The Camp Beauregard Memorial, outside

Water Valley, Kentucky Water Valley is a census-designated place and former home rule-class city in Graves County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 235 as of the 2020 census. It was incorporated on April 19, 1884, and had its charter dissolved via court orde ...

on Kentucky state road 2422 northeast of town, marks the site of a

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

encampment named for General

P. G. T. Beauregard Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard (May 28, 1818 - February 20, 1893) was a Confederate general officer of Louisiana Creole descent who started the American Civil War by leading the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Today, he is commonly ...

. The camp was situated to protect the right flank of the Confederate encampment at

Columbus, Kentucky Columbus is a home rule-class city in Hickman County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 170 at the 2010 census, a decline from 229 in 2000. The city lies at the western end of the state, less than a mile from the Mississippi Ri ...

Background

While an active military installation, from September 1861 to March 1, 1862, it trained 5,000-6,000 soldiers for the Confederacy. However, the place was disease-ridden, resulting in 1,000-1,500 deaths at the camp. The diseases included cerebrospinal

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or ...

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

, and

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

with poor weather and lack of sufficient supplies for the troops contributing to the dire situation. In a single day 75 cases of typhoid and pneumonia were reported.Cunningham, Samuel.
Confederate Veteran
' (S.A. Cunningham, 1916) p. 183. Under the direction of the 7th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment's Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas H. Logwood, it was destroyed.

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

forces occupied the abandoned camp shortly thereafter.

History

In 1909 the Kentucky Division of the

United Daughters of the Confederacy The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American neo-Confederate hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, ...

placed a small monument dedicated to the dead soldiers at the site entrance, and then an eleven-foot monument within the cemetery. A concrete base was added in 1930. There were plans for a larger

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

monument, but they never materialized. The surrounding cemetery is believed by some to be haunted. On July 17, 1997, Camp Beauregard Memorial was one of sixty different monuments related to the American Civil War in Kentucky placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, as part of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky

Multiple Property Submission The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of Historic districts in the United States, districts, sites, buildings, struc ...

. Two other monuments on the list are in Graves County, both in Mayfield: the

Confederate Memorial in Mayfield The Confederate Memorial in Mayfield is a commemorative monument and fountain located on the courthouse lawn in downtown Mayfield, Kentucky.

and the

Confederate Memorial Gates in Mayfield The Confederate Memorial Gates in Mayfield are historical monuments at the entrances to Maplewood Cemetery in Mayfield, Kentucky. The monuments were the second monument in Mayfield established by the United Daughters of the Confederacy; the first ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1909 establishments in Kentucky 1909 sculptures Civil War Monuments of Kentucky MPS National Register of Historic Places in Graves County, Kentucky P. G. T. Beauregard United Daughters of the Confederacy monuments and memorials in Kentucky