The Civil War came to Augusta on September 27, 1862, in a day of fierce fighting between pro-Union home guards led by Colonel Joshua Taylor Bradford and Confederate cavalry led by Colonel Basil Duke, brother-in-law of General John Hunt Morgan of Lexington. More than 30 men from both sides lost their lives, some Augustans of the Bracken County militia were burned alive in homes, and when the fighting ended the town was in flames and the dead and wounded lay in the streets. Although the Confederates won the battle, they were forced to abandon plans to cross the Ohio River and threaten Cincinnati.