On February 6, 1863 Fenton Hall finished a letter he began two days earlier. Writing his wife, Mary Jane, from his camp in Rantowles, South Carolina — about ten miles east of Charleston along the Charleston and Savannah Rail Road — he references fighting taking place along the Stono River near Charleston. Fenton had also gotten news of the death of Thomas Boyd, Mary Jane’s brother. Fenton makes reference to a letter he had just received from Thomas written before his brother-in-law’s death at the Battle of Murfreesboro in Tennessee on New Year’s Eve. Of course his letter also addresses rumors rampant in the camp that his unit — the Sixth South Carolina Cavalry — would be heading to Kentucky. This transfer would not materialize and they would stay in South Carolina for the short term.

Boys of Diamond Hill

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

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