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Three Months in the Southern States
218 pages, Paperback
Published January 8, 2024
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September 13, 2025
What many people don't know is that there were several soldier-observers of other nationalities who accompanied the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Lieutenant Colonel Fremantle is the most famous of these, probably because of his portrayal in the 1993 film, Gettysburg. But forget everything you remember from that movie about Colonel Fremantle. He did not strut along the battlefield in his Coldstream Guards uniform and he certainly didn't do it sipping tea from a china cup.
The real Colonel Fremantle was on leave and undertook his observations of the Confederate Army as more of a tourist than as any representative of Her Majesty's government. He dressed very plainly, and suffered the same deprivations that most suffered in the South during the war. And, had you met Colonel Fremantle at Gettysburg, his appearance would have not impressed you, especially because he had just completed a journey that started in El Paso and during which he traveled throughout the Southern states, meeting just about every imaginable Confederate person of note. His journey took him to Gettysburg — the only battle he personally witnessed — and then on to New York City, where he found himself in the middle of the draft riots.
I rated Three Months in the Southern States highly because the colonel is an articulate writer and because this is a valuable primary source document… one that does not present the same picture that we hold today of the South in 1863. Colonel Fremantle sees the Southern armies as spirited and effective and he does not hold the "Yankee" army as being worthy of consideration. He considered almost all of the Southerners he met as being "gallant" and capable. He did not view Gettysburg as a Union victory, he observed that the Negro slaves were actually very happy with their lives, and he believed wholeheartedly that the Southern cause would prevail. In many ways, Colonel Fremantle would fit right in with the "Lost Cause" supporters.
In the end, you have to respect that this is a primary source document. Primary source documents are valuable because they suffer from less later interpretation… but that freedom from later interpretation does not make them accurate. In this case, we see and hear what Colonel Fremantle sees and hears… and it is important to remember that he was living and traveling with people who wanted him to see things a certain way. And it helps that the Southerners' perspectives seem to fit in well with Colonel Fremantle's own world view.
And so, I think this is a good book to pick up and read, provided that you recognize that these are the observations of a time and place as seen through a particular lens. That does not lessen its value; in fact, it may be more valuable because it opens a window to how the Confederates viewed the war, their world, and their future.
The real Colonel Fremantle was on leave and undertook his observations of the Confederate Army as more of a tourist than as any representative of Her Majesty's government. He dressed very plainly, and suffered the same deprivations that most suffered in the South during the war. And, had you met Colonel Fremantle at Gettysburg, his appearance would have not impressed you, especially because he had just completed a journey that started in El Paso and during which he traveled throughout the Southern states, meeting just about every imaginable Confederate person of note. His journey took him to Gettysburg — the only battle he personally witnessed — and then on to New York City, where he found himself in the middle of the draft riots.
I rated Three Months in the Southern States highly because the colonel is an articulate writer and because this is a valuable primary source document… one that does not present the same picture that we hold today of the South in 1863. Colonel Fremantle sees the Southern armies as spirited and effective and he does not hold the "Yankee" army as being worthy of consideration. He considered almost all of the Southerners he met as being "gallant" and capable. He did not view Gettysburg as a Union victory, he observed that the Negro slaves were actually very happy with their lives, and he believed wholeheartedly that the Southern cause would prevail. In many ways, Colonel Fremantle would fit right in with the "Lost Cause" supporters.
In the end, you have to respect that this is a primary source document. Primary source documents are valuable because they suffer from less later interpretation… but that freedom from later interpretation does not make them accurate. In this case, we see and hear what Colonel Fremantle sees and hears… and it is important to remember that he was living and traveling with people who wanted him to see things a certain way. And it helps that the Southerners' perspectives seem to fit in well with Colonel Fremantle's own world view.
And so, I think this is a good book to pick up and read, provided that you recognize that these are the observations of a time and place as seen through a particular lens. That does not lessen its value; in fact, it may be more valuable because it opens a window to how the Confederates viewed the war, their world, and their future.
Displaying 1 of 1 review