The history of Old Scotland Presbyterian Church cannot be told without telling a least a small part of the story of the Civil War or, as it was often called, The War Between The States.
Dr. William Wallace McMillan was born in Scotland, Alabama in 1834. As a child, he attended school at Scotland Academy, located next to Scotland Presbyterian Church. He later attended and graduated from the University of Louisiana, which is now known as Tulane University. He returned to Monroe County to practice medicine in Claiborne. He joined the Claiborne Guards as the company surgeon and served with them at Fort Morgan. He later returned to his hometown, Scotland, Alabama, and formed the Scotland Invincibles. The following ad appeared in the 1966 Centennial Edition of the Monroe Journal. It was reprinted from one of the 1861 editions of the Monroe Journal.
Sept. 1861. The Scotland Company, having been received in the regiment now being formed by Hon. Thos H. Watts, want a few more men to complete their rolls. Arms will be furnished. The company will meet at Scotland Church Thursday, Sept. 12th, prepared to march via Evergreen to Montgomery. Apply to W.W. McMillan, Clauselville, S. J. Simmons of Monroeville, H. M. Rumbley, Claiborne.
Robert McMillan, of Stockton, has graciously contributed a roster of theScotland Invincibles. As you will see, when scanning the roster, many of the men were members of the Scotland Presbyterian Church at the time. In an article in the 1966 Monroe County Journal Centennial Edition, Hector M. Rumbley shared stories told by his father and his two uncles, Hector and Robert Henry, all of whom served as Confederate soldiers.
According to another article in the 1966 Monroe County Journal Centennial Edition, the women of the church and the community “fought a war of survival”. Basic necessities including salt, coffee, tea, and “cooking soda” were scarce. The women worked hard to care for their children and to take care of their homesteads, including their livestock and their gardens. When the Union troops came through Scotland, they took most of the cows and horses. According to the aforementioned article in the Monroe County Journal, the home of William T. Nettles was hit especially hard. The Union troops took not only the livestock but even the meat from the smokehouse. Luckily, the community had been expecting the troops and Mrs. Nettles had taken care to hide the china, silver, and other valuables. The exact date that the Union soldiers came through Scotland is not known to me. It was not stated in the article from the Centennial Edition, however the article did say that the troops camped in Scotland that night. Perhaps at some point in the future I will be able to research the original newspapers of that period of time. As my research continues, I will post new information to the website.
Scotland Invincibles Muster Roll
Hector Rumbley Recalls Civil War Stories
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