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Silverdale Confederate Cemetery
First National Confederate Flag proudly flies over the Silverdale Confederate Cemetery
CARHA Members clean the cemetery the Wednesday following the 2nd Thursday. We get there between 4:00 & 5:00 and go till it is done or we get done talking, which ever comes later.
Cleanup
The next cleanup will be held on November 17.
In October, Wayne and Barrett were there picking up trash when Kevin arrived. They also cleared along the west wall and around the arch and sign at the entrance. Kevin got the leaves mulched and helped a little with cleaning around the entrance.
In August, Kevin was going to be gone so he and his son Matt went out to touch up before the actual cleanup day.
Matt worked on the outside of the wall and then
did some of the mowing inside as well.
I do not know who else showed on August 18 because I was watching racing in Bristol at the time.
On June 2, 2010, we added the POW/MIA flag that was given to us by the riders with the Run For The Wall, Southern Route. This group has adopted our Cemetery, donating $100 to us in the spring that was raised last year and then another donation May 26 which was raised during their ride from California to DC. We have had a few individuals over the years who have donated anywhere from $1 to $25. Some, such as Mr. & Mrs. Copeland from Indiana, donated enough to cover a new First National Flag every other year. Without folks like that, we all just dug into our own pockets and did what we could, sometimes having to leave the flag flying a little longer than it should have but just not being able to replace it. With help from motorcycle riders all across this great nation, and especially Lynne and Edwinn, that should not be the case any more. I was at the presentation of the funds raised and I have never seen Jerry almost speechless before but it really is hard to even say Thank You (or take pctures), when you have a huge lump in your throat and your eyes suddenly develop a major leak for some reason. I do not believe that our Unknowns have had the respect shown by as many as was in attendance May 26, 2010, since they were laid to rest there in 1862.
Run For The Wall folks, you are incredible!
Kevin Walls
for CARHA and the
Silverdale Confederate Cemetery
Frank Warren was hired to construct and install the bracket to hold the POW*MIA flag.
I will catch it flying proudly in a breeze one day and get it posted here but this will have to do until then.
Color Guard honoring "our" guys.
Edwinn (Mister Wookie), Jerry and Lynne
Lynne explaining to some of the newer folks who Jerry and I were and pointing out where the Cemetery is located by Thunder Creek Harley Davidson.
Many of the riders took photos of the markers for the 7 men we have gotten identified, as well as the main marker.
In April, Frank was there with his riding mower and Alan used a push mower. Jerry did the string trimming and David R. emptied the trash.
We are experiancing some serious sinking out in the drive leading in, right next to a City of Chattanooga manhole. We hope that there is not a leak that is undermining the drive.
One more Identifed!
W. S. Martin, Co A, 8th Miss Infantry
A while back, information was given to Jerry by Joe about a guy looking for a relative that may be buried at Silverdale. Jerry made contact and sure enough, all of the documentation is there. The application was submitted and we received a marker.
A few CARHA members joined the ladies from the Daughters of the Confederacy and Jim Long, a relative of W. S. Martin, for a dedication of the marker on July 11, 2008.
Jim places a rose on the marker.
Jim and his wife.
Jerry, Jim and Jean Morman, United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Four more identified as being buried here.
Four more of the previous unknowns have been identified and stones have been placed in their honor. Since we do not even know how the graves are laid out, let alone where each person could be, all of the stones are being placed to the left and right of the flag pole. Currently, there are three from Mississippi and three from Alabama identified. Just because that was the way we put the first two, one from each state, Mississippi is to the left of the flag and Alabama to the right.
To the right is Jerry Wormsley as we laid out the locations for the four new markers.
Jerry first got involved with Silverdale Confederate Cemetery when he was in high school. During the Centennial of the Civil War, Jerry undertook cleaning the cemetery.
In 1979, the Chattanooga Area Relic & Historical Association became the caretakers, with Jerry playing a key role in this.
Jerry has been searching archives in several states attempting to determine what became of each man listed on the rolls of the units that had men at the hospital that this cemetery served. Since the hospital was here from July to early December of 1862, any reference to them being on duty in 1863 rules them out as being interred here.
William Youngblood was a little easier to list as being here, as his brother had returned home and told the family that William had died at the hospital at Tyner and was buried there. Once they found the cemetery on this web site, they had contacted Jerry with that information.
Here, Jerry is leveling the area for one of the stones after Kevin dug it out. Kevin is younger but Jerry has a better eye for lining them up and leveling them out.
Dale sets one of the stones into place. Of course, we had to pull each one back out to enlarge or deepen the hole so it wasn't as easy as just dropping it in looks like it is.
Each stone is 12" X 24" X 4" and is heavy. Add in that we were trying to barely have a hole bigger than the stone and even getting your fingers under it to reset it was hard.
Kevin, Dale and Jerry after getting the four stones placed.
Below are the four stones with all of their info.
Of course, Jerry had mowed the cemetery by the time Kevin arrived and had it all looking good. We used the dirt from the holes to fill in a couple of holes we always run into while mowing, so that will be better as well.
John and his daughter, Kimmely, empty the trash.
Dale trims along the road.
It was soon whipped into shape and none to soon.
Two visitors who stopped to visit.
In July, 2007, we had a special work day as there was more to do than we could do at the Wednesday cleanup. It really has made it much easier to mow and clean around the back of the wall now, as it has no steep bank to work on.
Frank and Jimmy were there when I arrived. Jimmy had mowed earlier in the week so that portion was already done.
Frank was cutting down the bank so it would be mowable on the back end instead of having to be left as a jungle. Jimmy raked up all of the large stuff he had cut that morning and moved it over into the edge of the woods.
Frank worked his way down most of the length of the wall. Kevin used his E-tool and leveled the rest of it.
Frank, Jimmy and Kevin can be proud of their work, as it looks nice and will be so much easier to care for.
Walt would have been there except on Friday evening there were some strong storms that moved through. A large tree came down on Walt's house and did a bunch of damage. We are just glad he is OK to work with us another day.
CARHA owns and maintains the land known as Silverdale Confederate Cemetery. 155 Confederates are buried within its walls, victims of the ravages of illness, not wounds. With the vast transfer of information now possible via the Internet, we hope to learn more about the men who lie in this plot of Southern soil. Two, Shine Marley and William Youngblood, has been proven to the satisfaction of the Veterans Administration, to be buried here, and a marker has been placed to the right of the Unknown marker for Shine and to the left for William. Currently, the Unknown marker is the sole marker to remember the other 153 men who lie here.
Anyone having any information on the Cemetery and the men who a buried there, are asked to contact Mr. Jerry Wormsley. Jerry currently has several rosters of troops who were in units that were here, and is tracking them to see who is listed in later reports, which would prove they are not buried in this site.
