Arthur Lyon Fremantle Character Analysis in The Killer Angels

A Lieutenant Colonel in the Queen’s Coldstream Guards, Fremantle travels with the Confederates to record his observations for England. He is described as a scrawny man who resembles “a popeyed bird,” “perpetually astonished,” and “not too bright.” A cheerful man, Fremantle often solicits the opinions of Longstreet, who finds him amusing and eventually unburdens his doubts about Lee to him. Fremantle sees Southerners as essentially English gentlemen and sympathizes with their attitudes about honor. Like other Englishmen, however, he sees slavery as an “embarrassment” and a hindrance to explicit support of the Confederate cause.

Arthur Lyon Fremantle Quotes in The Killer Angels

The The Killer Angels quotes below are all either spoken by Arthur Lyon Fremantle or refer to Arthur Lyon Fremantle. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Pickett answered obligingly, unconcerned, “Well, Jim Kemper kept needling our English friend about why they didn’t come and join in with us, it being in their interest and all, and the Englishman said that it was a very touchy subject, since most Englishmen figured the war was all about, ah, slavery, and then old Kemper got a bit outraged and had to explain to him how wrong he was, and Sorrel and some others joined in, but no harm done.”

“Damn fool,” Kemper said. “He still thinks it’s about slavery.”

Related Characters: George Pickett (speaker), Jim Kemper (speaker), Arthur Lyon Fremantle, G. Moxley Sorrel

Page Number and Citation: 62

Explanation and Analysis:

An argument erupts in the camp about the nature of the war. As he does several other times in the novel, Shaara uses the presence of Fremantle, the British army observer, to cut to the heart of issues the Confederates wouldn’t have typically debated among themselves without the instigation of an outsider. In this case, the issue is the centrality of slavery. In England, there was notable (though hardly universal) sympathy for the Confederacy, based partly on the scarcity of cotton due to Union blockades of Southern ports (“it being in their [economic] interest and all”). However, Englishmen also tended Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Molliti

“Honor,” he said. “Honor without intelligence is a disaster. Honor could lose the war.”

Fremantle was vaguely shocked.

“Sir?”

“Listen. Let me tell you something. I appreciate honor and bravery and courage. Before God … but the point of the war is not to show how brave you are and how you can die in a manly fashion, face to the enemy. God knows it’s easy to die. Anybody can die.”

Related Characters: James Longstreet (speaker), Arthur Lyon Fremantle (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 127

Explanation and Analysis:

The appearance of Fremantle serves as a welcome distraction from Longstreet’s dark thoughts. As he does elsewhere, the English outsider provides an audience for Longstreet to express his thoughts without consequence. In this case, Longstreet vents his frustration with the Confederate preoccupation with honor, arguing that it is an empty, even dangerous notion in this age of warfare. Men seeking to die for honor are chasing a phantom ideal, because their actions, however brave, might not advance the cause of victory whatsoever and might even hinder it. An “honorable” death for death’s sake is wasteful. Like his Southern counterparts, however, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia

The Northerner doesn’t give a damn for tradition, or breeding, or the Old Country. He hates the Old Country … [T]he South is the Old Country. They haven’t left Europe. They’ve merely transplanted it. And that’s what the war is about.

Related Characters: Arthur Lyon Fremantle

Page Number and Citation: 156

Explanation and Analysis:

As he accompanies Longstreet’s men toward battle, Fremantle reflects on the cultural differences he observes between North and South. Fremantle’s character, a bit jocular and clueless, provides a note of comic relief throughout the story. In this chapter, ironically, he manages to land on a truth that Northern characters, such as Chamberlain and Kilrain, have perceived as well—that “old world” values such as ancestry, title, and land have a foothold in the South, which Northerners tend to see as being at odds with the American impulse toward greater equality. While Chamberlain and Kilrain find much of their motive for fighting Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste.

“God in Heaven,” Longstreet said, and repeated it, “there’s no strategy to this bloody war. What it is is old Napoleon and a hell of a lot of chivalry. That’s all it is.”

Related Characters: James Longstreet (speaker), Arthur Lyon Fremantle

Page Number and Citation: 240

Explanation and Analysis:

After talking with Lee, Longstreet comes upon Fremantle, who effusively praises Lee as the world’s authority on military tactics. Fresh from his agonizing conversation with Lee, Longstreet soon hears enough, and he ends up venting his frustration to Fremantle—that Lee, in fact, doesn’t know what he is doing. Rather, the Confederates have been sustained by nothing but outdated notions of honor and old-style Napoleonic tactics dating to the early 1800s. Almost as soon as he says these words, Longstreet is horrified; he has tried to suppress the full extent of his disillusionment, even from his own consciousness. Now he faces Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam elige

Longstreet shook his head. That was another thing he did not think about. Armistead said disgustedly, “They think we’re fighting to keep the slaves. He says that’s what most of Europe thinks the war is all about. Now, what we supposed to do about that?”

Longstreet said nothing. The war was about slavery, all right. That was not why Longstreet fought but that was what the war was about, and there was no point in talking about it, never had been.

Related Characters: Lewis Armistead (speaker), James Longstreet, Arthur Lyon Fremantle

Page Number and Citation: 244

Explanation and Analysis:

Longstreet is chatting with Armistead on the eve of the final day of battle. Armistead relates a conversation he’s had with Fremantle, the Englishman, as to why England hasn’t formally recognized the legitimacy of the Confederacy and intervened in the war on their behalf—a possibility that remained live in Southern minds until the decisive defeat at Gettysburg. Armistead is genuinely disgusted at what he sees as a European misconception regarding Southern motives. Longstreet, with characteristic clear-sightedness, thinks the war is obviously about slavery; he might not be motivated by that particular issue, and many of the soldiers don’t consider it Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus volupt

Arthur Lyon Fremantle Character Timeline in The Killer Angels

The timeline below shows where the character Arthur Lyon Fremantle appears in The Killer Angels. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

In Longstreet’s camp, the men are teaching Colonel Fremantle, an English war observer, to play poker. Longstreet sits under a tree nearby, watching and... (full context)

Longstreet broods, instinctively sensing “an odor of trouble.” He is briefly diverted when Fremantle approaches him for advice on poker, after which Longstreet muses that the English are “a... (full context)

Longstreet and Pickett introduce Pickett’s officers to Fremantle. Armistead jokes that the army is called “Lee’s Miserables,” after the currently popular novel Les... (full context)

...Lee.” As their conversation comes to an end, the two find Sorrel and Kemper regaling Fremantle with arguments about “the Cause.” Kemper explains, “You must tell [England] … what we are... (full context)

Pickett explains to Longstreet that, according to Fremantle, the English find support of the Confederacy to be a touchy subject, due to the... (full context)

Longstreet sees Fremantle approaching and welcomes the Englishman’s cheering presence. Fremantle has been enjoying himself, “continually amazed at... (full context)

Longstreet feels depressed when he sees that Fremantle agrees with Garnett. Longstreet sees Garnett’s fate as “unturnable, ridiculous.” He goes on to tell... (full context)

Longstreet continues trying to explain. In the earlier days of war, he tells Fremantle, two sides faced each other in the open, fighting from a distance with bows and... (full context)

...to explain these realities to his own men, but they find his ideas “vaguely shameful.” Fremantle, too, is bewildered, protesting, “But, sir, there is the example of Solferino. And of course... (full context)

Fremantle struggles awake and joins the other foreign observers for breakfast, reflecting on what a joy... (full context)

Sorrel passes by and encourages Fremantle to stay near Longstreet, as that is where the action will be. Longstreet lets Fremantle... (full context)

Fremantle asks Longstreet why his men have not entrenched, as there is nothing to stop the... (full context)

Fremantle thinks about America, the contrast between its vastness and extremes and its cultural affinities with... (full context)

Fremantle further muses that Southerners have the same love of tradition, form, and breeding as Europeans... (full context)

Longstreet is approached by Fremantle, who congratulates him on his “victory.” Fremantle praises Lee effusively, sure that all of Europe... (full context)

Longstreet can’t contain his words. “There’s no strategy to this bloody war,” he tells Fremantle; it’s “old Napoleon and a hell of a lot of chivalry.” He explains that they... (full context)

Fremantle appears shocked by the outburst. Longstreet, too, is alarmed by what he has said, “something... (full context)

Armistead brings up Fremantle, the “not too bright” Englishman. He says he asked Fremantle why England won’t intervene to... (full context)

Fremantle, who moments before had been cheering wildly, grasps the reality of the situation and offers... (full context)

Arthur Lyon Fremantle Character Analysis

Arthur Lyon Fremantle Quotes in The Killer Angels

Monday, June 29, 1863: Chapter 4 Quotes

Wednesday, July 1, 1863: Chapter 5 Quotes

Thursday, July 2, 1863: Chapter 1 Quotes

Thursday, July 2, 1863: Chapter 5 Quotes

Arthur Lyon Fremantle Character Timeline in The Killer Angels