Catholics treated badly during Mexican war, historian says

Published: 2003-11-03

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Catholic soldiers in the U.S. Army, most of them Irish immigrants who enlisted with a promise of U.S. citizenship for their service, were treated badly by their superiors prior to the outbreak of the Mexican-American War, according to an American Catholic historian who teaches in Mexico and has studied the conflict. In the Army back then, "there were no Catholic chaplains. The officers required attendance in church, but they were Protestant chapels. Bibles were handed out by the American Bible Association," said Michael Hogan, who is head of the humanities department at the American School of Guadalajara, Mexico. "Almost 50 percent of the Army were immigrants, and most of them were Irish," he added. "They were singled out for punishment, and were assigned the grunt work -- cleaning latrines." Along the Texas-Mexico border, immigrant soldiers performed menial tasks, Hogan said, because Army brass were wary of importing slaves from Southern states for fear they would escape and flee to Mexico. Instead, more than 9,200 Army soldiers deserted during the Mexican-American war -- "a larger number than all our other wars combined," Hogan noted. Again, most of the deserters were immigrants, and most of the immigrants were Irish. And many of the Irish fought for Mexico under the banner of the San Patricio (St. Patrick) Battalion.

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