James Rumley and Judking Browning, The Southern Mind Under Union Rule: The Diary of James Rumley, Beaufort, North Carolina, 1862-1865 (2009)
Title
James Rumley and Judking Browning, The Southern Mind Under Union Rule: The Diary of James Rumley, Beaufort, North Carolina, 1862-1865 (2009)
Description
At the start of the Civil War, James Rumley lived pretty well in Beaufort, N.C. He was well educated, led a good life as county clerk, and owned property and a couple of slaves. Unmarried, he had no family to support.He was an ardent Southerner, but at age 50 did not have to enlist for military service. The Union army would arrive, against Rumley's wishes, and start to transform the landscape of eastern North Carolina. The Southern Mind under Union Rule is Rumley’s diary from March 1862 to August 1865. It was the arrival of Federal forces at Beaufort that prompted Rumley to begin writing.
Perhaps the best represented, and most well documented secessionist under the occupation of eastern North Carolina, James Rumley, a Carteret country court clerk. Rumley was a diarist that kept intensive notes about life under Union control from the viewpoint of a southern loyalist. Rumley’s diary begins with the bombardment of New Bern, which can be heard in the distance, but he knows an impending doom is creeping upon Beaufort. The diary gives unequivocal insight into the mind of an ardent secessionist trapped behind enemy lines. He touches on major issues and how they effect himself, and as he perceived the public’s reaction. Rumley touches on various tenets of the occupation, the economy, the social change, and the policies, which caused a great deal of animosity among Confederate supporters.
Perhaps the best represented, and most well documented secessionist under the occupation of eastern North Carolina, James Rumley, a Carteret country court clerk. Rumley was a diarist that kept intensive notes about life under Union control from the viewpoint of a southern loyalist. Rumley’s diary begins with the bombardment of New Bern, which can be heard in the distance, but he knows an impending doom is creeping upon Beaufort. The diary gives unequivocal insight into the mind of an ardent secessionist trapped behind enemy lines. He touches on major issues and how they effect himself, and as he perceived the public’s reaction. Rumley touches on various tenets of the occupation, the economy, the social change, and the policies, which caused a great deal of animosity among Confederate supporters.
Creator
Rumley, James
Browning, Judkin
Browning, Judkin
Source
Rumley, James, and Judkin Browning. The Southern Mind under Union Rule: The Diary of James Rumley, Beaufort, North Carolina, 1862-1865. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida, 2009. Print.
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Document
Original Format
Book
Text
"October 31, 1863.
Our citizens were startled today by the sudden appearance in town of James W. Bryan Esq., who lately came to New Bern from the Confederate lines under a flag of truce, and was called on business tot he Provost Marshall's office in Beaufort. No living man could have been more welcome to us in our dreary captivity. His visit was short- very short, but long enough to remind us forcibly of those better days when he towered among us in the light and liberty of civil law- days that are gone forever by, but now in the retrospect, look bright as Heaven compared with the present starless night."
Our citizens were startled today by the sudden appearance in town of James W. Bryan Esq., who lately came to New Bern from the Confederate lines under a flag of truce, and was called on business tot he Provost Marshall's office in Beaufort. No living man could have been more welcome to us in our dreary captivity. His visit was short- very short, but long enough to remind us forcibly of those better days when he towered among us in the light and liberty of civil law- days that are gone forever by, but now in the retrospect, look bright as Heaven compared with the present starless night."
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Rumley, James
Browning, Judkin, James Rumley and Judking Browning, The Southern Mind Under Union Rule: The Diary of James Rumley, Beaufort, North Carolina, 1862-1865 (2009), Civil War Era NC, accessed April 20, 2024, https://cwnc.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/items/show/342.