Augustus, along with his brother, Washington, attended Davidson College, located in Iredell County, NC, but never graduated. Augustus became a farmer and Washington enrolled at the university of Pennsylvania, where he received his Medical Degree in 1850.
Washington enlisted on April 30, 1861, for the war. He was a member of Co. A, 4th Regiment, NC Infantry. No further information is available on Washington, other than his obituary that states he was a Surgeon at Fort Caswell, NC, during the war. He married Charlotte Julia Holman, and they raised three sons. Charlotte died in 1872 and Washington died in 1907. Both are buried at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Troutman, North Carolina.
Augustus Byers and Mary P. (Mollie) Davidson, daughter of William Lee Davidson (founder of Davidson College), were married May 4, 1859, in Iredell County, NC.
Augustus enlisted on July 12, 1861, for the war. He was a member of Co. A, 4th Regiment, NC Infantry. He served in Brigadier General Stephen Dodsen Ramseur's Brigade. On May 3, 1863, during the battle of Chancellorsville, Ramseur's troops attacked Union forces just south of the Orange Plank Road (modern Route 3) and drove them back toward the Chancellor house. In the see-saw fighting of that morning, Private Byers was captured. He was sent to Washington DC, as a prisoner of war, but immediately was shipped down the Chesapeake Bay and up the James River to City Point (now Hopewell), Virginia, where he was exchanged on May 13.
One year later, Augustus Byers was again engaged in this area, first in the Wilderness, and later at Spotsylvania Court House. On May 19, 1864, the Confederate Army's Second Corps made a reconnaissance-in-force toward Fredericksburg Road (modern Route 208). Ramseur's brigade led the movement. Just west of the road, at the Harris Farm "Bloomsbury", Ramseur encountered a heavy Union force. He impetuously ordered an attack. In the ensuing fight, Augustus Byers was killed.
His final resting place is unknown. National Park Service Staff Historians believe that his grave is marked unknown.
Mary P. Byers married Archibald S. Brown of Iredell Co., NC, in 1867. They had one daughter, Ann Brown, born in 1869.
Unfortunately, there are no photos of them available at this time.