In southern Graves County, Kentucky just a few miles north of the Tennessee border atop a rolling hill, Camp Beauregard Cemetery gives no hint of its tragic history. Originally a Confederate military training camp, it was only an active military installation from September of 1861 until March of 1862. During that time approximately 1,500 confederate soldiers died of diseases such as meningitis, pneumonia and thyphoid fever and the camp was closed.Area residents claim that the now private cemetery is haunted, but my cousin and I spent a lovely spring morning there several years ago and encountered no one, unearthly or otherwise.
In 1909, the United Daughters of the Confederacy placed a memorial to the fallen soldiers within the cemetery. The Confederate memorial is inscribed -In memory of the loyal men who
died here September 1861 to March 1862
for the Confederate States of America,
and were thus denied the glory of heroic
service in battle.
The land was donated by James Tucker in the early 1880's. His granddaughter is now buried on the hilltop overlooking their old homeplace. Her name was Lettie Ann Tucker Gregory. Her father and mother Ezra and Mary Tucker are also buried there.
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