Lawley, the Austrian, and I drove into Hagerstown this
morning, and General Longstreet moved into a new position on the Williamsport
road, which he was to occupy for the present. We got an excellent room in the
Washington Hotel on producing greenbacks. Public opinion in Hagerstown seems to
be pretty evenly divided between North and South, and probably accommodates
itself to circumstances. For instance, yesterday the women waved their
handkerchiefs when the Yankee cavalry were driven through the town, and to-day
they went through the same compliment in honour of 3500 Yankee (Gettysburg)
prisoners whom I saw marched through en, route for Richmond. I overheard
the conversation of some Confederate soldiers about these prisoners. One
remarked, with respect to the Zouaves, of whom there were a few — “Those
red-breeched fellows look as if they could fight, but they don't, though; no, not
so well as the blue-bellies.”
Lawley introduced me to General Stuart in the streets of
Hagerstown to-day. He is commonly called Jeb Stuart, on account of his
initials; he is a good-looking, jovial character, exactly like his photographs.
He has certainly accomplished wonders, and done excellent service in his
peculiar style of warfare. He is a good and gallant soldier, though he
sometimes incurs ridicule by his harmless affectation and peculiarities. The
other day he rode through a Virginian town, his horse covered with garlands of
roses. He also departs considerably from the severe simplicity of dress adopted
by other Confederate generals; but no one can deny that he is the right man in
the right place. On a campaign, he seems to roam over the country according to
his own discretion, and always gives a good account of himself, turning up at
the right moment; and hitherto he has never got himself into any serious
trouble.
I rode to General Longstreet's camp, which is about two
miles in the direction of Williamsport, and consulted him about my difficulties
with regard to my leave. He was most good-natured about it, and advised me
under the circumstances to drive in the direction of Hancock; and, in the event
of being ill-treated on my way, to insist upon being taken before the nearest
U.S. officer of the highest rank, who would probably protect me. I determined
to take his advice at once; so I took leave of him and of his officers.
Longstreet is generally a very taciturn and undemonstrative man, but he was
quite affectionate in his farewell. His last words were a hearty hope for the
speedy termination of the war. All his officers were equally kind in their
expressions on my taking leave, though the last sentence uttered by Latrobe was
not entirely reassuring—viz., "You may take your oath he'll be caught for
a spy."
I then rode to General Lee's camp, and asked him for a pass
to get through his lines. We had a long talk together, and he told me of the
raid made by the enemy, for the express purpose of arresting his badly wounded
son (a Confederate Brigadier-General), who was lying in the house of a relation
in Virginia. They insisted upon carrying him off in a litter, though he had
never been out of bed, and had quite recently been shot through the thigh. This
seizure was evidently made for purposes of retaliation. His life has since been
threatened, in the event of the South retaliating for Burnside's alleged
military murders in Kentucky. But few officers, however, speak of the
Northerners with so much moderation as General Lee; his extreme amiability
seems to prevent his speaking strongly against any one. I really felt quite
sorry when I said good-bye to so many gentlemen from whom I had received so
much disinterested kindness.
I am now about to leave the Southern States, after
travelling quite alone throughout their entire length and breadth, including
Texas and the trans-Mississippi country, for nearly three months and a half, during
which time I have been thrown amongst all classes of the population — the
highest, the lowest, and the most lawless. Although many were very sore about
the conduct of England, I never received an uncivil word from anybody, but, on
the contrary, I have been treated by all with more than kindness.* I have never
met a man who was not anxious for a termination of the war; and I have never
met a man, woman, or child who contemplated its termination as possible without
an entire separation from the now detested Yankee. I have never been
asked for alms or a gratuity by any man or woman, black or white. Every one
knew who I was, and all spoke to me with the greatest confidence. I have rarely
heard any person complain of the almost total ruin which has befallen so many.
All are prepared to undergo still greater sacrifices, — they contemplate and
prepare to receive great reverses which it is impossible to avert. They look to
a successful termination of the war as certain, although few are sanguine
enough to fix a speedy date for it, and nearly all bargain for its lasting at
least all Lincoln's presidency. Although I have always been with the
Confederates in the time of their misfortunes, yet I never heard any person use
a desponding word as to the result of the struggle. When I was in Texas and
Louisiana, Banks seemed to be carrying everything before him, Grant was doing
the same in Mississippi, and I certainly did not bring luck to my friends at
Gettysburg. I have lived in bivouacs with all the Southern armies, which are as
distinct from one another as the British is from the Austrian, and I have never
once seen an instance of insubordination.
When I got back to Hagerstown, I endeavoured to make
arrangements for a horse and buggy to drive through the lines. With immense
difficulty I secured the services of a Mr ——, to take me to Hancock, and as
much farther as I chose to go, for a dollar a mile (greenbacks). I engaged also
to pay him the value of his horse and buggy, in case they should be confiscated
by either side. He was evidently extremely alarmed, and I was obliged to keep
him up to the mark by assurances that his horse would inevitably be seized by
the Confederates, unless protected by General Lee's pass in my possession.
_______________
* The only occasion on which I was roughly handled was when
I had the misfortune to enter the city of Jackson, Mississippi, just as the
Federals evacuated it. I do not complain of that affair, which, under the
circumstances, was not to be wondered at.
SOURCE: Sir Arthur James Lyon Fremantle, Three
Months in the Southern States: April-June, 1863, p. 292-7
