In preparing for the holiday season, a couple of sesquicentennial events in the Diamond Hill world have slipped by. I will catch them up now.

December 13, 1862, Fenton Hall writes a letter home to his wife, Mary Jane from his camp near Charleston, South Carolina. Mary Jane was the eldest of Robert Boyd’s children. Fenton had joined the army on June 29, 1862 and his unit was rolled into the 6th South Carolina Cavalry on August 6. The Sixth had been organized on July 21, 1862. Along with several other cavalry units, the 6th was assigned to protect the Charleston coast. In this letter Fenton details sickness and death in his regiment. There is also an interesting anecdote about a number of their horses running away while grazing during a church service. Apparently Fenton’s horse was one of them and he tells of catching the horse eighteen miles away.

December 19, 1862, Daniel Boyd writes his father from Fredericksburg, Virginia. The famous battle had taken place several days before. The 7th South Carolina was heavily engaged including a long stand behind the infamous stone wall atop Mayre’s Heights. Daniel gives details of their actions in the battle.

Boys of Diamond Hill

The Military Writers Society of America Gold Medal for History 2012.

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

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