Lewis P. Silver

Lewis P. Silver is just one of the men who left the Toe River Valley for the War Between the States and never returned. He lived in Mitchell County and enlisted on July 17, 1861. He was 22 years old and was mustered into Company I, 29th North Carolina Troops, on July 11, 1861. Silver was captured “in Kentucky,” sometime between September and November 1862, and was confined in Chattanooga, Tennessee. On January 11, 1863, he was exchanged. Silver was captured again near Atlanta, Georgia, on July 22, 1864, possibly during the battle of Atlanta. He was sent to Nashville, Tennessee, and then on July 30, 1864, was in Louisville, Kentucky. Silver was transferred to Camp Chase, Ohio, where he arrived on August 2, 1864. He died between November 8 and 9, 1864, of typhoid fever, and is buried at the Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery. This photograph was taken by Camp 1946 member Michael C. Hardy in June 2010.