After fighting valiantly against his wounds and writing his father on May 24 that he was recovering from the gunshot which pierced his back and exited at his hip, Andrew Boyd contracted the measles on May 25 and died on May 31, 1864. He was either 17 or 18 years old.

Andrew is buried in the Confederate section of the Old City Cemetery of Lynchburg. Burial records indicate that he was buried on May 31 in a coffin constructed for him that measured 6 feet 3 inches long by 22 inches wide. The excellent records kept of the burials were thanks to the man who almost certainly prepared and buried – or at least oversaw the process – Andrew’s remains; George A. Diuguid. Diuguid was the son of Sampson Diuguid who co-founded the Diuguid Mortuary in 1817. Diuguid, from his workshop oversaw the preparation of over 3,000 bodies during the war, including the 2,200 Confederates in the cemetery.

In an interesting aside, 80 more graves have been discovered in the Old City Cemetery over the last two years, 40 of them recently. Officials are confident that due to the outstanding record keeping of George Diuguid, the will be able to identify all the soldiers names. History owes this man a debt.

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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