Arrived at Montgomery, the capital of Alabama, at daylight,
and left it by another railroad at 5.30 A.M.
All State capitals appear to resemble one another, and look
like bits cut off from great cities. One or two streets have a good deal of
pretension about them; and the inevitable “Capitol,” with its dome, forms the
principal feature. A sentry stands at the door of each railway car, who
examines the papers of every passenger with great strictness, and even after
that inspection the same ceremony is performed by an officer of the
provost-marshal's department, who accompanies every train.1 The
officers and soldiers on this duty are very civil and courteous, and after
getting over their astonishment at finding that I am a British officer, they do
all they can to make me comfortable. They ask all sorts of curious questions
about the British army, and often express a strong wish to see one of our
regiments fight. They can hardly believe that the Coldstream is really
dressed in scarlet. To-day they entered gravely into a discussion amongst
themselves, as to whether British troops would have taken the position at
Fredericksburg. The arguments on both sides were very amusing, and opinion was
pretty evenly divided. We met three trains crammed full of soldiers for
Johnston's army. They belonged to Breckenridge's division of Bragg's army, and
all seemed in the highest spirits, cheering and yelling like demons. In the
cars to-day I fell in with the Federal doctor who was refused leave to pass
through General Johnston's lines; he was now en route for Richmond. He
was in full Yankee uniform, but was treated with civility by all the
Confederate soldiers. I had a long talk with him; he seemed a sensible man, and
did not attempt to deny the universal enthusiasm and determination of the
Southerners. He told me that General Grant had been very nearly killed at the
taking of Jackson. He thought the war would probably terminate by a blow-up in
the North.2 I had to change cars at West Point and at Atlanta! At
the latter place I was crammed into a desperately crowded train for
Chattanooga. This country, Georgia, is much more inhabited and cultivated than
Alabama. I travelled again all night.
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1 This rigid inspection is necessary to arrest
spies, and prevent straggling and absence without leave.
2 Notwithstanding the exasperation with which
every Southerner speaks of a Yankee, and all the talk about black flag and no
quarter, yet I never saw a Federal prisoner ill treated or insulted in any way,
although I have travelled hundreds of miles in their company.
SOURCE: Sir Arthur James Lyon Fremantle, Three
Months in the Southern States: April-June, 1863, p. 134-6
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