Edinburgh Confederacy

Flag at the foot of a memorial in an Edinburgh graveyard (Dean Cemetery).
The inscription on the original stone is difficult to read, having worn away over the years, but a newer plaque in front of the memorial repeats the details...

"COL. ROBERT A. SMITH OF THE 10TH MISSISSIPPI REGIMENT
CONFEDERATE STATES ARMY
A NATIVE OF EDINBURGH WHO FELL MORTALLY WOUNDED
AT THE BATTLE OF MUMFORDSVILLE KENTUCKY
SEPTEMBER 14TH 1862
WHILE GALLANTLY LEADING IN THE CHARGE OF FORT CRAIG
AGED 26 YEARS

SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS 1896
SPONSORED BY MURFREESBORO S.C.V CAMP NO. 33
TENNESSEE"

Turns out whoever made the plaque introduced a typo as apparently it was the Battle of Munfordville ! There is a larger monument to Col Smith close to the battle site in Kentucky, erected by his brother James, who emigrated from Glasgow to the United States in the 1880s. In the battle, eventually a victory for the Confederates, Col Smith led his men in an attack on the fort that protected the important river crossing over the Green River. Refusing to surrender on the 14th, the Union forces were besieged and despite playing for time in the hope that reinforcements would arrive surrendered at midnight on September 16th. Ultimately the Confederate success in their invasion of Kentucky was only temporary and despite getting the better of the Union forces in fierce fighting at the Battle of Perryville in October, the Confederate army withdrew.