and in July 1847 the military authorities combined the St. Patricks's artillery unit with this foreign legion. Riley later claimed that he brought 142 men to Mexico City,

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