The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 59, July 1955 - April, 1956 Page: 136

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

and hospitable. A few days after Gettysburg he crossed over to
the Union lines and sailed for home from New York, but saw
practically nothing of the Union Army and its generals.
Fremantle left the country with the conviction that the Con-
federacy would triumph. The period of his visit had coincided
with the high tide of Confederate fortunes. He was much im-
pressed by the competence of the generals (which he seemed to
take for granted from the praises of subordinates), by "happy"
slaves, the spirit and discipline of the soldiers, and the burning
faith of the women in their cause, despite the hardships and lone-
liness that many were enduring, although he saw in the main only
mistresses of plantations and of well-to-do homes in cities. He also
witnessed the draft riots in New York City. On the unfavorable
side he saw a shortage of many necessaries, the deteriorating rail-
roads, rocketing inflation, the Yankee blockade becoming very
effective, the property losses in Mississippi and Alabama from
Union Cavalry raids, and the nondescript uniforms of the sol-
diers. The significance of the defeats at Vicksburg and Gettys-
burg was not apparent to him. Generally, these portents of dis-
aster, which might have been discernible to a critical military
observer, did not seriously disturb his somewhat romantic attitude
toward the "gracious" people and the exciting new country that
had made his trip so interesting and pleasant.
DANIEL A. CONNOR
Texas Western College
Origins of New Mexico Families in the Spanish Colonial Period.
In two parts; the seventeenth century (1598-1693) and the
eighteenth (1693-1823). By Fray Angelico Chives. With four
illustrations by Jos6 Cisneros. Santa Fe (The Historical
Society of New Mexico), 1954. Pp. xvii+339-
Genealogies, as a general rule, are dull and uninteresting ex-
cept to those concerned over ancestors. But this is more than a
genealogy. It contains many valuable data on the lay pioneers of
New Mexico. The information was gathered by the patient com-
piler as a by-product of a study of Franciscan missions in New
Mexico, and more particularly of La Conquistadora, the mirac-
ulous statue of Our Lady brought by the first conquistadores. As
he scanned the dust-covered records of the conquest and the years

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