One of the books that any Gettysburg aficionado must read is Arthur Fremantle's book "Three Months in the Southern States". This is a great behind the scenes look at the Confederacy from someone who was a neutral observer to the war.
Arthur Fremantle was born in 1835 and worked his way up the ladder to become a Lt. Col. in Her Majesty's Coldstream Guards. In March, 1863 he was able to take a leave of absence and travel to America to observe the war.
Throughout his book, he tells of the struggles that he encountered crossing the Texas desert, trying to reach the Mississippi River before the Union took control and he wouldn't be able to cross, and trying to reach General Lee's army....his ultimate goal.
During his travels, he ran across people, such as, John B. McGruder, Joseph E. Johnston, Edmund Kirby Smith, Braxton Bragg, and so many more. He also heard about the victory at Chancellorsville and also the wounding and eventual death of Stonewall Jackson.
It wasn't until June 27, 1863....4 days before the battle of Gettysburg that he finally met General James Longstreet. During his time spent with Longstreet, he was able to have long conversations with him about the war, battle strategies, and such. Col. Fremantle was able to observe the fighting on all three days of the battle but missed the charge itself on July 3. He was trying to get to the Seminary Cupola when the cannonade started and by the time he got back, the charge was done and overwith.
On July 7, Fremantle left Longstreet and with a note of neutrality, headed for New York City. On July 14, he noticed a lot of tensions in the streets....which progressively got worse....He had made it in time for the draft riots.
Finally on July 15, he left New York City for his long trip home to England.
Fremantle is one of those people (who, like Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain), became a "household" name after Michael Shaara's novel, "The Killer Angels". The book made him look a great deal more important to the cause than what he was, but he did have long discussions with Longstreet about the war and such. What most people don't seem to realize is that "The Killer Angels" is a book of fiction (this is why its located in the fiction section of the bookstore)....so we need to realize that these characters are built up to move the story along. Learn about the REAL Fremantle....read his book!
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Great post. Is there a recent reprint of this book? I remember trying to find it when I was doing research for my Civil War novel, and could not find an affordable copy.
ReplyDeleteI bought my copy a couple of years ago. I'm not sure how much I paid for it, but it couldn't have been too much...because I'm really cheap.
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