Ballentine, George I Ballantine l. The contributor writes: "I am a Scotchman by birth, but enlisted into the American service." He states that he was some three months in the camp and trenches at Vera Cruz, Mexico, then describes the action of "General Twiggs, with his division, comprising the regiment to which I belonged," against the enemy in the battle of Cerro Gordo. 

      The BaIlentine (not BaIlantine) listed in the army documents (National Archives, Washington, D.C.) whose record accords with these details is George Ballentine. BalIentine's enlistment paper gives his birthplace as Renfrewshire, Scotland; his occupation as weaver; his age as thirty-three at the date of enlistment, Aug. 12, 1845, in New York City, for a period of five years. Other documents record Ballentine's serving in Companies I and F of the 1st Regt. U.S. Artillery, both of which participated in the battle of Cerro Gordo, April 1847, in the U.S. war with Mexico. Brig.-GeneraI David E. Twiggs commanded one of the divisions in this engagement. 
      Ballentine was – or became – a wellread man. In his article he compares his reaction under fire with that described by Goethe in Campaign in France; he brings in a phrase from Campbell's "Hohenlinden" and echoes a line from Macbeth. 

Author: Anne Lohrli; © University of Toronto Press, 1971.