The great battle is very, very near, I think. I trust our prayers may be favorably considered by our God and that His hand will cover and protect me, so that when this unhappy war is over I may live to be a husband to you and a father to my children.

If it pleases God to take me away, thus early in life, bid my children, when they are old enough to understand, to be good and true men, doing their duty to you, to their country and to their God. Guard and guide them as if I were with you, and be to me a true wife, till God unites us in Heaven.

I trust and believe the coming fight will triumphantly vindicate the righteousness of our cause and though I may fall, yet I hope a blessed peace will soon give back to our country the comfort and prosperity so much to be desired. At my country’s feet I lay my young life. Into God’s keeping I leave yours. Micah Jenkins 5th South Carolina, A letter to his wife just before the Battle of Seven Pines May 1862

During the Battle of the Wilderness, Jenkins was riding with Lt. Gen. Longstreet when both were struck down by friendly fire on May 6, 1864. Jenkins died of his head wound a few hours later, and was buried in Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, South Carolina, Longstreet survived the war.