This historic marker was placed at Confederate's Rest in 2008.
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Confederate Soldiers Rest is located in the Fowler Section of Historic Elmwood Cemetery. Over 1000 Confederate Soldiers and Veterans are buried here. An article in The Memphis Daily Appeal on 27 June 1861 stated that this plot was dedicated to the Southern Mothers' Society. A second article dated 25 September 1861 stated "This Company, at the commencement of the war, very liberally donated and set apart a lot of ground for the purpose of burying, free of charge, all soldiers who may die honorably in defense of our liberties. In the center of the lot is a circle of twelve feet in diameter, for the erection of a monument, which our patriotic citizen will no doubt raise to the memory of the brave soldiers who have fallen in defense of our Country". The first soldier buried in Confederate Rest was William Thomas Gallagher in lot 159, Fowler Section, Grave 20 on 17 June 1861 barely a month after the war began. The last burial was of Confederate Veteran John Frank Gunter on 01 April 1940. In 1886 the Confederate Historical Association collected funds and 945 numbered headstones were placed at the head of each grave.
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While going through old cemetery records years later a small notebook was discovered that contained the names and matching headstones numbers of these 945. It was now possible to identify the exact spot where a specific soldier or veteran was buried as well as the date of his burial and his confederate unit.
Approximately 1200 Confederate soldiers are buried at Elmwood, many in the section known as Confederate's Rest.
Captain Kit Dalton also road with the James gang and Cole Younger.
General Patton Anderson is one of 20 Confederate Generals buried at Elmwood.
General William J. Smith is one of two Union Generals buried at Elmwood.
The monument to the Confederate soldiers was erected June 5, 1878.
Confederate Monument
The monument in Confederate Soldiers Rest was unveiled on 05 June 1878. A crowd of almost 5000 people was in attendance at the dedication. Plans for the Monument were originally begun by the Ladies Confederate Memorial Association, later known as the Confederate Historical Association. The $5000 cost of the Monument was raised by a committee chaired by N. B. Forrest. On the front of the monument are the words "Confederate Dead". On the back of the monument is the following inscription: "Illis Victoriam Non Immortatitatem Fata Negaverunt" which translated: "The Fates Which Refused Them Victory Did Not Deny Them Immortality".
Erected 2006 by N. B. Forrest Camp 215, Sons of Confederate Veterans.
Murray Riss, photographer
This black and white image of a cemetery landscape shows magnolia trees surrounding a raised area with a central monument, a short stack of steps, and stones laid out in a line below.
The founders of Elmwood had set aside eight acres for the burial of soldiers when Elmwood was established in 1852. The "Confederate Rest" section of Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis was established during the Civil War. Union soldiers were buried in a section across from Confederate Rest during the war, then re-interred in the Memphis National Cemetery in 1867. A monument built with funds from the Ladies Memorial Association was unveiled at Confederate Rest in 1878. Flags and garlands in low relief adorn the column and the finial is designed to resemble stacked cannon balls.Former Confederate soldiers continued to be buried there over the decades and "Decoration Day" was celebrated by well-known figures including Jefferson Davis, Isham G. Harris, and Nathan Bedford Forrest in the 1870's. Today nearly 1000 Confederate soldiers are buried at Confederate Rest; the section is surrounded by large magnolia trees.
Source: historicmarkerstn.com / civilwarshades.org