This rubber comb will be buried soon with a Civil War soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Dedicated surgeons at a Manassas field hospital were unable to save the teen, whose remains were found in a limb pit more than two years ago

This hard rubber comb will be buried with the soldier at Arlington National Cemetery (NPS photo)

Under horrifying circumstances, Union surgeons covered up to their elbows in blood worked feverishly to save lives at a makeshift field hospital on the Second Manassas battlefield.

The ground had been won by the Confederates in August 1862, but the surgeons had been granted permission to treat the Federal wounded, many of whom had been without care, food and water for days in the sweltering heat..

Hard choices on who to treat had to be made, according to a study written after the 2015 excavation at Manassas National Battlefield Park of two bodies and several limbs placed in a surgeon’s pit. Numerous amputations were conducted to save lives.

“They rendered aid as they were able until surgeons became uncertain whether operations could be tolerated by men already so weakened from their ordeal,” the paper says. “The medical party found itself impaired from continued disorganization and Confederate control that led to the continued lack of ambulances, supplies, and food.”

One of the recovered New York State buttons (NPS photo)

There was a third man buried in the pit, but his remains were not discovered and recovered until 2024. Officials this year announced he will be buried in the fall at Arlington National Cemetery, where the other two soldiers rest. No date for the burial has been announced.

The teen will be placed in a coffin with a hard rubber pocket comb found under his left femur. A report asserts the comb likely had been in his back pocket.

The soldier was apparently buried in a New York infantry jacket. Archaeologists found six brass New York State Excelsior jacket buttons and seven brass cuff buttons with the soldier, who was between 16 and 19 years old.

The National Park Service this week released photos of many of those artifacts, which include wooden buttons and a metal clothing hook (left). Only the comb will be interred with the soldier.

An associated NPS document says the hard rubber comb was mass-produced, machine made and undecorated. “It does not represent a distinctive type, material, or method of construction/manufacture. The artifact has been subjected to high-resolution 3D scanning, physical replication, and photography, and that information will be stored by the NPS and made available for research and interpretation. The potential for extracting additional information from the object is low.”

The field hospital was established at the John Dogan farm, not far from the Deep Cut section of the battlefield. The property was known as Rosefield at the time. The pit was dug between Sept. 1 and Sept. 6, 1862.

Union soldiers occupied this property on Aug. 29, 1862, first using it as an artillery placement site, and later as a hospital after surgeons “took control of the house” for the remainder of the three-day battle, the NPS said.

Excelsior jacket buttons, comb, metal clothing hook and wooden buttons (NPS photo, click to enlarge)

The Excelsior Brigade, made up of several New York regiments and a veteran of multiple campaigns, fought near the Dogan farm and Deep Cut. The soldier may or may not have been in the Excelsior Brigade or wounded near Deep Cut.

It's possible he was wounded the evening of Aug. 29 in the fight at Groveton. He apparently suffered a neck wound.

There’s no way to know what treatment he may have received at the field hospital, but he showed no signs of amputation.

Park officials say they have not been able to identify the soldier or his New York unit. 

An archaeologist uses a brush for fine work in 2024 at Manassas National Battlefield Park (NPS)

Soil conditions, historic plowing and backhoe excavation during the water line project led to his remains being in poor condition, according to the NPS.

Roughly 40% of the remains were intact, and “no complete long bones were present. Historic plowing of the area crushed and relocated the skull (minus an occipital bone) and right arm” documents show. “The knees may also have been affected by the backhoe during waterline excavation. Fragments of assorted bones and teeth were found in soil within the excavated area. Little of the pelvis remained.”

The Picket reached out Saturday to Arlington National Cemetery, which is managed by the U.S. Army, for details about the upcoming interment. There had been no reply by Thursday morning.

New York Excelsior jacket button found at Manassas in 2024 (NPS photo)

The 2023 article, written before the third soldier was found, said Second Manassas “marked an inflection point for combat military medicine by highlighting the urgent need for improved systematic recovery and treatment of the wounded.”

The authors say the work of the skilled surgeons is rarely known or acknowledged today. That dedication is worthy of remembrance, the study suggests.

“Events at Second Manassas should be fully acknowledged as part of the essential transformation that propelled American battlefield medical care toward the creation and implementation of an effective triage protocol and emergency-transport or ambulance system.”