Autobiography of an English Soldier In the United States Army

by George Ballentine

This book, "Autobiography of an English Soldier In the United States Army", by George Ballentine, is a replication of a book originally published before 1854. It has been restored by human beings, page by page, so that you may enjoy it in a form as close to the original as possible.

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1853

Reviews

[Roger Burk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little gem of a book is a memoir of a Briton (actually a Scot) who enlisted in the US Army just in time for the Mexican War. He is a remarkably good writer, and tolerably well educated, inserting references to Shakespeare and Milton every now and then. He had previously served an enlistment in the British Army, but the only direct comparison he makes between the two services is to deplore the poor provision for the comfort of American soldiers, for instance in providing poor food and no mattresses to sleep on. He does not complain of being brutally treated himself, but he does say that many junior officers used barbarous and cruel punishment for minor offences. To this he attributes many dozens of desertions in Mexico. Some of the deserters were captured fighting for the Mexicans; they were quickly court-martialed and hanged. Another cause of desertion was religious--his regiment was almost all foreigners, chiefly Irish, and some of them objected to fighting fellow Catholics.

The book is full of interesting and unexpected observations. Americans generally admired their army but despised their soldiers. When the regiment stayed for a while in Tampa Bay, Florida, Seminole Indians would visit the camp from time to time. This was shortly after the Seminole War, but the soldiers were instructed to leave them alone. At another camp, the soldiers were able to get whiskey by knocking on the windows of the slave quarters--apparently the slaves could go into town to buy whiskey but the soldiers couldn't. When the American landing force hit the beach near Vera Cruz, there were various neutral ships standing by to watch the action: French, British, and Spanish. Alas, the only opposition was inland.

The writer has great admiration for the ability, wisdom, and humanity of Gen Winfield Scott, who commanded the expedition. The landing at Vera Cruz was exceedingly well prepared and organized. Scott forced the capitulation of the fort at Vera Cruz by bombardment, sparing the widespread destruction and killing that would have resulted from an assault. The Mexicans captured at Cerro Gordo were released on parole rather than confined. (Badly wounded Americans were left in the care of Mexican doctors when the army moved on, and they were well treated.) When Mexico City surrendered, Scott kept his troops camped on the outskirts, preventing widespread despoiling of the populace. He insisted on buying provisions from the populace rather than seizing them (though on a small scale there was some appropriation of needed items by soldiers, and some vandalism).

The army left Vera Cruz with a strength of 10,000; when they took Mexico City they were down to 6,000. Perhaps 800 had become casualties of war; 3,200 were lost to diseases like dysentery. (The Mexicans considered fighting on for a while, but the US army was reinforced to 12,000 and the Mexicans agreed to negotiate.) On the voyages back to the States, many additional soldiers died of smallpox and yellow fever.

The author finds Mexicans to be poor soldiers, poor marksmen and also timid--they never stuck around to cross bayonets with charging Americans, though they generally greatly outnumbered them. But as individuals they did a good job defending themselves from soldiers turned robbers, so "Mexicans will fight when they have something worth fighting for."

After a truce, the American soldiers were allowed to visit Mexico City, where "inhabitants and soldiers mingled together on mutually good terms." This was during the day, but there was great danger of robbery or assassination after dark. The writer found the city pleasant and pretty, but with an extraordinary level of public drunkenness. Unlike England and America, he says, poverty is banished to the suburbs. There and in the countryside he finds the peasantry living in abominable dirt, slovenliness, and misery.

[Al · Rating 3 out of 5]

George Ballentine was a Scot who emigrated to America and, unable to find work in his trade, enlisted in the American army at the time of the Mexican War (1845). After serving three years, he wrote this memoir of his enlistment. It's well-written; he was clearly well-educated and articulate. His style is so clean one wonders if the text has been updated and corrected, but there is no mention of that. At any rate, it's smooth reading and a fascinating look into military life of that period. I read the Lakeside Press edition, published as one of an annual series of historical contemporaneous memoirs dealing with various periods and places in American history. The Lakeside Press edition of Ballentyne's memoir is distinguished by an excellent historical introduction by William Goetzmann of the University of Texas which goes into great and interesting detail about the early days of Texas, including its time as an independent republic, and then the series of events and battles which led to Mexico ceding it and other southwestern land to the United States at the conclusion of the Mexican War. Ballentine's memoir deals with only a small portion of that story, so the introduction is useful context for his tale.

[Debbie Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Number 84 in the RR Donnelly Lakeside Classics...from 1986. Interesting perspective of the surroundings rather than war scenes.

[Avis Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very detailed account by an author who was more cultured than the average soldier of his day. Ballentine saw action as an infantryman at the battle of Cerro Gordo and later became an artillerist.