By Sir James Fergusson

Edited and with annotations and an introductory essay by Ben Wynne

Originally privately printed in Edinburgh in 1861

Lambertville, NJ: The True Bill Press.

ISBN 10: 0-9791116-3-3

ISBN 13: 978-0-979111631

Available September 2009. 176p. with index. $45.00 in hard cover only.

          In August 1861 Sir James Fergusson and his friend Robert Bourke began a three-month tour of North America and traveled extensively in Canada and the United States. Both men were politically and socially well-connected. Fergusson was a Scottish Conservative M.P. and a landed aristocrat and chief of the Clan Fergus(s)on. Bourke, son of the Earl of Mayo, later became a senior member of the Conservative government and was ennobled as Lord Connemara. Using their many contacts, the two were able to travel widely in Canada and in the northern and western states of the U.S. and be entertained by political and military leaders on both sides of the Civil War. Their stated objective was twofold. The first was to assess the state of Canadian military preparedness and will to withstand what many feared to be possible invasion by Union forces. The second was to evaluate the condition and readiness of both Union and Confederate armies and to forecast the eventual outcome of the conflict. As an ex-officer with combat experience in the Crimean War, Fergusson was well-qualified for these tasks. Although observing the War at a time of Confederate ascendancy, and although he himself was an advocate of the Confederate cause, Fergusson was able to provide a generally objective and professional assessment of both armies and some of their commanders and the most detailed result of this is included in this book.

          During their stay in America, Fergusson and Bourke were widely preceived as supporters of the Confederacy. In spite of the vocal opinion published in the Northern press, there is no evidence that they were acting in any official capacity for either the Confederacy or the British government.

          On his return to England in November, Sir James sent a lengthy report (included here as an appendix) to Lord Palmerston, then the British Prime Minister, in which the real purpose of his trip became clear. In this report he forecast a Confederate victory and strongly urged British intervention on the side of the South. This effort was, of course, a failure. Although himself a Confederate sympathizer, Palmerston never acted on Fergusson's recommendations, nor did he, as far as is known, reply to any of Fergusson's communications.

          Despite this, Fergusson's report and his book are unique in documenting the most sustained effort of a British politician to influence the course of the War. In addition, his well-informed and perceptive evaluations of wartime feeling and combat readiness in Canada and among both Unionists and Confederates provide a unique perspective on the early days of the War.

          The book itself was privately printed and was never generally available. Fergusson's concern was evidently to influence policy directly, rather than to mobilize public opinion on the South's behalf. It is rescued from obscurity and commercially published here for the first time. An introduction places the work in context. Extensive annotations document people encountered and places visited and explain military and contemporary words and phrases used.

          Ben Wynne, the editor, holds a Ph.D. from the University of Mississippi and has published extensively on topics related to the Civil War. He is an Assistant Professor of History at Gainesville State College in Georgia.

[Short Description] [Published Reviews]