Silverdale Confederate Cemetery
A Condensed History of the Silverdale Confederate Cemetery
In January 1900, the Nathan Bedford Forrest Confederate Veterans Camp at Chattanooga received an important letter from William Standifer. Describing an abandoned cemetery on his farm that was said to contain from "75 to 100" Confederate graves. This letter was in response to articles in the Chattanooga papers about the other places in the city where the Confederates were being buried and who was caring for those cemeteries. Mr. Standifer wanted to know why no one was caring for the Confederates on his farm. The veterans, not wishing any comrade to lie neglected, appointed a committee to investigate this situation.
The committee visited Mr. Standifer at his home at Silverdale, between Chattanooga and Cleveland, Tennessee. They found Mr. Standifer an invalid and nearly blind. He told the committee and its chairman, J.F. Shipp that the soldiers were from General Bragg's army and that they had died in a nearby hospital. Efforts by Mr. Shipp, including letters to the War Records Office, requests for information in the newspapers nationwide, requests for information from other veterans organizations, and trips to Richmond and Washington to view records, were all to no avail. The names of the soldiers and the reason for their being buried on Mr. Standifer's farm remained a mystery. There are about 155 Confederate Soldiers buried in the cemetery but due to deterioration of the wooden markers and lack of records they are unknown. We continue to research and now know Shine Marley and William Youngblood are buried here. Rosters of the units in J.M. Withers' division, are posted on CARHA's web site to possibly aid relatives in locating where their Civil War soldiers are buried.
General Braxton Bragg succeeded General Beauregard as commander of the Army of Mississippi shortly after the Battle of Shiloh and on July 21, 1862 ordered 27,816 men to Chattanooga, Tennessee in preparation for his famed Kentucky campaign. These men had been in camps in northern Mississippi where poor water, shallow wells, mosquitoes and dysentery had made many of them sick. The number of troops made it necessary for most of them to be located outside of town. Brigadier General J.M. Wither's division was placed at Tyner's Station on the railroad 10 miles from town. The men buried at Silverdale are from General Withers' division hospital. His division consisted of men from Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina. The hospital was housed in 100 tents. It remained at Tyner's station and in control of Withers' division until after it was moved to Cleveland, Tennessee in December due to the weather becoming too cold for the men to remain in tents.
Interest in this cemetery dwindled since the soldier's names could not be determined and the veteran's camp already cared for and administered their own cemetery on Third Street in Chattanooga. At a veterans meeting in 1903, attention was called to the neglected condition of the cemetery and a committee was appointed. The necessary funds ($75) were raised to purchase the lot from Mr. Standifer's widow in 1904. In 1926 another committee raised $2000 for the cemetery. With these funds and donations of materials, cement, cast iron signs, and transportation, a stone fence was erected to replace wire fence. By 1934 the highway commissioner had erected a large concrete archway over the drive and local foundries again donated cast iron signs that were included.
Several groups and organizations have made efforts to maintain the grounds in presentable condition. The county road crews were able to spare an occasional truck of gravel for the old country road now being used as a driveway. The efforts, though sporadic, were probably the best care the site had seen since the twenties or thirties.
A Chattanooga newspaper article on June 26, 1979, brought the cemetery to the attention of the Chattanooga Area Relic and Historical Association. A board of directors was appointed but only two or three meetings of the non-profit corporation have been held and it has not been active since 1979. The Chattanooga Area Relic and Historical Association has maintained its position as a trustee, and has worked diligently for the past twenty five years to maintain constant care for the Confederates buried in Silverdale Confederate Cemetery. The members have regularly mown the grass, raked the leaves, and picked up fallen limbs and trash. This group has maintained the walls, removed all the bushes and vines from around the walls, provided and emptied trash cans, raised flag poles, and served as hosts to visiting groups. This has been accomplished with no funds other than donations. Although this group has been recognized by the mayor's office and has received a Scenic Cities Beautiful Award, it has done all this rather quietly, almost anonymously.
The most recent event for the Chattanooga Area Relic and Historical Association involving the cemetery was a Certificate of Merit from the State of Tennessee for historic preservation.