(MEXICAN WAR.) Winfield Scott. General Orders on the court martial and executions of the San Patricios who had defected to Mexico. 3 items, total of 7 pages on 5 disbound leaves, each 7½ x 4¾ inches, all issued "by command of Major General Scott" and all but one signed by his aide-de-camp and son-in-law Henry Lee Scott (1814-1886); minor wear, later page numbers added in ink, 3 holes punched in inner margin of first order. Tacubaya, Mexico, 8-10 September 1847 During the Mexican War, a substantial number of American troops deserted and fought for Mexico. Most of them were recent immigrants and/or Irish Catholics who were disillusioned by American xenophobia, and sympathetic to Mexico and its established Catholic Church. Reorganized as the Saint Patrick's Battalion or Batallón de San Patricio, they became one of the hardest-fighting units in the Mexican Army. Most were killed or captured at the 20 August 1847 Battle of Churubusco, with the prisoners swiftly court-martialed.
Offered here are three General Orders (281, 282, and 283) setting forth the result of the two Court Martial sessions, all issued by General Winfield Scott from the Headquarters of the Army. 65 prisoners are named, along with their original regiments. The majority of the names are clearly Irish, with numerous German names interspersed as well. The first order, dated 8 September, commands that the bulk of the prisoners "be hanged by the neck until he is dead." Extenuating circumstances are given for several, including one "out of consideration for a son, a private in the same company, who has remained faithful to his colors." Three of the prisoners had deserted before the formal declaration of war, and thus could not legally be executed. Instead, they were given "fifty lashes with a rawhide whip, well laid on the bare back of each, and . . . each be branded on a cheek with the letter D, kept a close prisoner as long as this army remains in Mexico, and then be drummed out of service." One of these three, John Patrick Riley (1817-1850) (here spelled Reilly) had been the commander of one company of the San Patricios. Order No. 283, dated 10 September, lists additional soldiers designated for hanging, with an appended note in type: "Executed September 13, 1847, at Miscoac." This was the date of the Battle of Chapultepec, at which the prisoners were famously hung in view of the battlefield so their last moments would be in witness of a Mexican defeat.
The execution of 50 soldiers over four days was the largest mass execution event in the history of the United States. The San Patricios and particularly John Riley are still regarded as heroes in Mexico.
With--a similar General Order no. 47 pardoning one "Luz Bega, a Mexican, charged with enticing soldiers to desert the American Standard" due to faulty evidence but urging that "the first clear case of conviction shall certainly be followed by the punishment of death according to the well known laws of War in such cases." Signed by Henry Lee Scott "by command of Major General Scott." Mexico, 7 February 1848.