Batallón de San Blas

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The San Blas Battalion was a Mexican infantry unit founded in 1821 in San Blas, Nayarit. Under the name Batallón Activo Guardacostas de San Blas (San Blas Active Coastguard Battalion), it saw action on several occasions culminating in the Mexican-American War. The battalion participated in the Battle of Chapultepec, where commanded by Lt. Colonel Felipe Santiago Xicoténcatl, aided in the defense of the Castle. Of the 632 men comprising the battalion, only 20 survived the battle.

It is said that Lt. Col. Xicoténcatl, refusing the idea of letting the American forces capture the Mexican flag identifying his battalion and severely wounded, wrapped himself with the flag and died beside his men. Nowadays, this flag is displayed in the Museo Nacional de Historia (National Museum of History) located in the Chapultepec Castle. An inscription below it reads as follows:

La defensa del Castillo de Chapultepec estuvo bajo la responsabilidad del general Nicolás Bravo, quien disponía de 200 cadetes del Colegio Militar y 632 soldados del Batallón de San Blas, al mando del teniente coronel Felipe Santiago Xicoténcatl, que trató de contener a los invasores en el bosque. Aniquilado el batallón de San Blas, los norteamericanos embistieron por el poniente y el sur del Colegio Militar, donde fueron detenidos durante algunas horas por los cadetes; pero más tarde las divisiones de Quitman y Pillow lograron escalar el cerro a costa de muchas bajas mortales.

Which stands for:

The Defense of the Chapultepec Castle was unther the responsibility of General Nicolás Bravo, who, at the head of 200 cadets of the Military Academy and 632 Soldiers of the San Blas battalion, tried to stop the invaders in the woods. Annihilated the San Blas Battalion, the Americans pushed on the western and southern wings of the Casttle, whete they were stopped for some hours by the cadets, even though later Quitman and Pilow's divisions managed to reach the castle at the cost of many casualties.