Who to call if a human remain is included in a Civil War collection you bought? Gettysburg's museum director, who then contacted an Alabama park. They found a resting place for a forearm bone, believed to be from a Union soldier

Note and display case holding the forearm bone, field that will hold grave (Historic Blakeley State Park) and Robert Knox Sneden map showing battle zones in and around Mobile (Library of Congress)

Early this year, employees at a shop in Gettysburg pored through relics it purchased from the family of a collector. Normally, such merchants in the Pennsylvania town synonymous with Civil War collectibles might receive display cases containing a belt buckle, bullets, unit badges or something rarer that turned up on a battlefield.

But this one was different, very different.

Tucked inside a box protected by bubble wrap was a handwritten scrap of paper, reading: “Found in Extreme Northern end of Union Army lines at Spanish Fort (near Basin Batteries). December, 1973.”

The note refers to the Federal siege and capture of Spanish Fort in April 1865. Back-to-back  victories at Spanish Fort and Fort Blakeley led to the surrender of Mobile, Ala., a vital Confederate port.

With the note and in the box was a human bone -- part of a forearm.

The Gettysburg shop, of course, had no intension of putting the relic up for sale.

What to do?

In this case, you contact a subject matter expert for advice. If you live in southern Pennsylvania, that expert is Greg Goodell, longtime museum curator at Gettysburg National Military Park.

After being contacted, Goodell acted as a middle man to ensure the bone would find a home and be laid to rest in a respectful way.

The curator contacted sites in the Mobile area, eventually reaching Mike Bunn, director of Historic Blakely State Park, home to the Fort Blakeley battlefield. Bunn stepped forward and said he would bury the bone in a field and place a granite marker that reads “Unknown Soldier, Civil War.” (design at left)

Next to the headstone will be an engraved interpretive plaque.

The Gettysburg business sent the item to Alabama a couple months ago.

Bunn wants to place the grave near a main park road and impressive remnants of Confederate defenses. He anticipates a Veterans Day ceremony to dedicate the memorial.

“We know not every person in the (Mobile) campaign has been found and marked,” Bunn told the Picket of his aim to honor them.

There’s plenty of mystery about the bone remaining, despite a story that appears to have a good ending.

The arm bone is believed to belong to a soldier, mostly likely Federal. What happened to the rest of him? No one knows. Officials see no need for DNA testing of the remain at this point.

I asked Gettysburg communications specialist Jason Martz how often such a thing has happened at the federal park.

“In plus-20 years, it has happened fewer than five times,” Martz replied.

Federal siege paid off in two Alabama battles

Although Union Adm. David Farragut had bottled up Mobile in summer 1864, the city remained in Confederate hands. 

The arrival of additional Federal troops in early 1865 brought about the campaign to take Fort Blakeley, Spanish Fort and other guardians east of Mobile. Historic Blakely State Park interprets the entire Mobile campaign.

Union troops, a third of which were U.S. Colored Troops regiments, laid siege of Blakeley for about a week. A similar operation against outnumbered Confederates took place at Spanish Fort, just to the south.

The forces under Federal Maj. Gen. Edward Canby (right) first surrounded Spanish Fort on March 27, 1865. Most of the Confederate troops escaped to Mobile or Blakeley and the fort fell on April 8.

Two Union commands combined to storm Fort Blakeley the following day, unaware of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender in Virginia. They carried the field.

Confederates evacuated Mobile and the mayor surrendered the city on April 12.

The Union lines at Spanish Fort were mostly to the east and north of the Rebel defenses.

Most of the battlefield lies within Spanish Fort Estates, a large residential community dating to the late 1950s and early 1960s. While most of the fortifications are gone, there are several discernible lines of breastworks running through front yards.

A chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans has helped to preserve Battery McDermott.

Bone was found in future subdivision land

Bunn said he believes the forearm bone was found by a relic hunter in or near a Federal trench at Spanish Fort with other artifacts. The park director (below) said he does not know the finder’s name but believes he died several years ago. “He had a pretty big collection.”

A water artillery battery near the end of the Yankee line was in swampy ground at a body of water called Bay Minette. “All of that stuff is gone,” Bunn said of this part of the siege line.

Relic hunters frequently pored over the area, which is on private land, as the subdivision was built in stages.

The paper indicates the bone discovery in December 1973. “I can’t confirm all the details, but I don’t believe the section this came from was developed at the time. Probably dug as they were clearing land for it, though,” Bunn added.

It’s possible the bone was part of a mass grave. Bunn doesn’t know whether the rest of the skeleton was left intact, scattered by animals or taken by other collectors.

Relic hunters today are more likely to report human remains or leave them in place, officials said. “At least they did not chuck it. I am sure others have,” Bunn told the Picket of this bone.

Bunn said the exact circumstances regarding the bone and its precise location are impossible at this point to pin down.

Siege operations at Spanish Fort, note map is not displayed north-south (Library of Congress)

“If it was a burial, it probably would have been a shallow grave.” Circumstantial evidence points to a Federal soldier, though the U.S. military after the war worked diligently to relocate such remains to new national cemeteries.

“There could be a chance he was a Confederate,” said Bunn.

Shop knew the park service would have an answer

Martz, with Gettysburg National Military Park, said the local business – which he and Bunn did not identify -- had a conversation with Goodell (below) after the discovery.

“The shop was basically in a position to be a good Samaritan and didn’t know what to do with” the bone, Martz told the Picket.

“When someone in the position of the local shop doesn’t know where to start, they start with an organization like the National Park Service. It is easily one of the most recognizable and trusted organizations in the country come to,” he said.

In this case, there was no need to go to law enforcement.

Martz described the man who had the bone as an avid Civil War artifacts/relics collector. “When he passes, the family doesn’t know what to do with a collection. They find a reputable shop.”

Then the shop’s inventory process begins.

“They start to go through it piece by piece. ‘Oh wait a minute.’ There is one extra thing they are not comfortable with.”

Martz said there is no indication a law was broken. The only consideration would be the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which protects indigenous remains.

Nothing in this case has any connection with NAGPRA “as far as we know,” said Martz.

The takeaway is the Gettysburg shop did the best thing by reaching out to Goodell so the bone could be sent to the best place – Alabama, said the park spokesman.

Remains not eligible for state veterans cemetery

Bunn turned to the Historic Blakely Foundation and a GoFund me campaign to raise money for the headstone and plaque. So far, $350 of the estimated $600 expense has been raised.

The new grave will be in a field that holds a cemetery that dates to 1819. It will be in a separate area and will be viewable from the road. Bunn expects a ceremony in November, with a gun salute and presence of a U.S. flag. “It is a long overdue, proper respect,” he added.

The state cemetery contains about 5,000 graves (Alabama Dept. of Veterans Affairs)

The park director consulted with Joseph Buschell, director at the nearby Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Spanish Fort. Alabama operates the location because the U.S. cemetery in Mobile is closed to new interments and the closest national cemeteries are in Biloxi, Ms., and at Barrancas near Pensacola, Fla., each more than 70 miles away.

The Spanish Fort cemetery would not have been able to accept the remains without a name and proof of military service, including an honorable discharge, Buschell said.

On behalf of Historic Blakeley, Buschell contacted a company in Pensacola to make a government-grade marker. “It is assumed to be a soldier.”

Regarding Bunn, Buschell told the Picket: “I think what he is going to do with this is pretty noble.”

At Culpeper, a cadre of friends groups paved the way for a new Virginia state park that will tell the story of four battles. The idea: Preserve it and people will come

Cunningham Farm wall remnants (Chuck Laudner/ABT), Gens. John Buford and WHF "Rooney" Lee; 8th Illinois Cavalry attack along Beverly's Ford Road at Brandy Station (Keith Rocco/ABT)

A low stone wall that separated two 19^th-century farms in Brandy Station, Va., is remarkably intact today, despite being worn by time and a mammoth cavalry clash that signaled the beginning of the Gettysburg campaign.

It was here on June 9, 1863, where Union Brig. Gen. John Buford tried to turn the Confederate left flank. Brig. Gen. William Henry Fitzhugh "Rooney" Lee, son of Gen. Robert E. Lee, had no intention of allowing Buford's maneuver to succeed. Lee’s horsemen stubbornly fought off repeated assaults for five hours, stalling the Federal advance.

The site of their pitched fighting is on preserved ground that the American Battlefield Trust (ABT) will donate to the state for its burgeoning Culpeper Battlefields State Park, which will be made up of several parcels in Northern Virginia.

The trust, Friends of Culpeper Battlefields, the Brandy Station Foundation, Friends of Cedar Mountain Battlefield and other groups have worked for decades to save and interpret imperiled Civil War battlefields in Culpeper County. They are Brandy Station, Cedar Mountain, Kelly’s Ford, Rappahannock Station and Hansbrough's Ridge.

About 263 acres centered at the crest of Fleetwood Hill at Brandy Station were the first donated to the state.

While the state park opened a year ago, development is still in its embryonic stage. Staff is being hired to develop a master plan. Drew Gruber (left), former executive director of Civil War Trails, was recently hired as the park's first manager.

The ABT – which will be chief steward of the properties until 2027 -- plans to make several additional donations to the Commonwealth over the next couple years, said Jim Campi, chief policy and communications officer.

“I think it is one of our biggest accomplishments by far,” Campi said of the land preservation organization’s efforts in Culpeper County.

Ultimately, he said, visitors will be able to enjoy Brandy Station through a wide array of transportation – on foot, horseback, bicycle and canoe or kayak.

The ABT and the state hope the new park units and ensuing visitation will provide a boost to the local economy. Culpeper is nestled between Cedar Mountain and Brandy Station. “Downtown Culpeper is part of the Civil War story, anyway,” said Campi.

Click map to get a closer view of planned state park properties (American Battlefield Trust)

“Where else can you stand in the footsteps of soldiers, follow cavalry charges on horseback or paddle the battle?” Gruber said in a news release about his hiring. “This park already offers a unique set of experiences for visitors of all ages and interests, and I am excited to share these gifts with our guests.” 

43rd state park in Virginia a rare foray into history

Greg Mertz, vice president of the Brandy Station Foundation, said local groups are committed to supporting the state park in the long haul, whether through volunteering, fundraising or participating in special events.

That commitment was a big draw for Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the Virginia General Assembly when they first appropriated funds in 2022.

A pair of cannons at Cedar Mountain (Matthew Hartwig/American Battlefield Trust)

“We have been told that one of the reasons why the Culpeper Battlefields State Park has come into being before some other equally deserving new state park proposals is because of the number of friends groups and partners willing to both advocate for the park and help out with volunteers,” Mertz told the Picket in an email.

Campi said Virginia's park system "is mostly about managing natural parks and wildernesses,” so this Civil War site will indicate a new effort to convey the Commonwealth’s rich history. Culpeper will be the state's 43rd park and encompass about 2,200 acres.

While many portions of the Cedar Mountain and Brandy Station battlefields have been open to the public for years, including trails, the Fleetwood Hill unit of the Brandy Station battlefield is the only portion of the Culpeper Battlefields State Park that is currently open to the public, said Mertz.

Interpretation at Brandy Station's Fleetwood Hill sector (American Battlefield Trust)

Public hearing will spotlight cool features

The ABT, working with the Brandy Station Foundation and other partners, is engaged in a yearlong cultural landscape study that will help inform the state’s master plan.

Campi said this study focused on a portion of the Brandy Station battlefield, including St. James Church and Elkwood. “We have identified some pretty interesting archaeological resources we are going to identify publicly,” he said.

Those features include an old road and cemeteries. The stone wall that separated the Cunningham and Green farms will be among discussion points at a June 24 evening program in Culpeper about the study.

An ABT marker about fighting at the Cunningham farm details the action. (Above, American Battlefield Trust map of Brandy Station. See top to see where Buford and Lee clashed)

“Rooney Lee was a skilled fighter and used the terrain well. First, he blocked Buford's progress by the stone wall 500 yards in front of you.

“From his command post on the knoll behind you, Buford saw that a portion of Lee's dismounted regiments were placed between Ruffans Run and the Hazel River (to your left and right respectively). Two unlimbered cannon were located on the other side of the hill behind the stone wall. Since the disposition of the enemy and the channels of the two water courses left him no alternative, Buford launched several mounted and dismounted charges against the wall. Blistering fire from Lee's brigade held the Federals back for several hours.”

Rooney Lee’s cavaliers eventually left the field as an additional Federal cavalry force entered the fray. Casualties at and near the stone wall were significant.

U.S. cavalry earned their stripes at Brandy Station

The Friends of Culpeper Battlefields provides details on Brandy Station, Cedar Mountain, Rappahannock Station and Kelly’s Ford at this page. Cedar Mountain is famous for Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s August 1862 victory over Federal forces led by Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks. This battle shifted fighting in Virginia from the Peninsula to Northern Virginia, giving Lee the initiative, according to the National Park Service.

The NPS says this about Brandy Station:

“Enduring a narrow defeat and forced to withdraw, the Union force did not succeed in their mission to stop the Confederate advance. However, for the Union cavalry, the confidence and experience they gained at Brandy Station would prove invaluable four weeks later at a battlefield in southern Pennsylvania called Gettysburg.”

“It is just picturesque. It is beautiful,” Campi said of Brandy Station. Fleetwood Hill is just stunning.” He mentions the role of Beverly’s Ford Road, which is still unpaved in the battlefield. He also touts the important of archaeology work at Hansbrough’s Ridge.

Rappahannock Station witnessed fighting in 1862 and 1863. Some battleground has been lost to residential development.

These walls do talk. Will state take over Graffiti House?

Mertz, with the Brandy Station Foundation and a retired supervisory historian at the National Park Service, said besides owning parcels of land at Brandy Station and Kelly’s Ford, the nonprofit owns the Graffiti House (left), which is open Saturdays from 12 p.m.-4 p.m. from mid-March to early December.

“Walls in the 1858 building-- which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places -- contain Civil War graffiti,” he said. 

“The charcoal graffiti includes signatures, unit designations, dates, drawings and messages written by both Federal and Confederate soldiers.”

Mertz believes future master planning by the state could look at whether the house should be part of the park. “We envision that the options for ownership and operation of the Graffiti House vary from the BSF retaining both, the state taking over both, the state taking ownership but the BSF continues to run the operations.”

Hansbrough's Ridge -- scene of a small engagement during the battle of Brandy Station as well as a site from the Federal winter encampment of 1863-64 – will require extensive planning to provide visitor access and still preserve the resources on the site, Mertz added. 

View from Hansbrough's Ridge captures beauty, development (Peter Giraudeau/American Battlefield Trust)

Coming up with the right master plan is key

The ABT said it and other groups worked together to stave off much of the development that would take in battlefield land.

“At various times, pieces of land that we are now gifting to the Commonwealth of Virginia were slated to become housing tracts, industrial parks, water retention and management areas — even a Formula One racetrack,” it says. (Below, American Battlefield Trust map of parcels at Brandy station; click to enlarge)

State and private money are crucial to protecting more land as the development wave continues, said Campi, adding it’s important for the public to have access to history.

“We think this is going to add so much tourism potential,” said of the state moving in with a deeper budget and staffing than the advocacy groups. “We expect to see that explode in the next decade.”

Coming up with the master plan will take a few years as the state determines what it can open and what is vulnerable and needs extra protection.

In the meantime, visitors can walk on several trails and read ABT and Civil War Trails signs.

“We are always going to be involved,” said Campi. “The park is not done yet. There is more land to acquire.”

An Arkansas museum telling the tragic story of the steamboat Sultana will be housed in an old school gym. Its decades-old wooden bleachers are finding a new use

Wood from high school bleachers adorn lobby area; banners will be featured in exhibits (Sultana Disaster Museum)

John Fogleman grew up in Marion, Ark., three blocks from the high school gymnasium-auditorium his grandfather helped dedicate in 1939 near the end of the Great Depression.

Fogleman -- president of the Sultana Historical Preservation Society, which is building a new museum about a Civil War maritime disaster that occurred near the town -- routinely walked to the gym to watch basketball games and attend plays and pep rallies. He played guard for the junior high and high school hoops teams.

“My memory is that the gym was always packed with people (probably not in reality),” he said. “It was much like a scene from ‘Hoosiers.’”

Fogleman’s and other alumni’s memories will live on as the Sultana Disaster Museum continues to take shape in the old multiuse building. Recent construction has used part of the 500-seat bleachers to decorate walls in the lobby area outside what will be the main exhibit area. (Below, Fogleman during a 1969 game at Marion High School)

“Generations of high school students … were in that gym. (Some) of our board members played on the basketball team,” museum director executive director Jeff Kollath told the Daily Memphian podcast last month.

The relocated museum, which spotlights the burning and sinking of the side-wheel steamboat Sultana, will feature a space dedicated to the story of the gym and the old high school. Visitors will see photos of basketball teams, letter jackets and cheerleader uniforms, Kollath told the Picket in an email.

The current Marion high school is in another part of the bedroom community, which is across the Mississippi River from Memphis, Tenn. The gym is the only part of the old high school to survive.

Crews are building a more dynamic Sultana Disaster Museum than the current small location a few blocks away. Marion, close to where the Sultana caught fire in the Mississippi, will honor soldiers who died in the disaster and residents who helped save others who were plunged into the river in late April 1865.

About 1,200 passengers and crew perished. Hundreds of Federal soldiers, many recently freed from Confederate prisons, including Andersonville and Cahaba, were on their way home.

Museum officials say the exhibits will build off the full story of the Sultana, with information about the importance of the river, Confederate POW camps, the bribery and corruption that led to the overcrowding of the boat, the explosion and fire, and the creation of the Sultana Survivors Association. The vessel’s boilers are considered to be the main cause of the catastrophe.

Recalling the smell of popcorn and sweat 

Harper's Weekly illustration of the conflagration (Library of Congress)

The state of Arkansas and the federal Public Works Administration built the gymnasium-auditorium in 1938-1939. School board President J.F. Fogleman presided over its dedication.

“Musical selections were performed by the Marion and Earle Glee Clubs. Following the program, three intrasquad games were played,” according to a brief history of the venue.

An article on the Living New Deal website describes the building:

“The structure is a handsome example of brick Moderne architecture, with two faux stone entrances. It is single-story with large window and minimal decoration, except for the bas-relief columns and arch around the entrances and two sculptural scrolls along the central roof line. The interior of the gymnasium appears largely unchanged from its original form.”

The gym got off to a notable start after it opened, hosting a February 1940 game between the Southwestern College Lynx of Memphis and the Louisiana State University Tigers.

The University of Arkansas Razorbacks, on their way to what is now called the Final Four, beat Southwestern at the Marion gym in December 1940. (At left, a May 1939 article on the dedication of the gym, click to enlarge)

This, of course, was before segregation, which came to Crittenden County in 1970-1971. Until then, Black athletes played at Phelix School in nearby Sunset.

I asked Fogleman what happened to that gym. “It was sold and it is more or less tearing itself down -- nature. It’s sad to see,” he said.

Fogleman, 69 and a retired circuit court judge, said he gave his first speech in the auditorium when he was in sixth grade.

“I remember basketball practice as exhausting (line drills, and bleachers). When I go into the main part of the gym, I am reminded of the smell of popcorn,” the 6-footer wrote in an email.

“Prior to (demolition) work, when I entered the area that will now house the administrative offices and the classroom I could still smell a combination of sweat and liniment (Atomic Balm).”

Gym before 2022 construction began and a concert in the 1960s-70s (Sultana Disaster Museum)

The last high school game in the building was 1974-75. A youth sports league played games in the building until 2020.

The elementary school across the street also used the building until 2020. 

Fewer artifacts, more storytelling 

While the bleachers have been repurposed for a decorative element, the wooden floor remains in the gym. Most of it will be covered by a large-scale version of the Sultana and other exhibits, says Fogleman (right, below).

Kollath, who formerly led the Stax Museum of American Soul Museum in Memphis, told the Daily Memphian the remains of the Sultana lie about 20 feet below a soybean field east of Marion, which has about 13,000 residents.

The permanent gallery about the Sultana disaster will open in April 2026. The society and museum are still raising money to finish the project. Unlike Stax, the Sultana Disaster Museum has few original items to display.

“It is not going to be as artifact heavy as a lot of museums would be. But we have great storytelling,” said Kollath.

Gene Salecker, Sultana author, collector and museum supporter, has amassed a large cache of items, many associated with disaster survivor associations and their reunions.

The museum will use modern technology and a scale replica of the 270-foot boat to tell the story under the 35-foot ceiling of the old gym on Old Military Road.

The Sultana had left Memphis and caught fire in the middle of the night, with its flaming wreckage drifting to the Arkansas side.

The story of the Sultana runs deep in the blood of Judge Fogleman and his cousin Frank, who was Marion's mayor for many years.

Their great-great-grandfather, John Fogleman -- after lashing two or three logs together -- poled his way through the current of the Mississippi River and toward survivors.

The Fogleman and Barton families, descendants of local men who were part of that rescue effort, donated $100,000 for the project.

The new museum met another milestone recently, with its name added to the gym’s exterior. (Photo Sultana Disaster Museum)

 “We are the only museum in the world that will have the word disaster in it,” quipped Kollath.

May 2025 photo of the gym interior, future site of permanent gallery (Sultana Disaster Museum)

As four Confederate soldiers are reburied in Williamsburg, archaeologists try to positively ID them through DNA testing and searches of records

The final resting place for four soldiers at Cedar Grove Cemetery (The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation)

Archaeologists at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia have recovered DNA from the remains of four Confederate soldiers uncovered two years ago and hope to use that material and hospital and other records to positively identify them, officials said last week.

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation last week shared an update with local media and the Associated Press. The Picket previously wrote about the discovery of the bodies near the site’s powder magazine.

The archaeologists have narrowed the possible identities to four men who served in regiments from Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina and Virginia, the AP reported. 

The museum is withholding the names as work continues.

Excavations in 2023 yielded a mass grave at the powder magazine. (The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation)

“The next step in the search for the soldiers’ identities is working with a genealogist and the recovered DNA to conclusively connect the Confederate burials to living relatives, a process that may take over a year,” Ellen Morgan Peltz, public relations manager for The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, wrote the Picket in an email.

The remains of the four men were buried last week at William’s Cedar Grove Cemetery, where other Confederates rest. Remains of three amputated legs also were found during excavations around the magazine’s wall from February to April 2023. 

“Each soldier’s remains were placed in an individual stainless-steel box and buried in an individual vault. The three amputated limbs were buried together in their own box and vault for a total of five boxes and five vaults,” Peltz said. “The burials took place quietly and without ceremony.”

The soldiers likely took part in the May 5, 1862, Battle of Williamsburg in Virginia.

The inconclusive Battle of Williamsburg, according to the National Park Service, was the first pitched battle of the Peninsula Campaign, following a Confederate retreat from Yorktown. Hooker’s division attacked the Southerners at Fort Magruder, but was repulsed. Confederate counterattacks ultimately failed and they made a nighttime withdrawal toward Richmond. Casualties numbered more than 3,800.

Some wounded troops were treated at a Williamsburg makeshift hospital, officials said.

“The museum has recovered enough genetic material from the men’s teeth for possible matches,” the AP reported. “But the prospect of identifying them emerged only after the team located handwritten lists in an archive that name the soldiers in that hospital.”

Hancock's Federal troops launch attack on May 5, 1862 (Library of Congress)

The four soldiers had been buried respectfully, with their hands folded. Bullets, gold coins, buttons and suspender buckles were found with the skeletal remains. One had a bullet in his spine.

Rebel troops used the magazine in 1861 to store ordnance. Colonial Williamsburg was conducting a restoration project at the site when the grave was discovered.

The remains were sent to the Institute for Historical Biology at William & Mary, a nearby university, for analysis.

Jack Gary, Colonial Williamsburg’s executive director of archaeology, said his team used account books and newspapers to narrow 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.

The archaeologists eliminated soldiers who survived or lost an extremity, the AP reported. The four skeletons had all of their limbs. Death dates were key because three men were buried together, allowing the team to pinpoint three soldiers who died around the same time.

Use of the powder magazine dates to the American Revolution (The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation)

“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,” Gary said in a statement. Future efforts will include seeking DNA swabs from descendants

Women who visited the wounded kept some records with names. Those documents are kept at William & Mary. The Picket reached out Friday to the library’s special collections research center for details and possible images of the papers but has not heard back.

In a March 2023 article after the discovery of the grave, The Virginia Gazette quoted a local historian as saying the remains are likely Confederate.

“With the Union occupation of the city after the battle, Union remains were collected and ultimately buried at the cemetery in Yorktown,” said Will Molineux. It’s possibly reburial crews missed these two pits.

The article said battle expert Carson O. Hudson wrote in his book, “Civil War Williamsburg,” that the Confederates “were buried in large square pits on the west side of the building” adjacent to the magazine.

A wildfire rolled into a Civil War-era fort in New Mexico. Among the damaged structures at Fort Stanton (where Billy the Kid stayed one night) was a gym built by German internees during World War II

Burn area includes site of pool, gymnasium and old guard house (New Mexico Dept. of Cultural Affairs)

A central New Mexico wildfire damaged three historic structures but 150 firefighters and air crews prevented it from spreading to the main grounds of Fort Stanton, which is best known for its roles in the Civil War and Indian Wars but also tells the stories of  frontiersman Kit Carson and the Buffalo Soldiers. If that's not enough, outlaw Billy the Kid had a Fort Stanton connection.

The 877-acre Camp Fire broke out Sunday in an area known for the fort and 52 miles of cave passages. Containment had grown to 76% by Thursday afternoon and rain helped to extinguish remaining hot spots.

Fort Stanton, established in 1855, is one of the most intact 19th-century military forts in the country and is the best-preserved fort in New Mexico, according to state officials.

As an internment camp in 1939, the fort held the 400-member German crew of the luxury liner Columbus. 

The fire-blackened exterior of the German camp gymnasium (Wendy Brown/Bureau of Land Management)

Remains of the German internment camp before the Camp Fire (NMDCA)

“Damage to historic structures in the German Internment Camp area of the site is still being assessed, but two wooden structures built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s were destroyed by the fire,” the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs said in a press release.

The roof of a gymnasium built by German internees in 1944 and which collapsed in the 1990s was consumed by the fire. Its walls, made of adobe and concrete, remain standing, officials said Wednesday.

A guardhouse suffered minor damage from a fire retardant that colored the walls pink. “We expect that a good rain will wash it off,” Daniel R. Zillmann, director of communications and marketing for the department, told the Civil War Picket.

Out of the 88 structures on the site, the most important structures in this portion of the site were the ruins of the pool, the gymnasium and the guard house.

Living historians portray Civil War soldiers during an event at Fort Stanton (NMDCA)

Zillmann said he did not believe the two destroyed wooden structures involved historic interpretation.

Fort Stanton Historic Site, which is about 20 miles northeast of Ruidoso, will reopen Thursday morning. ”The only portions of the site off limits to the public will be the Internment Camp area,” said Zillmann.

The park web site includes details of its extensive history and wide-ranging use over the years, including as a camp holding Japanese Americans during WWII.

Fort Stanton was seized by Confederate forces in 1861. During the occupation, three Rebels were killed by Kiowa Indians while on patrol 50 miles north.

A fire crew works to contain the Camp Fire around Fort Stanton (NMDCA photo)

“After all supplies were moved to Mesilla, the Confederates abandoned the fort, burning it as they left. The fort stood empty for a year, but the stone walls survived and in 1862, New Mexican Volunteer forces under the great frontiersman Kit Carson (now a US colonel) reoccupied the fort.”

In 1862, during the Civil War, Union Capt. James “Paddy” Graydon allegedly massacred peaceful Indians. Army doctor John Whitlock called Graydon a murderer and they got into a gunfight, with both ending up dead. (Read here for an account.)

In 1876, Buffalo Soldiers built the Fort Stanton Laundress Quarters, which still stands at the site and is one of the few surviving structures directly associated with the Black troops, the state says.

Billy the Kid, a legendary figure in the Wild West, was locked up at Fort Stanton for a night in 1881 when he was being brought back to Lincoln for hanging after his murder trial in Mesilla, where he was convicted of killing Lincoln County Sheriff William Brady in 1878.

He was kept in a building next to the Fort Stanton visitor center, said BIlly Roberts, a Lincoln resident, professional cartographer and amateur historian

"He was brought to Lincoln, locked up in the newly acquired courthouse, and spent a week there before he killed deputies Bell and Olinger and made one of the most famous jailbreaks in history," said Roberts.

I asked the state for more details on the fort's Civil War and other interpretation, but officials said they were busy assessing the damage and would answer questions on that aspect next week.