Booknotes: The Boys of Diamond Hill, Second Edition

New Arrival:

• The Boys of Diamond Hill: The Lives and Civil War Letters of the Boyd Family of Abbeville County, South Carolina (Second Edition) ed. by J. Keith Jones (McFarland, 2024).

From the description: "In 1861, brothers Daniel and Pressley Boyd left their farm in Abbeville County, South Carolina to join the Confederate army. William, Thomas and Andrew soon followed, along with brother-in-law Fenton Hall. During the Civil War, they collectively fought in almost every theater of the conflict and saw firsthand every aspect of soldier life--from death and illness to friendly fire and desertion. By war's end only Daniel survived."

The war produced misery and tragedy to countless families, of course, but the toll it took on the Boyd family (losing four out of five sons) was especially tremendous. Richard McCaslin's introduction also mentions the both Daniel and his father did not live long past war's end.

You might recall that this title was originally published in 2011. Since then, descendants have continued to stay in touch with editor J. Keith Jones, providing him with enough additional background, wartime, and postwar information to more than justify a new edition. More from the description: "this updated edition includes 30 never before published letters, along with new research revealing additional family background and undiscovered information about the fates of the Boyd brothers and other family members." These new additions and their value are discussed by Jones in the second edition's new introduction.

The wartime correspondence is organized into yearly chapters. Each letter is prefaced by contextual commentary ranging in length from a single sentence to numerous paragraphs, and chapter notes are located near the rear of the book. Keeping all the volume's intertwining family connections straight can be challenging, and the family tree data in the first appendix helps in that regard. The second appendix consists of rosters of the companies in which the letter writers served. Regiments include the 1st South Carolina Rifles, 6th South Carolina Cavalry, 7th South Carolina Infantry, and 19th South Carolina Infantry. Some letter fragments are included in the final appendix.