On Aug. 20, 1864, Daniel Boyd wrote his father from their camp on the former Cedar Run battlefield.  He is very relieved to be out of the Petersburg Siege line.  The 7th South Carolina had been transferred to Early’s Corps for Lt. Gen. Jubal Early’s Valley Campaign.  In this letter he speaks about the battle of the Crater in Petersburg and particularly about a friend who was killed by the explosion.

“J W Calaham was kild by the blowing up of our breast works. He was buried with the dirt. When they found him he was standing strait up the ditches.”

He writes of the negative turnabout for the northern army:

“There was one hundred kild and buried with the explosion. They had six drums of powder under our works. They got so badly whipped at their own tricks I dont think they try it eney more.”

Boys of Diamond Hill

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

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