John Murphy, Irish

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...

, fl. 1846-48. Murphy was a native of

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

who later served with the

Saint Patrick's Battalion The Saint Patrick's Battalion (), later reorganized as the Foreign Legion of Patricios, was a Mexican Army unit which fought against the United States in the Mexican–American War. Consisting of several hundred mostly Irish and other Catholic ...

. He had deserted the U.S. army 8th Infantry on 17 May 1846, and joined the Mexican army. Because the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

had not yet declared war on

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

at the time of Murphy's desertion, he could not be hung for his actions. Murphy, along with several other members of the battalion received fifty lashes and were branded with the letter D for "deserter" on the cheeks of their faces. He was held captive by the US army until the war concluded. Upon his release from prison, he received his pay from the Mexican government in May 1848, and settled in Mexico. He is ancestor to the Murphy-Martinez family of

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

, and one of the few documented members of the battalion to have verified descendants in present-day Mexico.The economist Blanca Morales Murphy, wife of the Mexican Secretary of Finance Gustavo Petricioli, is also a direct descendant.

References

* p. 206, no. 23, ''The Irish Soldiers of Mexico'', Michael Hogan, 1998. * *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy (Saint Patrick's Battalion), John Irish soldiers in the United States Army Military personnel from County Mayo 19th-century Irish people