Fremantle lives for the joy of battle, knightly honor, and daring exploits, as seen in this quote: "There was even an air of regret at the table, a sense of seize the day, as if these bright moments of good fellowship before battle were numbered, that the war would soon be over, and all this would end, and we would all go back to the duller pursuits of peace." He experiences a momentary sliver of reality when he sees Hood and realizes that he might not see him again alive. But the thought is lost amid the excitement of coming battle and visions of glory.
Fremantle's assessment of Southerners is that in spite of some odd and earthy quirks, they are Englishmen at heart. They tried the democratic experiment, realize it has failed, and will be back under the Queen soon. The slavery part he finds distasteful, but is certain they will dispose of that soon enough. The Southerners will be the victors in this war because they are Englishmen. In fact, Fremantle believes the cause of the war is that the South is like Europe, and the North is not.
