Major Grumble Marches to Aid Selma
From "Selma; Her Institutions, and Her Men" by John Hardy, pub. 1879:
The Militia all over the county was greatly excited. "Old Snort,"--as the boys called Maj. Benj. Grumbles--as Major, commanding the battalion militia of Old town Beat called his battalion together at Buck Day’s, and after a long and patriotic speech, proposed that the battalion, in mass, should march to the aid of Selma, against the negro insurrection; which speech and proposition was responded to in the affirmative by every man in the battalion, some two hundred strong. Not taking time to return home, but from the muster ground and at once, was the march taken up, some armed with single barrel shotguns, with no flints, some with hickory sticks, and some with no arms more formidable than corn stalks. Thus did this brave battalion move, and about dark, reached the Kornegy Place, about three miles from town, on the other side of the river where each of the primitive soldiers endeavored to make himself comfortable for the night. Thee Major’s animal having been the subject of numerous remarks during the day, caused by the fact, that in "nicking" the animal, which was of a peculiar color, the "nicker" had cut to close the rump, in consequence of having too much of Peter Robinson’s "Packingham Rum" on board. The boys used to tell it that they got on fine until about 2 o’clock in the night, when the camp was aroused by alarms from the sentinels knocking on a dead tree with sticks; an a low, rumbling noise with frequent flashes of light in the immediate direction of Selma, creating in the minds of the soldiers that a fight had commenced at Selma. The Major rallied his troops into line, and made them a flaming speech, winding up by saying: "Boys, ni**ers are now killing the white people of Selma, you must go and help kill the ni**ers. The most of you are young men; I am an old man; I have a wife and ten children at home; I must protect them; I must go ; good bye, boys." The Major, wheeling his mare, put spurs to her, and off he went at a rapid gallop; the battalion exclaiming, "Good bye Fingertail."
Thus was the brave battalion left without a head, Bird Saffold being the Captain of Company A., assumed command. And as a tremendous rain had fallen immediately after the Major left, the battalion under Saffold, as soon as the rain was over, commenced their march for Selma; but the road for two miles being knee deep in mud and water, and the night dark, arrived on the south side of the river about 12 o’clock next day, and much to their surprise, found everything going on in the town as usual. Gen Shearer gave the battalion a good dinner, and thanked them for their promptness in responding to the sound of danger.
Captain Saffold re-crossed the river, and attempted to return to Buck Day’s in order, but the troops became so much demoralizes that only about one company stood faithful to their Captain, whom he discharged at the muster ground in good order.
"Fingertail" and the "ni**er insurrection" were made the subject of many a rough joke for years after; but Maj. Grumbles being a good, jovial old fellow, always took the in good part.
This excited state of the public mind about insubordination of the negro population soon subsided, and very justly, for we think we are safe in saying, at no period of the world was there a greater fidelity exhibited on the part of a servile population towards their owners, than was on the part of the negro population in Selma and Dallas county generally, during all this great excitement caused by a few irresponsible and mischievous men in different localities of the South.
<- PREVIOUS PAGE | INDEX | NEXT PAGE ->
site by Com'See
