WILLIAMSBURG — The remains of four unidentified Confederate soldiers and three amputated limbs that were discovered during a Colonial Williamsburg archaeological excavation in 2023 were reinterred at Cedar Grove Cemetery Tuesday.
The 2023 archaeological excavation of Colonial Williamsburg’s powder magazine unexpectedly revealed the remains and a nearby surgeon’s pit containing three amputated legs.
According to The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, archaeological and documentary evidence revealed that the soldiers were casualties of the Battle of Williamsburg and had been buried near the Magazine after they died in a nearby church that served as a hospital during the war.
Using historical records, including account books and newspapers, the foundation said archaeologists narrowed down a historic list of 29 individuals who died on that site after the Battle of Williamsburg to a short list of individuals who might be matches for the burials. Bone samples collected from each of the four individuals yielded viable DNA, it added.
Using a combination of archaeological excavation and research, osteological analysis and DNA analysis, the foundation said archaeologists are attempting to identify the soldiers and their present-day descendants. That process may take several years.
“Doing this type of identification with burials this old takes a unique set of circumstances. In this case we are lucky to have numerous lines of evidence we can draw on to try and determine the names of these individuals,” said Jack Gary, Colonial Williamsburg’s executive director of archaeology.
The foundation said while it focuses on the 18th century, the discovery provided a rare opportunity to apply its “research capabilities and ethics-led archaeological methodology to a historical mystery.”
Cedar Grove is Williamsburg’s public cemetery, where other Confederate soldiers who died in the Battle of Williamsburg were buried.
