“Graves of the 79th Highlanders,” ca. 1864. (Library of Congress.)
Many people are familiar with Knoxville’s Old Gray Cemetery, located on Broadway. With its winding tree-lined lanes and old gravestones, ornate obelisks and memorial statuary, there is no other place quite like it within the city. Yet, immediately to the north, across a low stone wall, is another burial place that is totally different. In contrast, Knoxville’s National Cemetery with its clean lines and crisply cut grass is also a very old place, conceived and begun just a little more than a decade after Gray opened in 1850.
Entrance Plaque. (Shawn Poynter.)
Created as a result of war, National Cemetery would be the final resting place for many soldiers, but it wasn’t meant for Knoxvilllians. Almost all came from far away, soldiers who died near here but couldn’t easily be transported home. Among the first be buried was Private Orville Orford of the 2nd Ohio Cavalry, who died during a skirmish between Confederate troops and the Union army in the fall of 1863. Buried first in Potter’s Field cemetery (off MKL Drive), in September 1863, Union soldiers dug up his remains and along with several others, reinterred him in the field adjacent to Gray Cemetery. Soon their remains would be joined by other Union soldiers who were killed during the brief, intense Battle of Fort Sanders on late November that year. That 20-minute siege, often cited as one of the bloodiest contests of the Civil War, left 129 Confederate soldiers dead. Only eight Union soldiers lost their lives, and the bodies of these 79th New York Volunteers (aka “Highlanders”) were buried here. Within the year, almost 1,500 burials would take place at what later became known as Knoxville’s National Cemetery, defined by its concentric design of grave markers. In those early days after the Civil War, burials were marked by numbered stakes, and later wooden planks were used with the names of the dead painted on them. Uniform white Vermont marble grave markers would later replace the wooden ones.
Although Bethel Confederate Cemetery in East Knoxville has about 50 Union soldiers buried there, only one known Confederate soldier is buried at National: Captain George Coleman of the 9th Kentucky Regiment. His gravestone is slightly different from the rest, the top of his stone has a peaked top. Why he is buried there is a mystery. Many are also unidentified and listed as “UNKNOWN.” African American veterans are notable by the description, “COL INF” indicating Colored Infantry.
Beyond the large concentric circle, with its central flagpole, the most distinctive feature in the cemetery is the tall Union Soldier’s monument. Members of Grand Army of the Republic (a Union veterans’ organization) announced plans for a monument back in 1893, but they struggled to raise the necessary funds to build it. Only three years later did they manage to lay a cornerstone, and then in 1897 did they begin to persuade 8,000 Union veterans to contribute $1 each to complete the project.
Union Soldiers Monument. (Shawn Poynter.)
Finally finished in 1901, the tall marble tower originally featured a large bronze eagle atop a cannonball. That eagle would only last for three years until August 1904 when a thunderous bolt of lightning struck, obliterated the top half. At the same time that lightning hit, drinkers in downtown saloons rushed out to see what the calamity was all about—the noise was so deafening that most assumed it was something close by, not almost a mile away. The old tower contained metal parts, which attracted the lightning.
The following month, city residents reeled again when two trains collided just outside of Knoxville in what became known as the New Market Train Wreck that killed about 70 passengers. One survivor, U.S. Congressman Henry Gibson sponsored a bill to fund the monument’s rebuilding. This time, the design featured a resolute Union soldier perched on top, which remains impressive to this day.
There are many veterans’ stories to tell here. Two large gravestones tell the story of two former UT students, Henry McCorkle and John Bernard, who fought as first lieutenants during the Spanish-American War of 1898, yet probably never knew each other. Thomas Ridge, an Irish immigrant and Civil War veteran, is buried here, at the very place where he served as cemetery superintendent for 20 years. Both Ridge’s and his wife’s gravestones are distinctive with crosses, most unusual for this burial ground.
Brig. Gen. Robert Neyland gravestone. (Shawn Poynter.)
Other graves stand out because they represent Medal of Honor recipients, including Irishman Timothy Spillane, who served bravely during the Civil War, receiving that commendation 15 years after the conflict, and was buried here upon his death in 1901; and Troy McGill, who died in hand-to-hand conflict in the Pacific Theater during World War II—part of Interstate 40 through Knoxville is named for him.
Finally, one of Knoxville’s most revered is buried near the cemetery entrance, his standard grave marker just like thousands of others, but it bears the name of Robert Neyland. A veteran of two world wars, Brig. Gen. Neyland became a hero to tens of thousands of Vols Football fans after leading the team to national prominence. His wish to be buried alongside his fellow combatants speaks to his humble nature. It’s just one story among the many dead who rest here at National Cemetery.
By Paul James and Jack Neely for Knoxville City Lifestyle Magazine
Photography and illustrations by Shawn Poynter, Knoxville History Project, Library of Congress.
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