Just Where Are Those Confederates Buried?
We can follow Duke’s retreat from Augusta by simply noting where the Confederates buried those men who, due to the severity of their wounds, died along the way. Duke’s command used Dutch Ridge Road as their path back to Brooksville. Why they chose this indirect route as opposed to the direct road to Brooksville is unknown.
To be honest the records on actual burials are sketchy at best, mostly oral stories handed down over time. So we will look at these locations as possible burial locations, most likely correct. And that starts with the first location, Payne Cemetery. The Confederate monument there indicates that eight of Duke’s men were buried there, but the stories vary. There may be more, there may be less. One story is that when Battle Grove Cemetery in Cynthiana was completing its circle of soldiers buried around the Confederate monument within Battle Grove that they had unoccupied space and so men from Payne Cemetery were removed to Cynthiana to complete the circle. I do not believe this story to be accurate, as those who planned the circle would have known how many men to put in place to make a full circle. The story most likely comes from the fact that there are Confederates buried in the circle who were killed on mortally wounded at Augusta, but we know that Duke brought these men back during the retreat and had them buried in the city cemetery, two of whom were later moved to Battle Grove. So while we might not know the exact number at Payne Cemetery, there are Confederate soldiers buried there.
Our next burial site is a little over six miles from Augusta. Traveling south along Dutch Ridge Road (KY 2370) and crossing over the AA Highway, one will come to the intersection of Dutch Ridge and Asbury (KY 875) Roads, two miles south of the AA. A short distance to the right along Asbury Road is Sharon Cemetery, where two of Duke’s men are supposedly buried. This location makes sense as the cemetery would have been easily seen from the retreat route, and when possible soldiers would be buried within a cemetery. Unfortunately we do not know their burial locations, although one source mentions that they are possibly in the far left corner.
From the intersection of Dutch Ridge and Asbury Roads, one turns left and then immediately right onto Hillsdale Road. In a little less than two miles, just after the intersection with Feagan Ridge Road, there will be a cemetery on the left. This is Bethesda Cemetery, and here three Confederates were buried, again in locations not known to the modern explorer.
Our last soldier is buried in the Coburn-Baker Cemetery, which was not on the Confederate line of retreat. This soldier had been severely wounded, and taken to the Mary Coburn farm to recover. Unfortunately he did not survive his wounds, and died sometime after the battle. His location in Coburn-Baker is not known.
There are other possible locations, depending again on the story one hears, but the above cemeteries are all fairly certain to have Confederates from the Augusta battle within their boundaries.