A Condensed History of the Silverdale Confederate Cemetery
told by Jerry A. Wormsley for the Chattanooga Area Relic and Historical Association

        In January 1900. the Nathan Bedford Forrest Confederate Veterans Camp at Chattanooga received an important letter.  This letter from William Standifer described in 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 others 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 it's 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 nationwide1 requests for Information from other veterans organizations, and trips to Richmond and Washington to view records, were to no avail. The names of the soldiers and the reason for their being buried on Mr. Standifer's farm remained a   mystery. One of the graves was excavated and the metal remains of the uniform verified that it was indeed a Confederate Soldier. There are about 155 Confederate Soldiers buried in the cemetery but due to the   deterioration of the wooden markers, and lack of records there are currently only 15 names of men who may be buried there.

General Braxton Bragg succeeded General Beauregard 85 commander of the Army of Mississippi shortly after  the Battle of Shiloh and on July 21, 1862 ordered 27,818 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, many had already died. The troops arrived in Chattanooga August 1, 1862. The number of troops made it necessary form 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 Sliverdale 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 it was moved to Cleveland, Tennessee in December due to weather becoming    too cold for the men to remain in tents.

      Interest in this cemetery dwindled since the soldiers names could not be determined and the veterans 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 appointed. The necessary funds ($75) were raised to purchase the cemetery lot from Mr. Standifer's widow In 1904.  In 1926 another committee raised $2,000 for the Cemetery. With these funds and donations of materials, cement, cast iron signs, and transportation a stone fence was erected to replace the 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 win 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. though the non-profit corporation has not been active since 1979, the Chattanooga Area Relic and Historical Association has maintained it's    position as a trustee, and has worked diligently for the past twenty years to maintain constant care for the Confederates buried in the Sliverdale Confederate Cemetery. The members have regularly mown the
grass, raked 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. flown Confederate flags, and served as hosts to visiting groups. this has been accomplished  with almost no funds other than member 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 Chattanooga Area Relic and Historical Association meets at 7:00 pm on the second Thursday of the month    in the County Court House, enter from the East Side on ground level, the second door on the right.