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In a monastery built by Franciscan monks on the site of an Aztec war god’s temple, a rogue battalion of cannoneers prepares to make its final stand along a strategic road to Mexico City. Reviled by its enemies and lionized by its allies, Saint Patrick’s Battalion will fight under an emerald green flag with the fury of the proud and the damned. And as James Alexander Thom’s extraordinary new novel reaches a shattering climax, the reader hurtles into a collision between true loyalty and true betrayal–and between the best and basest reasons for war.
Narrated by two soldiers on opposite sides of the Mexican-American War of 1846, Saint Patrick’s Battalion tells the true but little-known story of an Irish immigrant who deserted from the U.S. Army and was joined across enemy lines by hundreds of comrades. Driven by the abuses of Protestant West Point—trained officers and the realization that they were attacking fellow Catholics, John Riley and his San Patricios abandoned their adopted country and took their place proudly alongside the dashing Hidalgo horsemen and stolid native Indians who were being used by the Mexican army as cannon fodder against the foreign invaders. Though hopelessly misled by the vainglorious Santa Ana, and facing such future military legends as a brooding young Ulysses S. Grant and the brilliant captain Robert E. Lee, Riley and his fighters were responsible for an enormous number of American casualties–and would eventually pay a brutal price for their treachery.
Its narrative foreshadowing America’s Civil War, Saint Patrick’s Battalion asks haunting questions about American expansionism, racism, and the machinations of a war that began before it was declared. From horrific depictions of cannonade warfare to the quiet corners of doubt, courage, and love in men’s hearts and minds, James Alexander Thom’s novel takes us on an astounding adventure into beautiful, harsh Mexico–and dramatically chronicles a crucial, bloody chapter in the making of America.
- Sales Rank: #959882 in Books
- Brand: Novels - Fiction Ballantine Books
- Published on: 2006-08-22
- Released on: 2006-08-22
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.30" h x 1.10" w x 6.50" l, .90 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 304 pages
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In June of 1845, a group of immigrant Americans—called the San Patricio's, or St. Patrick's, Battalion—deserted Gen. Zachary Taylor's army and fought on the opposite side in the Mexican-American war, under the leadership of the elusive, charismatic James Riley. Thom (Panther in the Sky) has taken this forgotten incident from an almost forgotten war and turned it into a stirring tale that does everything that smart historical fiction ought to do: illuminating the past while throwing new light on the present. The story of this motley band of mostly Irish and German Catholics, driven to rebellion by the endemic racism and capricious cruelty of their officers, is told from two points of view. Augustin Juvero, a Mexican soldier speaking years later, provides essential context, but most of the novel is taken up by the journal (complete with vivid pencil drawings) of Paddy Quinn, a camp boy. Guerillas, gangs of rancheros that kill Americans on sight, torture, border disputation—all are portrayed with brutal and unsentimental simplicity in Quinn's voice. Not only a striking (and often horrific) account of pre–Civil War army life, Quinn's narrative beautifully conveys the boy's coming of age against a backdrop of eerily familiar war and rebellion. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Noted historical novelist Thom takes a painful period in American history and treats it with great imagination and verve, threading in unsettling parallels to the current war in Iraq. Homing in on real-life soldier John Riley, an Irishman who inspired many fellow immigrants to defect to the Mexican side during the -Mexican-American War, Thom also devotes many thought-provoking passages to the ethical implications of invading a foreign country. The diary passages of American camp-boy Paddy Quinn reveal the rough and shoddy treatment that Irish Catholic soldiers, often veterans of the British army, receive at the hands of officers who were educated at West Point but possess no combat experience. As tensions rise, the men desert in droves, and Paddy is torn between his great admiration for the charismatic Riley and his loyalty to his country. Meanwhile, Augusten Juvero, a Mexican cadet, relays his experience of the war and the enormous cost in casualties on both sides of the conflict. With its eerie parallels to modern-day warfare, this fine novel makes for gripping reading. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
Praise for James Alexander Thom and Sign-Talker
“Fresh, original, and vivid.”
–Larry McMurtry
“James Alexander Thom is one of the finest historical novelists writing today. He knows how to tell a cracking good yarn, cares passionately about getting his history right, and has a gift for illuminating those forgotten but fascinating corners of the American past with sheer storytelling power.”
–John Sugden, author of Tecumseh: A Life
“Excellent . . . It is at once an adventure story [and] a historical document. . . . Even though many readers know the story of Lewis and Clark,
Thom’s novel will give them new insight.”
–The Indianapolis Star (four-star review)
“The majesty of the scenery, the wonder of the stately tribes who greet–and menace–the expedition, and the expedition’s mix of soldiers, ne’er-do-wells, and French traders all combine to produce a strong novel about the days when Missouri was at the edge of the map.”
–The Kansas City Star
“This great journey halfway across a wilderness continent and back has never been told so compellingly, with so much dignity and wisdom.”
–Scott Russell Sanders, author of A Private History of Awe
Most helpful customer reviews
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful.
A Novel On America's Past Hatred For the Irish and Its Anti-Catholic Bigotry
By Caesar Warrington
At the time of the Mexican War (1846-1848) Irish immigration to the United States was at its height. Fear and bigotry of this growing Roman Catholic population led many Protestant Americans into so-called "nativist" movements, enabling harsh treatment of the Irish and literally fueling the fire of anti-Catholic riots in American cities. In part to escape this discrimination and also to obtain American citizenship, many Irishmen enlisted for service in the army; only to find worse the hatred and abuse from their Protestant officers and fellow soldiers. This allowed the Mexicans a great propaganda weapon, one that made it easy for them to send word throughout the Irish ranks of the American army that in Mexico they would be welcomed as fellow Roman Catholics. This resulted in the desertion of hundreds of Irish and German Catholic soldiers.
James Alexander Thom's SAINT PATRICK'S BATTALION is an exciting fictionalized account of the action taken by Pvt. John Riley and others like him who could no longer tolerate being whipped, gagged and branded simply because they were of a different race and religion. Riley made his way over to the Mexican forces where he was quickly made an officer and helped form the San Patricio Battalion of artillery. The story here is told through the journal of Padraic Quinn, an Irish campboy in the American army and interspersed with the recollections of Augustin Juvero, the son of Riley's Mexican lover, who was later to become one of the valiant military cadets, 'Los Ninos Heroes,' at the 1847 Battle of Chapultepec.
Further historical reading on this shame in America's history can be found in THE ROGUE'S MARCH by Peter F. Stevens and THE IRISH SOLDIERS OF MEXICO by Michael Hogan, among others.
41 of 50 people found the following review helpful.
A disappointment (a history teacher's review)
By DWD's Reviews
To start, let me establish my bonafides as a fan of Mr. Thom's work. Three of his novels sit on a shelf less than two feet from this computer. I have the featured review on one of his novels ("The Red Heart"). One of his books is on my Favorite Books List on my profile page.
So, I approached this book with much hope. Instead of his usual quality, I found this book to be simplistic, with less detail and bent on beating two points home time after time: the Irish were treated brutally and shamefully by the U.S. army during the Mexican War and the Mexican War was an unjust war.
Thom makes it clear in the opening dedication and acknowledgments that he is against the Iraq War and quite clearly he is drawing analogies between the two. However, Thom never really gets off of his twin focuses on the unjust war and the unjust treatment of the Irish. He never gets to his real strengths in his other books - bringing the reader into another world and teaching us about larger movements in history, but also about the day-to-day lives and goings on of our ancestors. Thom rarely gets beyond the superficial and that is a shame - and a loss to Thom's loyal readers because when his books are good they are fantastic.
Thom's format is the main cause of the failure of this book to be as excellent as his others. His chosen format is a diary of a 10-12 year old Irish-American boy (Quinn) with the U.S. Army and the remembrances of a Mexican man (Juvero)about his experiences during the war as a young boy 16 years later. The diary entries are the better of the two, but are often sketchy. The remembrances are very repetitive and full of Spanish phrases that must be annoying to readers who don't know any Spanish. He often comments about Manifest Destiny, the Irish and America's arrogance. It gets old - not that he wasn't right, but he made his point early and often - it's time to move on. I must admit that I started skimming his sections. I think that Juvero says it best on page 256: "Que Rollo! My preachings are a bore!"
So, to sum up: not his best work. I recommend you read any other Thom book before this one. My grade: D+.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful.
Refreshing New Look Into The Mexican/American War
By Ernesto Patino
Mr. Thom's novel, Saint Patrick's Battalion, ia a refreshing new look into the U.S. invasion of Mexico in 1846. Through Mr. Thom's description of the men (mostly Irish Catholics) who comprised the St. Patrick's Battalion, we are provided with a realistic account of the invasion itself and of the noble reasons that scores of Irish-born U.S. Soldiers switched sides and joined the Mexican Army to defend a weaker, Catholic nation. And they did it willingly and with the knowledge that they would face the gallows if American forces should defeat the Mexican Army, which of course they did. I recommend this book to anyone who has ever questioned the "manifest destiny" philosohpy that was used to justify the war against Mexico.
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