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.

The scrappy 'Jersey Boys' are getting their due with a sign at Battle of Williamsburg site in Virginia. Here are events tied to Sunday's 162nd anniversary

Steve Barnes and Don Klein of Williamsburg Battlefield Association place sign along road;
Five members of the 7th New Jersey from Fairfield; nearby Redoubt Park in Williamsburg)

Four regiments of “Jersey Boys” had barely been battle tested when on May 5, 1862, they were rushed in to reinforce Union troops tangling with Confederates at Williamsburg, Va.

With the 5^th New Jersey supporting artillery, Brig. Gen. Francis E. Patterson (photo, below) of Hooker’s division ordered the men of the 6^th, 7^th and 8^th New Jersey regiments into a ravine near the Rebels’ Fort Magruder.

The fighting was fierce. Terrain was won and lost as men fought in tangled undergrowth and on swampy ground. Finally, Alabama and Mississippi regiments commanded by Brig. Gen. Cadmus M. Wilcox pushed back the men in blue, who were exhausted and out of ammunition.

The outnumbered New Jersey troops had their largest casualties of any battles in which they participated, but they won acclaim for their valor. Brig. Gen. Joseph Hooker was said to have called them bulldogs.

That sacrifice will be remembered Sunday morning as a new Civil War Trails marker is dedicated not far from the ravine. About 40 members of the Old Baldy Civil War Roundtable of Philadelphia, most living in New Jersey but some traveling from Colorado and North Carolina, are expected to participate.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our organization and members for sponsoring this sign,” said Frank Barletta, a board member with the roundtable. “I cannot think of a more fitting memorial to this overlooked major battle of the war.”

Fort Magruder and other Rebel works near Williamsburg (Wikipedia)

The inconclusive Battle of Williamsburg, according to the National Park Service, was the first pitched battle of the Peninsula Campaign following the Confederate retreat from Yorktown.

Hooker’s division attacked the Southerners at Fort Magruder, but was repulsed. Confederate counterattacks ultimately wore out and they made a nighttime withdrawal toward Richmond. Casualties numbered more than 3,800.

The American Battlefield Trust and other groups in 2020 protected the "Bloody Ravine" and 29 acres for posterity.

Another 162^nd anniversary commemoration will take place from 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Sunday about a half mile away at the Fort Magruder Hotel and Conference Center. The Williamsburg Battlefield Association will lead the program, which includes historical displays and costumed interpreters, music by the William & Mary brass band.

“Learn about the battle, its impact on the emancipation movement, medical practices during the war and female soldiers,” the association says in a program overview. “See the battle and 19th-century town of Williamsburg through maps and images, and understand current battlefield preservation efforts.”

Nov. 2021 dig at powder magazine wall (The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation)

A highlight will be a 2 p.m. presentation by archaeologists with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. They will talk about the remains of four Confederate soldiers found early last year near the powder magazine at the venue. Some wounded troops were treated at a nearby hospital, officials said. Bullets, buttons and suspender buckles were found with the skeletal remains.

The ceremony for the new Civil War Trails marker will include a color guard from Joint Base Langley-Eustis. A wreath will be laid and there will be a reading of a New Jersey Senate resolution that praises the Old Baldy Civil War Round Table for its commitment to the sign and “ensuring that the brave soldiers from New Jersey are memorialized for posterity.”

The roundtable is taking a bus from Cherry Hill, N.J., on Saturday morning and will tour the battlefield, site of Fort Magruder and Redoubt Park in the afternoon. After the 9 a.m. Sunday sign dedication, the group will tour the Lee Hall Mansion in Newport News before heading home.

Based in Williamsburg, Civil War Trails is considered the world’s largest “open air museum,” with signs and markers at about 1,500 sites across six states: Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

The bravery of the New Jersey soldiers also is honored by the Lawrence Township Historical Society in the state. Dan Casella with the group said it has books that have newspaper articles and correspondence from Cedarville and Cumberland County soldiers in southern New Jersey who served in the 5^th, 6^th and 7^th volunteer regiments.

Casella in 2022 wrote a fascinating article about his research on a photograph  (right, Library of Congress) showing five 7^th New Jersey boys from Fairfield. He wanted to know their fate. One, Capt. Benjamin F. Ogden, wrote about the battle two weeks later.

“I must speak of our contest,” Ogden wrote, “although it makes me feel sad every time, I mention it; for it renews the recollection that one of our number still lies beneath the battle ground…when the battle commenced, six of us Cedarville men were in the front rank. At night, one lay dead on the field, and two in hospital wounded. Three came out without a scratch, although I had three bullet holes in my overcoat cape….”

He went on to discuss other casualties. (You can read Casella’s article here to learn the fate of Ogden and the four other soldiers in the photograph.

“General Hooker says we were whipped three times yesterday but did not know it; he says we are not Soldiers, but Bulldogs! We do not stay in one place long but keep closing on Richmond.”

Richmond did not fall for another three years, accompanied by hundreds of thousands of casualties.

The new Civil War Trails sign is located at the Teamsters Hall, 7294 Merrimac Trail, Williamsburg. Guests attending the ceremony are encouraged to park along nearby Orange Drive.

Fascinating finds in graves of 4 Confederates at Williamsburg

The four Confederate soldiers were buried almost side by side. One still had the bullet that killed him embedded in his spine. Another was buried with his toothbrush and porcelain snuff bottle. And another was buried with two gold coins. These were the latest discoveries to emerge from Colonial Williamsburg’s examination of a Civil War burial found last year at the historical site. – Washington Post article

Bodies of 4 soldiers are found in Williamsburg graves. Further analysis may show whether they were Union or Confederate

Nov. 2021 dig at magazine wall (The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation)

Remains of four individuals believed to be Civil War soldiers were buried respectfully, with their hands folded, near its Powder Magazine, Colonial Williamsburg announced this week after the discovery of the bodies.

The soldiers likely took part in the May 5, 1862, Battle of Williamsburg in Virginia. Some wounded troops were treated at a nearby hospital, officials said in a statement. Experts have said they are not certain whether the soldiers served the Union of Confederacy.

Remains of three amputated legs also were found during excavations around the magazine’s wall from February to April.

“Three bodies were buried together in one grave and one body was buried in an individual grave. All four seem to have been buried with their hands folded over their stomachs,” Ellen Morgan Peltz, public relations manager for The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, wrote the Picket in an email.

Bullets, buttons and suspender buckles were found with the skeletal remains.

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

The inconclusive battle, 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.

News of the mass grave find came out earlier this year and the excavation, which came after a permit was approved, was done so the remains would not be harmed by restoration work on the Powder Magazine, the foundation says.

The Washington Post and The Virginia Gazette have written extensively about the archaeological project. Jack Gary, head of archaeology for the foundation, told the Post that the since-demolished Williamsburg Baptist Church served as a hospital during the battle.

The remains were sent to the Institute for Historical Biology at William & Mary for analysis and scientists will try to determine the cause of death through bones and items found with them.

“Additional analysis will be conducted to determine the affiliation of the individuals which will inform where they are reburied,” the statement said.

The magazine is original to the city (The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation)

Gary told the Post no uniform remnants were found. The limbs were in a separate area and included a leg that had been amputated over the knee.

In a March 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.

Gary told the Gazette this week that no military hardware or items was found in the graves.

Rebel troops used the magazine in 1861 to store ordnance.

Williamsburg battlefield land purchased for preservation

A significant portion of Williamsburg’s historic Civil War battlefield was recently purchased to be secured for preservation. The Virginia Gazette reports the American Battlefield Trust bought the 29 acres in the area of the “Bloody Ravine” from The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. The land was zoned for commercial used and valued at $2,743,000. Located about 1 mile from the city’s historic area and primarily within the city limits, the land is pristine and looks much as it did 158 years ago when the battle took place, according to the newspaper.

Bottle found at Redoubt 9 in Virginia may have fought off witches

Researchers said a glass bottle found during an archaeological dig on a Virginia highway median is believed to be a Civil War era "witch bottle" designed to ward off evil spirits. The William & Mary Center for Archaeological Research said the bottle was discovered during a 2016 archaeological dig for Civil War artifacts prior to a widening project for Interstate 64 in York County. • Article

William, Mary and Harry: Virginia university digitizes donated diary of a young Yankee soldier held captive on campus

Courtesy: Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, W&M

Wren Building, where prisoners were held in 1862

Henry “Harry” Alexander Scandrett’s 1862 pocket diary covers only three months, but it provides rich detail of camp life -- from reveille in the morning to rain, drills, rain, guard duty, rain and more drills.

It also documents innovations in warfare.

The 19-year-old corporal with the 70th New York Infantry wrote that he spied the ironclads Monitor and Merrimack (CSS Virginia) a month after their famous battle near Norfolk, Va., ushered a new era of naval warfare. But his transport had to leave before an anticipated second battle, which never occurred.

Scandrett noted an instance of relatively new intelligence gathering on May 4, 1862: “Yorktown is evacuated. The rebels were firing until half past four this morning. A Balloon reconnaissance discovered the evacuation about 6 o clock.”

Harry Scandrett

What happened to Scandrett and some comrades the next day is what landed his journal in the collection of the library at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, where it has been transcribed, digitized and made available online to the public.

"Was in my first battle today. About 1 Oclock P.M. our regiment was marched into the field,” Scandrett wrote in the leather-bound volume. “We were thrown in advance and through some blunder was not reinforced. We have lost all our company officers and our field officers are all wounded. With fifteen others I was taken prisoner and am now in William & Mary college."

Jay Gaidmore, director of William & Mary Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center, told the Picket that Scandrett’s diary is the first time a reference is made of prisoners of war being kept at the college, however briefly.

The hapless Yanks were taken to the Wren Building, one of only three campus buildings at the time. “The family thought he was a prisoner in a building. He was probably kept out in the rain,” said Gaidmore.

The men were marched to Richmond the next day. Scandrett wrote about receiving a small loaf of bread, a piece of meat and soup on his second day of captivity.

The 16 were paroled on May 12 and returned to Washington, where the diary ends at the beginning of a well-deserved furlough.

Attacks and counterattacks

Historians knew William & Mary had a hospital, and archaeologists have previously discovered entrenchments and other features belonging to Confederate and Union forces.

The Battle of Williamsburg, according to the National Park Service, was the first pitched battle of the Peninsula Campaign, following the Confederate retreat from Yorktown. The 70th New York was part of Hooker's division.

Hooker 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. Scandrett and the other captives were taken about two miles to the college.

Page from the diary

Union troops occupied the college after the battle. They burned the Wren Building later in the year. Confederates occasionally harassed them until war's end. “There were always skirmishes and raiders but no full-pitch battles,” Gaidmore said.

A soldier's story

Like most Civil War diarists, Scandrett made ample observations about the weather, rations and camp life, which he called “tearribly dull.” He wrote on March 1: “Had a brigade review this afternoon lasting from one O clock to six.  All the brigades was present, and Sickles reviewed us. The whole affair passed off very well, although it was pretty muddy.”

The Allegheny, Pa., native, who enlisted in May 1861, provided a window into eastern Virginia campaigning only a year into the war.

April 24: “On fatigue duty again today. Were favored with a few shell from the rebels but no damage was done. Great cry but little wool.  Are to go on picket at 2 A.M., tomorrow.”

Scandrett documented the deaths of comrades to typhoid and drowning. He served as a pallbearer at the funeral for the typhoid victim.

Of the battle that landed him in captivity, the soldier said his regiment performed “nobly.” Company E “was very much cut-up indeed.” The 70^th New York suffered heavy casualties; he wrote about the wounding of regimental commander Lt. Col. William Dwight Jr., and visiting him weeks later.

Hancock's men charge at Williamsburg (Library of Congress)

(Those looking at the online version will notice there are two entries about Scandrett’s capture. He ran out of room in the regular sequence and continued the narrative at the front of the book.)

Scandrett returned to service and was promoted first sergeant in 1863, re-enlisted and made first lieutenant in June 1864, a month before the 70^th New York was mustered out of service.

Donation for others to enjoy

According to online records, Scandrett settled in Faribault, Minn. He was in the insurance business and served as a probate judge. He and his wife, Jane, had three children, one of whom died as an infant.

(Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library)

Family genealogy says the veteran came out of the war with impaired health “but fought against an invalid condition with indomitable courage and patience.” Scandrett was only 40 when he passed away in September 1883.

His descendants in late 2016 donated the diary, which covered Feb. 27, 1862, to May 23, 1862. The gift details were finalized last spring.

“We felt we found the perfect place to donate the diary, the place where our great-grandfather was held as a prisoner back in 1862,” said Janet Hunt of Wisconsin in a recent college press release. “We know this little piece of both our history and that of William and Mary will be well-preserved at the library for others to use and enjoy now and in the future.”

Tami Back of University Libraries said the diary will be available to researchers in Swem Library’s Special Collections Research Center. The diary, which is written in fading pencil, is kept in a special acid-free folder.

Gaidmore said descendants were not aware of any other diaries written by Scandrett.