Boys of Diamond Hill

Nominated for Best History book by the Military Writers Society of America.

To read the entries thus far in the Sesquicentennial series for The Boys of Diamond Hill click here.

The business of life sometimes sidetracks my staying on schedule with this Sesquicentennial series, so a couple of letters slid past that I failed to enter here, so I will catch them up now.

On July 6, 1863, Pressley Boyd wrote a letter home to his father, Robert Boyd. Pressley laments the death of their eldest brother, William. William Boyd had been mortally wounded June 30 at Fraysers Farm and died the next day on the train to Farmville, Virginia where he was buried. Pressley also talks of his unit being accidentally fired on by their own men.

July 22, 1862, Pressley wrote a letter to his sister Mary Jane Hall and her husband Fenton. Brother Daniel Boyd is sick and Pressley has heard that Fenton will soon have to go off to the war as well.

August 1, 1862, Daniel Boyd wrote their father from Richmond. He laments “a great many more of us wil half to die” if the war does not end soon and indicates that he believes it will never end. He also notes that three to four hundred are dying every day in Richmond. He also pledges to take care of William’s widow and children should he survive the war.

To learn more click on the “Diamond Hill” link at the top. To buy the book you may go to any major online retailer such as Amazon or Barnes and Noble, or you may buy it directly from McFarland Publishers. “The Boys of Diamond Hill” is also available for the Kindle.