Editing Saint Patrick's Battalion (section)

===Sentences===
One soldier who claimed he was forced to fight by the Mexicans after he was captured by them, and who subsequently refused to do so, was sentenced to death by firing squad instead of hanging, along with another who was found not to have officially joined the Mexican Army.{{sfn|Howes|2003|p=181}}

Most of the convicted {{lang|es|San Patricios}} were sentenced to death by hanging: 30 from the Tacubaya trial and 18 from San Ángel. The rationale was that they had entered Mexican military service following the declaration of war. Execution by hanging was in violation of the contemporary [[Articles of War]], which stipulated that the penalty for desertion and/or defecting to the enemy during a time of war was death by [[firing squad]], regardless of the circumstances. Hanging was reserved only for spies (without uniform) and for "atrocities against civilians", neither of which activities were among the charges brought against any members of the Saint Patrick's Battalion.{{sfn|Hogan|2006}} Although more than 9,000 U.S. soldiers deserted the army during the Mexican–American War, only the {{lang|es|San Patricios}} (who unlike almost all other deserters had also fought against the United States) were punished by hanging.{{sfn|Hogan|1998|p=19}}

Those soldiers who had left military service before the official [[declaration of war]] on Mexico (Riley among them) were sentenced to "... receive 50 lashes on their bare backs, to be branded with the letter 'D' for deserter, and to wear iron yokes around their necks for the duration of the war."{{sfn|Frías|1984|p=173}} This, too, went against the Articles of War; deserters who left prior to a declaration of war were supposed to be branded, [[scourge]]d, ''or'' sentenced to hard labor. The ''San Patricios'' instead received all three punishments, a fate that once again was given to no other deserters during the war.{{sfn|Hogan|1997}}