Fronteras: Love, war, and an immigrant story — Novel explores the forgotten role of the Irish in the Mexican-American War

By Norma Martinez,

Published April 7, 2023 at 4:00 AM CDT

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The Battle of Churubusco -- Fought near the city of Mexico 20th of August 1847 / J. Cameron. [New York] : Lith. & pub. by N. Currier, c1846.

Library of Congress

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The mass hanging of San Patricios, as portrayed by Samuel Chamberlain, c. 1867.

Public domain

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A bust of John Riley, the leader of El Batallón de San Patricio, is located at the Plaza San Jacinto in Mexico City.

Courtesy of Reyna Grande

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"A Ballad of Love and Glory" author Reyna Grande poses with a cannon at the Palo Alto Battlefield in Brownsville, Texas. The battle between the U.S. and Mexican forces precipitated the Mexican-American War.

Courtesy of Reyna Grande.

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Author Reyna Grande sits in front of a cannon from convento Churubusco in Mexico City. The Battle of Churubusco was the final battle of El Batallón de San Patricio. Most of the foreign soldiers were either killed or captured in battle.

Courtesy of Reyna Grande.

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Author Reyna Grande in front of a chapel in Clifden, Ireland — John Riley's birthplace.

Courtesy of Reyna Grande

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Author Reyna Grande poses in front of a plaque dedicated to El Batallón de San Patricio. The plaque honor the foreign soldiers who fought for Mexico during the Mexican American War (1846-1848). The plaque is located in the Plaza San Jacinto in Mexico City.

Courtesy of Reyna Grande

A disputed zone between the Rio Grande and the Nueces River propelled the United States and Mexico into war in 1846.

The nearly two-year Mexican-American War occurred a decade after Texas declared its independence from Mexico, and months after Texas was annexed by the U.S.

The U.S. set its sights on acquiring more Mexican territory and declared war in the name of Manifest Destiny. Mexico called it an invasion.

An often forgotten part of history comes in the soldiers who aided the Mexican Army during the war.

Irish, German and other immigrants who fled poor conditions in their home countries would later desert the U.S. Army due to ill treatment and religious discrimination.

They joined the fight on the Mexican side, where they were promised land, promotions, and the freedom to practice Catholicism.

The soldiers fought as part of the El Batallón de San Patricio, the Saint Patrick’s Battalion, led by Irishman John Riley.

The story of the San Patricios is told in the novel “A Ballad of Love and Glory” by award-winning writer and memoirist, Reyna Grande. It weaves a love story into the true tale of the San Patricios.

Grande said while the novel is a work of historical fiction, it shines a light on a key — and often whitewashed — piece of U.S. history,

Ara Arbabzadeh; Texas Public Radio / Marian Navarro

Author and memoirist Reyna Grande is the author of "A Ballad of Love and Glory," a historical fiction that explores the role of Irish and foreign soldiers who fought for the Mexican Army during the Mexican-American War.

“What I wanted to do with the novel was to always honor the historical events and write about them the way they really happened and not take creative license to manipulate the events,” she said. “That has already been happening for years and years and years. “

Grande said she resonated with John Riley’s story while writing the novel.

“We're both from different cultures, different centuries. That immigrant experience is the same,” she said. “The same heartbreak, the same trauma, the same yearning for home.”

Grande will discuss her book on a special panel hosted by Sandra Cisneros at the San Antonio Book Festival, April 15.

Click here for details.

Grande commissioned two original songs for the novel: