Overview

In the fall of 1862 W. C. Corsan, an English steel merchant and manufacturer from Sheffield, visited the Confederacy to judge the impact of the American Civil War, especially the blockade, on his business prospects. Upon his return to Britain, Corsan penned his observations about the South and its Cause, and his memoir was published in London the following year. With the author identified in the book only as an """"English Merchant,"""" Corsan remained obscure for more than 125 years. In this new edition, Benjamin H. Trask's marvelous research identifies Corsan as the heretofore anonymous merchant and tracks his course from New York to New Orleans and across the Deep South. Trask's introduction gives the first published information about Corsan's life and firm, and also ably places the merchant's visit in the context of England's possible intervention on the side of the Confederacy. In a clear, lively, and at times humorous style, Corsan details his experiences, which include nearly being drafted into the Rebel army. He also records southerners' attitudes toward the war and, as was natural given his background and mission, economic and financial matters. Trask's footnotes provide welcome commentary on the text. A rosy view of the Confederacy emerges from Corsan's narrative. Everywhere he went, the Englishman found southern morale very high. As he traveled, he analyzed the relative strengths of the opposing sides and concluded that the South would easily win the war. Although Corsan was opposed to slavery, he adamantly believed blacks incapable of rising in rebellion against their masters or of engaging in combat against southern troops. Corsan's accurate descriptions of his surroundings reveal much about the Confederacy; his inaccuracies disclose much about himself and the British merchant class. With Trask's notes illuminating the distinction, Two Months in the Confederate States is an invaluable resource for students of both the Civil War and the Victorian era.

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9780807123355

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Reviews

A vivid portrait of the Confederacy at a moment when it still believed that triumph was inevitable, yet when the ingredients of its defeat were self-evident.--Jonathan Yardley Washington Post Book World Many of Corsan's predictions proved wrong, but at a time when the Civil War is so overanalyzed, it is refreshing to be reminded how difficult it was to foresee an end that today sometimes seems inevitable.-- Virginia Libraries Through his copious, informative notes, Trask adds a great deal to this vivid account of an English hardware merchant's travels in the Deep South during the Civil War autumn of 1862. . . . Perhaps because he was a stranger, however sympathetic to the southern cause, this Englishman gives a fresh perspective of the South at war, whereas local diarists took much of the ordinary for granted.-- Publishers Weekly

Through his copious, informative notes, Trask adds a great deal to this vivid account of an English hardware merchant's travels in the Deep South during the Civil War autumn of 1862. . . . Perhaps because he was a stranger, however sympathetic to the southern cause, this Englishman gives a fresh perspective of the South at war, whereas local diarists took much of the ordinary for granted.--Publishers Weekly Many of Corsan's predictions proved wrong, but at a time when the Civil War is so overanalyzed, it is refreshing to be reminded how difficult it was to foresee an end that today sometimes seems inevitable.--Virginia Libraries A vivid portrait of the Confederacy at a moment when it still believed that triumph was inevitable, yet when the ingredients of its defeat were self-evident.--Jonathan Yardley Washington Post Book World

Author Information

Benjamin H. Trask is librarian at the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia.

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