John Miller, in his
book; “Shamrock and
Sword” writes that
the desertion rate
for American forces
was the highest
during this conflict
as compared to other
wars. According to
Miller, the rate was
8.3%, compared to
5.3% for World War
II and 4.1% for the
Vietnam War. All the
other wars in which
Americans
participated came in
at less then 2%.4
Peter Stevens, in
his book; “The
Rogue’s March: The
Saint Patrick’s
Battalion” wrote
that no U.S. Army
has ever encountered
the problems of
desertion that
plagued Generals
Zachary Taylor and
Winfred Scott. He
adds that of nearly
40,000 regulars,
5,331 deserted.
5
