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The following article from
the Monroe Journal Centennial edition concerns the Scotland Invincibles,
Company H 17th Alabama.
This unit was formed at Old
Scotland Church
in September of 1861 in the early days of the War Between The States, also
known as the Civil War.
From the Monroe Journal Centennial page 34F
Heck Rumbley Recalls Civil War Stories
"I
often wonder what warfare will be like in another 100 years', a son of the
Confederacy said. Hector M Rumbley, 78 year old farmer , who lives in the
Drewery community, said his father walked to Old
Scotland Church
and enlisted for service in the Civil War on Sept 6, 1861, in Company H 17th
Alabama Regt and left with the Scotland
company marching via Evergreen to Montgomery.
"My father was a 1st Lt. at the time of enlistment and later retained
the rank of Captain. He and his two brothers Robert Henry and Hector, served
throughout the four years together. 'Heck" said his father was a
surveyor before the war, and on his return was elected tax collector for Monroe County. "He lived to be 90 years
old and attended several Confederate Veteran reunions. He was present at the
last dinner given by Capt Riley in Beatrice, when twelve old soldiers who
served in the same company gathered together. When they finished, the old
soldiers formed in twos and marched, guided by my father, Captain Rumbley.
When
he talked about his experiences in the war, he was sometimes sad, and
sometimes gay. The most horrible story I ever heard him tell was about the
desperate battle of Franklin,
when the soldiers became so hungry, they cut up a horse that had been dead
for days and ate it and when they dug ditches to set up breastworks, the
blood oozed down the ditches where the trenches were made. He said the dead
lay stacked in piles. My father laughed about the time he had a stomach ache
from eating raw food. Jim Davidson, and Thomas Wiggins, who were sleeping
next to him decided hot poultice would ease the pain. They heated some meal,
wrapped it in paper, and the paper came to pieces and fell on the naked
stomach. They had a fight and he still had a stomach ache.
In
my fathers company there was a composer of poetry and also a musician. Before
the war closed in 1864, when they were in winter quarters, there were six
ladies that often brought food and knitted socks to the soldiers. There was a
delicate old man named Rossen, who always came to the camp when the ladies
came. He wore a Prince Albert
coat and a high white celluloid collar. The soldiers named him "Old
Rossen the Beau" and one day the poet pointed to him and said:
Soon on some soft sunny morning-
The first thing we neighbors shall know-
We shall be met with a warning
Come bury old Rossen the Beau-
And when he is to be buried I reckon all
the ladies will want to go-
And form at the feet of the coffin
And whisper 'Old Rossen the Beau
So shape you a couple of dorricks
Place one at the head and the toe
Do Not fail to scratch on it
Here lies "Old Rossen the Beau"
Select You a dozen good fellows
And stand them all up in a row
And drink from a big bellied bottle
Farewell, Old Rossen the Beau
"When
the poet finished, the musician said he would write the music for those
words--and so he did. About 50 years later, a preacher named Hinson came to
visit my father and they talked about the war. My father told him about 'Old
Rossen the Beau' and what the musician said. To his amazement, the preacher
said the music had been written, and he would bring a copy of it to him. Sure
enough when he came back, he brought the music-and that was the first time I
remember my father shedding a tear. They sang the song together and I
accompanied them on my fiddle, and played with them, I reckon a thousand
times", Heck said.
In
1893, my father wrote for the Claiborne Southerner an account of an incident
at New Hope Church, when five rebels captured
fourteen yankees. The following story was written in the hopes of finding the
sword taken from the Yankee Lt., or some relatives which might wish to
preserve it as a Civil War Relic.
In the spring of 1864, there was a detail of men in each company from
our Brigade sent to charge a picket line of the federals at the foot of Lone Mountain
at night. Our orders were to roll at least one large rock ahead. We formed a
line at the top of the mountain. Lt Col Morris of the 26 Ala
Regt was our commander and Col VS Murphy of the 17th Alabama acted as General. The command was
given, the rocks rolled, and we followed. The yankees poured a heavy fire
into us and every one of our men were killed except five: LT William Jesse
Robinson, Ben Franklin McMillan, a preacher named Belcher, myself and one
other..........Belcher grabbed one of the yankees, his gun fired and the
yankee fell. I ordered him to give up his arms; and he handed me his sword
and Navy Six Shooter and said 'come on boys let's surrender'" Thirteen
men came from behind large rocks and surrendered. One of the officers said
his name was Arbor and from the 154th Illinios Regt. Lt Robinson ordered McMillan and me to
escort the prisoners to camp, and as we went up the mountain one of them said
'I had no idea I could ever be scared as badly as I was tonite, there were
only five of you and I could have killed you all!"
There
were ten children in Hecks family, four of whom are living: Mrs Flora Green,
Mrs Euginia Riggs and Mrs Elizabeth Thomasson. Thie paternal grandparents
were Richard Henry and Martha Pettibone Rumbley, and their great great
grandfather came from Rumbley Hills, North Carolina to Georgia,
and brought his family to Alabama
on a covered wagon.
Scotland Invincibles Muster Roll
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