Three Months in the Southern States, April-June 1863

An English lieutenant-colonel sets out in early 1863 with a single purpose: to witness the American Civil War firsthand. Boarding the mail steamer Atrato, he sails through Havana, joins a Royal Navy frigate, and eventually crosses the treacherous bar of the Rio Grande to the modest Mexican town of Bagdad, where cotton‑laden ships wait in a restless river. His meticulous journal records the frenetic commerce, the precarious navigation, and the stark contrast between the polished maps of Europe and the gritty realities of a continent at war.

Beyond the logistics, his eyes turn to the people who populate the Confederate States—soldiers marching with fierce resolve, civilians juggling survival and loyalty, and leaders whose portraits dominate the pages. He does not shy away from the harsher customs he encounters, yet he cannot help admiring the collective bravery and tenacity that shape daily life. Listeners are invited into a vivid, day‑by‑day portrait of the South during the spring of 1863, a perspective rarely filtered through Northern press.