Editing Saint Patrick's Battalion (section)

===Trials===
The {{lang|es|San Patricios}} captured by the U.S. Army were treated and punished as traitors for desertion in time of war. Seventy-two men were immediately charged with desertion by the Army.{{sfn|Howes|2003|p=181}}

Two separate courts-martial were held, one at [[Tacubaya]] on 23 August, and another at [[San Ángel]] on 26 August. At neither of these trials were the men represented by lawyers nor were transcripts made of the proceedings. This lack of formal legal advice could account for the fact that several of the men claimed that drunkenness had led them to desert (a common defense in military trials at the time that sometimes led to lighter sentences), and others described how they were forced to join the Mexican Army in some form or another. The majority of the {{lang|es|San Patricios}} either offered no defense or their defenses were not recorded. Wealthy Mexicans came to the {{lang|es|San Patricios}}' defence at the trials, and members of Mexico's first families visited them in prison.{{sfn|Foos|2002|p=112}}