from natchez, fremantle travelled to jackson, which he reached on 18 may. as the city had been evacuated and attacked only a few days earlier, fremantle was treated with some suspicion by soldiers and locals, who expressed scepticism that an english officer should be travelling alone through the south. one local, the gun-toting mr smythe, even went so far as to threaten the foreign visitor with execution should he be unable to prove his identity and credentials. upon 'examination' by a mob in a hotel, fremantle finally convinced a confederate cavalry officer and an irish doctor of his legitimacy, and was spirited away to meet general joseph e. johnston, who accepted the peculiar traveller into his company. fremantle remained near johnston for several days, learning of the death of general jackson from his chancellorsville wound.