Abstract

STROBEL, Héctor. The Army of the East and the Limits of Patriotism, 1861-1863. Secuencia [online]. 2022, n.114, e2000.  Epub Sep 09, 2022. ISSN 2395-8464.  https://doi.org/10.18234/secuencia.v0i114.2000.

This article deals with the recruitment and the socio-political formation of the Army of the East (Mexico, 1861-1863). I am interested in showing that this army was integrated with a significant number of volunteers and patriots, but that the bulk of its ranks was nurtured by forced recruits, deprived of their freedom. This approach allows to understand the strategies that their generals developed, since forced recruitment conditioned their performance and, in a certain way, the results of the fights. I also analyze the role of the newspapers and the historiography to hide the facts within the conformation of the patriotic discourse, as well as the justifications of the generals for using the levy, the behavior of the troops recruited by force, the measures taken to prevent the desertion of soldiers and the consequences of having formed armies in this way without enough resources.

Keywords : Army of the East; patriotism; levy; recruitment; French intervention in Mexico.