Diary of James Rumley, March 25, 1864

Diary of James Rumley, March 25, 1864

This is an excerpt from Rumley’s diary entry of March 25th, 1864. This day marked the second anniversary of the occupation of Beaufort. Rumley stated that the days still look unpromising and dark in mystery. Towards the end of the entry, He noted some Confederate victories, which lightened his mood and gave him a little reassurance into the upcoming days.

Rumley, James

Judkin Browning, ed. The Southern Mind under Union Rule: The Diary of James Rumley, Beaufort, North Carolina, 1862-1865 (Gainesville, FL: University of Florida, 2009).

1864-03-25

Ballentine, Jay

Document

Beaufort, North Carolina

Carteret County, North Carolina

Diary

This is the second anniversary of the advent of the Federal army into Beaufort; and we enter today into the third year of the reign of niggerism. The whole period has been a season of profound political and social darkness, a long dreary night of despotism, which is still without any sure token of coming day. Weary of hope deferred we often cry out “Watch-man, what of the night”; but no watchman can tell the hours of this worse than polar night! We think, however, we have passed “the zenith of its dark domain,” and that ere long we shall see its “midnight blackness changing into gray.” The prospects in the south looks better. The late victory of the Confederates in Florida, the failure of Sherman’s land expedition against Mobile, and other reverses of the Federal army inspire new hopes of southern independence.