Event
March 17, 2023
4:00 pm to 5:30 pm CDT
Location
President James K. Polk Home and Museum 301 West 7th Street Columbia, TN 38401
About this event
During the war with Mexico, several hundred immigrants who had joined the U.S. Army deserted and went over to the Mexican Army. Mostly Irish Catholics, they deserted after being subjected to religious persecution and xenophobia from superior officers. Led by John Riley, the deserters formed a crack fighting unit called the Saint Patrick's Battalion, and they fought in virtually every major battle of the war. Late in the war, at the Battle of Churubusco, 72 members of the unit were captured by the Americans. After a military tribunal, 30 were executed by hanging and the rest were whipped and branded with the letter "D" for deserter. It remains the largest mass execution in American history.
This program is presented by the President James K. Polk Home and Museum and is part of a speaker series featuring our temproary exhibit "Shaping a Nation: Tennessee Volunteers and the Mexican American War."
Admission
This event is free, however please reserve a spot here.