Stephen Gano Burbridge, also known as "Butcher" Burbridge or the "Butcher of Kentucky", was a controversial Union general during the American Civil War. In June 1864 he was given command over the Commonwealth of Kentucky, where guerrillas had carried out attacks against Unionists. He imposed martial law and was criticized for punitive actions against persons accused of being guerrillas.
Louisville in the American Civil War was a major stronghold of Union forces, which kept Kentucky firmly in the Union. It was the center of planning, supplies, recruiting and transportation for numerous campaigns, especially in the Western Theater. By the end of the war, Louisville had not been attacked once, although skirmishes and battles, including the battles of Perryville and Corydon, took place nearby.
The Confederate Monument of Bardstown, in Bardstown, Kentucky was erected in 1903 in the Bardstown St. Joseph's Cemetery to honor the sacrifice of 67 Confederate States Army soldiers, who died during the American Civil War. Some 17 of the soldiers are still unknown.
The Confederate Martyrs Monument at the Jeffersontown City Cemetery in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, marks where four Confederate soldiers were executed "without cause or trial". Their execution was under Order 59, created by Union General Stephen G. Burbridge, known as "Butcher Burbridge" in Kentucky, which called for the execution of four Confederate prisoners for every unarmed Union citizen killed. The total number of executions performed as a result of this order was fifty. The four soldiers commemorated on the stone were Wilson P. Lilly, Rev. Sherwood Hatley, Lindsay Duke Buckner and M. Blincoe.
The 32nd Indiana Monument, also known as the August Bloedner Monument, honors the Union soldiers of the 32nd Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment, also known as Indiana's "1st German" regiment, who died in the Battle of Rowlett's Station on December 17, 1861, near Munfordville, Kentucky. Originally placed at Fort Willich, near Munfordville, in January 1862, the monument was moved to Cave Hill National Cemetery at Louisville, Kentucky, in June 1867. Due to its fragile condition, the monument was removed from the national cemetery in 2008. After undergoing conservation treatment at the University of Louisville, it was placed on display at the Frazier History Museum lobby in August 2010. Although it is no longer in its original location, the 32nd Indiana Monument is generally considered to be the oldest surviving memorial to the American Civil War. A replacement monument at Cave Hill National Cemetery was dedicated in December 2011.
The Unknown Confederate Soldier Monument in Horse Cave is a monument between Horse Cave, Kentucky and Kentucky Down Under, off the main road between Horse Cave and I-65 on the Old Dixie Highway, in Hart County, Kentucky. Among the various monuments of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky Multiple Property Submission, all of which became part of the National Register of Historic Places on July 17, 1997, it is an oddity for several reasons. First, though meant to imply an obelisk, it was constructed of local materials by a single individual. It was built during the Great Depression in year 1934, long after most monuments to the American Civil War. Instead of the typical limestone and marble from which most monuments were made, the monument uses geodes from Tennessee, a sedimentary/volcanic rocks in which crystals fill a largely hollow interior. The monument is 12 feet high, with a base of five feet square.
The Confederate Monument of Bowling Green, in Bowling Green, Kentucky, is among the sixty-one monuments of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky Multiple Property Submission, all of which became part of the National Register of Historic Places on July 17, 1997. It is within Bowling Green's Fairview Cemetery, on the east side of the old/northern side of the cemetery.
The Martyrs Monument in Midway, located in Midway City Cemetery outside Midway, Kentucky, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 17, 1997, as part of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky Multiple Property Submission. It honors four Confederate prisoners who were killed due to the standing order of Union General over Kentucky Stephen G. Burbridge, known as Order No. 59, which declared: "Whenever an unarmed Union citizen is murdered, four guerrillas will be selected from the prison and publicly shot to death at the most convenient place near the scene of the outrages." The Confederate prisoners, whose names were M. Jackson, J. Jackson, C. Rissinger, and N. Adams, were executed on November 5, 1864 northeast of Midway, the precise location of which is unknown. This was due to the actions of Sue Mundy, a former trooper under John Hunt Morgan who terrorized Union forces in Kentucky during the later years of the American Civil War. They were buried in shallow graves originally, then re-buried in a Presbyterian cemetery, and finally in 1890 moved to their current location, with the dedication of the Martyrs Monument.
The Confederate Monument in Georgetown is within the Georgetown Cemetery of Georgetown, Kentucky. It is an unpolished granite obelisk that is twenty feet tall, surrounded by the graves of eighteen former Confederate soldiers. The various reliefs upon the obelisk include crossed cannons, crossed muskets, a drum, an azid, and flags. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 17, 1997 as part of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky Multiple Property Submission.
The Confederate Monument in Cynthiana is located on the outer edge of Cynthiana, Kentucky in Battle Grove Cemetery. It was the first monument to the Confederate States of America dedicated in the State of Kentucky, and long believed to be the first Confederate memorial anywhere. Due to the 32nd Indiana Monument having been moved from its original location, the Cynthiana monument is the oldest Civil War monument still standing at its original location, where the second Battle of Cynthiana started, in the then-new town cemetery.
The Thompson and Powell Martyrs Monument is a memorial to two Confederate soldiers in St. Joseph, Kentucky. It is on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), one of only three NRHP locations in Daviess County, Kentucky that is not in Owensboro, Kentucky.
The Battle of Tebb's Bend Monument in Taylor County, Kentucky, near Campbellsville, Kentucky, commemorates the Battle of Tebbs Bend, which occurred on July 4, 1863, during the Civil War. The battle was essentially a Union victory, as it greatly delayed John Hunt Morgan's famous Raid that would later go into Indiana and Ohio.
The Captain Andrew Offutt Monument in Ryder Cemetery in eastern Lebanon, Kentucky, off US-68, is a monument on the National Register of Historic Places. It honors Captain Andrew Offutt who served as a Union officer in the 5th Kentucky Cavalry during the American Civil War, participating in General William Tecumseh Sherman's March. It is speculated that he must have seen his actions during the war as his greatest life's act, as he lived for 56 years after the war, yet his family chose to depict him in his Union Army uniform.
The Confederate Monument in Danville, originally located between Centre College and the First Presbyterian Church at the corner of Main and College Streets in Danville, Kentucky, was a monument dedicated to the Confederate States of America that is on the National Register of Historic Places. The monument was dedicated in 1910 by the surviving veterans of the Confederacy of Boyle County, Kentucky and the Kate Morrison Breckinridge Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC). In 2021, it was relocated to a museum in Meade County, Kentucky.
The Confederate Monument in Frankfort is placed within a circle of the graves of 68 Confederate soldiers in Frankfort Cemetery in Kentucky. The statue depicts a life size Confederate soldier standing ready, carved from white Carrara marble and standing atop a granite pedestal on a limestone base. A flagpole displays the first flag of the Confederacy with seven stars. The monument was erected by Daughters of the Confederacy and unveiled in 1892.
The Unknown Confederate Dead Monument in Perryville is located in the vicinity of Perryville, in Boyle County, Kentucky, United States, in the Goodknight Cemetery, a small family cemetery on private land. It is presumed to have been constructed around the year 1928, sixty-six years after the Battle of Perryville on October 8, 1862, in which the Confederate soldiers buried here anonymously died. In total, 532 Confederates died at the battle, but it is unknown how many of this number are buried here.
The Colonel Robert A. Smith Monument, located in Hart County, Kentucky, is a monument related to the American Civil War, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built in the memory of Colonel Robert A. Smith and the members of the 10th Mississippi Infantry Regiment who died in the service of the Confederate States of America on September 14, 1862, at the Battle of Munfordville.
The Confederate Soldier Monument in Caldwell County, Kentucky is a historic statue located on the Caldwell County Courthouse south lawn in the county seat of Princeton, Kentucky, United States. It was erected in 1912 by the Tom Johnson Chapter No. 886 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC).
The Confederate Monument in Crab Orchard in Lincoln County, Kentucky, near Crab Orchard, Kentucky, commemorates the fallen Confederate soldiers of nearby states. Many of those buried here died at the Battle of Wildcat Mountain.
The Battle of Dutton's Hill Monument in Pulaski County, Kentucky, near Somerset, Kentucky, commemorates the Confederate soldiers who died at the battle of Dutton's Hill in 1863.
