Colonial Williamsburg asking descendants of South Carolina soldier to provide DNA to determine whether he was among 4 Confederates buried near Powder Magazine

2023 excavation of graves (The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation); 1907 view of church and Powder Magazine (Harry Mann photos, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, William & Mary); Battle of Williamsburg (LOC)

Last fall, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation mailed out a handful of letters, the correspondence topped by a drawing of the old Virginia Capitol and beneath it the words: “That the future may learn from the past.”

The heading read: RE: Potential Ancestral Connection to Skeletal Remains at Colonial Williamsburg.

Contained in the letter’s five paragraphs was a request that must have jolted the recipients and, if they complied, help fulfill the mission of making the past relevant.

The letter explained the remains of four Confederate soldiers had been found in 2023 in a pit and grave near the history site’s Powder Magazine. They died from wounds suffered in the May 5, 1862, Battle of Williamsburg. Further, the letter stated, a handwritten list of those treated at a makeshift hospital – established in a Baptist church near the magazine – still exists.

Then the inquiry became very personal.

“We are reaching out to you because our genealogist has identified you, based on publicly accessible data sources, as a descendant of … one of the soldiers who is named on the hospital list.” That individual mentioned in the letter believed to be among the four remains.

One of Isabella T. Sully's hospital patient list pages she recorded at Williamsburg Baptist (Tucker-Coleman Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, William & Mary)

“If this matches your understanding of your family tree, would you be willing to participate in a DNA study to help confirm the name of this individual?,” the letter continued.

Four descendants said yes. On March 2, a kit was mailed out to each. The recipients will provide DNA from their cheeks and mail the swabs back for analysis.

Their presumed ancestor, says Jack Gary, executive director of archaeology at Colonial Williamsburg, was from the Piedmont region of South Carolina. DNA analysis showed him to be in his 20s. The infantryman was mortally wounded in fighting at Fort Magruder.

The South Carolinian has the most robust family tree of the four, and the project decided to confirm his identity first, aiming the letters at his kin. The soldiers’ names are being withheld for now as research and analysis continues.

Hospital list made the search possible

Gary, who signed the letter and heard from one descendant within a few days, said the endeavor has already been remarkable -- with much more to learn.

“I have not experienced this in my career,” he told the Picket in a recent phone call. “Not many archaeologists have used DNA this way.”

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

Gary’s team -- which includes staff archaeologist Eric Schweickart,  lab technician Evan Bell and Elizabeth Drembus, a genealogist at William & Mary -- are the beneficiaries of good fortune in their hunt to put names to the four sets of remains, which were buried last year at the city’s Cedar Grove Cemetery, near the graves of other Confederates killed in the battle.

Working from the hospital list, census, newspaper accounts, the ledger of an undertaker and other records, the team narrowed the possible identities to four men who served in regiments from Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina and Virginia.

Without those documents, the effort would never have gotten off the ground.

“You have to have a known person to go off to trace their ancestry to the modern day,” said Gary (right, at another dig. Photo Colonial Williamsburg Foundation).

The list of names, made by a widow who visited the hospital and later raised money to rebury scores of Rebel soldiers who died at Williamsburg, was especially crucial.

It provided names and regiments of more than 60 soldiers and notes indicating if and when they died. Colonial Williamsburg did not see the hospital list until after the graves were found in 2023. Bell stumbled across it while doing research and the discovery opened the door.

Bell studied two versions to winnow the list of possible candidates down to the four soldiers.

Gary said, if the attempt to identify the remains is successful, descendants will know precisely what happened to the soldiers after they were sent to Virginia to fight. That knowledge will fill in gaps for each of their stories. Somehow, these four warriors were left behind when other hospital dead were moved to cemeteries.

Another aim is to eventually publish all four confirmed names.

“We should try to put a name back with the individual out of respect for human dignity,” Gary said of the South Carolinian. “If this is the man who we think this is, it will be incredibly rewarding.”

At Williamsburg, soldiers first saw the elephant

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

The inconclusive Battle of Williamsburg was the first pitched battle of the Peninsula Campaign, following a Confederate retreat from Yorktown. Most of the combatants had seen little or no action before the clash.

Federal Brig. Gen. Joseph 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.

Federal forces took the city, holding it for the rest of the war. A few hospitals sprang up to handle the influx of wounded on both sides.

Williamsburg Baptist Church, which was formed in the early 19^th century, had already been pressed into service before the battle, treating sick Confederates soldiers stationed at Fort Magruder and elsewhere.

Historic courthouse (left), the Powder Magazine and old Williamsburg Baptist church (right) / Special Collections, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

It received the largest crush of the wounded. 

The church, which moved to a new location in the 1930s, kept no records during the Civil War. But an article provided to the Picket by church office administrator Haley Matthews claims the old site was “greatly abused” during the chaos following the battle.

“Bloodstains were on the floors and the pews were stored in an open shed exposed to the weather. Soldiers were buried in the church yard near the west door, as many as 17 in one grave. Their bodies were afterwards removed to the cemetery.”

The 2023 surprise discovery at the Powder Magazine proved not all had been relocated.

Isabella Sully is the story's primary hero 

The Confederates treated at the Baptist church hospital were prisoners of war. The Union forces wanted to move those well enough to Fort Monroe.

But dozens, including these four, were grievously wounded and could not be sent elsewhere. Many died in the days and weeks following the battle.

Local residents and clerics came to the hospital, to give comfort to the wounded and send updates to family members.

Among them was Isabella Thompson Sully, a widow from Richmond who had traveled to Williamsburg. She and friend Cynthia Tucker Coleman provided riveting accounts of the suffering, with Coleman calling one drunken surgeon the “Head Devil.”

A 1937 article in the journal Religious Herald mentioned the 17 soldiers interred in the churchyard near the west door, “buried like sardines in a box.” The author said an African-American showed him the graves years before and they were removed to a cemetery.

In 1892, Sully wrote a letter (left, click to enlarge) that appeared in the Richmond Times, saying 25 of the Rebel dead were buried in the green near the Baptist church. She described the dearth of medicine and food until the Union army brought supplies.

“I shall never be able to tell how we managed to keep so many wounded and starving men alive, so that several days elapsed before I was able to make a list of those who remained,” wrote Sully.

As more men died, they were buried in pits near the first 25.

Critically, Sully in 1862 recorded the names of the wounded, their regiments and company. Dying soldiers were worried about being placed in unmarked graves

She recorded the date of death and burial locations, when possible. She gave the list to Coleman, and the latter’s papers ended up hiding in plain sight at William & Mary's Swem Library Special Collections.

Archaeologists at Colonial Williamsburg were aware of a list, but they had no idea where it was.

'They said they was goin' to take them up'

Following the Civil War, Sully and others raised money to move scores of Confederate soldiers from the graves around the church to Cedar Grove and Bruton Parish Church cemeteries.

A post-1892 monument at Bruton Parish (photo below) lists names of men allegedly buried there, but some apparently were laid to rest elsewhere in the city. One did not die at the battle, said Bell.

Bell believes the burial parties got those in the larger pits and trenches near the Baptist church but somehow did not come across the four soldiers. “It seems like they just barely were missed.”

Interestingly, a formerly enslaved woman mentioned those four burials in a conversation that appeared in a 1933 book.

"It is a pity, pity, pity, for people to treat each other so bad. Lots of men were buried around the Powder Horn. They said they was goin' to take them up, but I ain't never seen them do it,” Eliza Baker said.

I asked why officials did not excavate the graves after Baker mentioned the lost burials. Colonial Williamsburg as a tourist attraction had begun to take shape by the 1930s.

Archaeology was focused then on the site’s architecture and buildings, Bell said.

In 2023, archaeologists were working around the Powder Magazine, which was being renovated. A reconstruction of the 1757 Market House had replaced the old Baptist Church nearby. Both were near Duke of Gloucester Street.

At a reconstructed wall, they came across a single grave and a pit containing three men. All four had all of their limbs. Nearby was a pit with three amputated legs. It was a real surprise, since most histories indicated the dead from the hospital had all been accounted for and moved.

“There is a cluster of men who died around the same time,” Gary recalls. “We assumed they died the same day or one day and the next day. You are not going to leave a pit open.”

The research team determined the four soldiers died on and around May 15, 1862.

Cynthia Tucker Coleman (left), a writer and preservationist who advocated for the restoration of historic buildings at Williamsburg, provided a vivid account of the occupation of the town and the hospital.

“The writer can never forget seeing a dead soldier wrapped in his coarse blanket lying in the vestibule of the Church, his body kept for a comrade to die that the trouble of interment might be lessened – A Confederate woman placed a white rose upon his breast and shed a tear for those who loved him at home.”

Her account is kept at the William & Mary library and can be seen online here.

Bell recalls the archaeologists sanitized their excavation tools and wore personal protective equipment (PPE) to keep their own DNA away from the remains. Some of the deceased had personal items. They were not buried in uniforms.

Experts were able to extract genetic material from teeth and skull bones. Subsequent DNA analysis showed one soldier to be in late 40s or early 50s. One was maybe 15 while another was in his 20s and the fourth in his 20s-30s.

“We had well-preserved DNA,” said Gary, who has a theory as to why the skeletal remains were in relatively good condition.

The courtyard area around the magazine was paved with shell. “It is possible that the shell changed the pH of the soil, making it less acidic.”

His detective work soon began in earnest

Bell got to work on figuring out who these four soldiers were. The journey had a few twists and turns, but the key was finding Sully’s pages, which are kept at William & Mary.

While Bell (right) was looking at documents relating to Cynthia Coleman, he asked one of the Special Collections assistants, Carolyn Wilson, about the hospital list. That’s when he learned the pages were kept in papers related to Charles Washington Coleman, Cynthia’s son.

He recalls thinking, “Oh, my God. This is the list Isabella Sully was talking about. The archivist there saved the day.”

Bell later found a somewhat similar list at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Va. The page is within the family papers of Samuel Blain. It is not known for certain who took those handwritten notes.

The Presbyterian minister visited the hospital and corresponded with the family of patient William Davis, who died in Williamsburg. The list at Washington & Lee helped Bell eliminate soldiers whose limbs were amputated.

The technician kept an Excel spreadsheet, ensuring the narrowed list did not mention men with amputations. He found some of the 60-plus patients at the church were buried elsewhere. Using the Blain list helped him cut the number of possibilities to 29.

Bell provided the Picket a breakdown of the numbers he used:

-- 66 names on the combined lists; this includes men who only stayed at private homes, not just the hospital.

-- 31 of the 66 survived Williamsburg leaving 35 men who died of their wounds after the battle.

-- 15 of the 35 have recorded burials or died in private homes leaving 20 men who died of their wounds after the battle, but do not have recorded burials. (At left, map of Fort Magruder, Library of Congress)

-- 5 of the 20 have recorded amputations leaving 15 men who died of their wounds after the battle, and did not have amputations. (11 of the 58 names on the Blain list have amputations)

That was how the list was reduced down to 15 names for analysis.

Death dates were key because three men were buried together, allowing the team to pinpoint soldiers who died about the same time.

 “We believe they were some of the first to die,” said Bell.

The four apparently were buried close to a wooden fence. “There is no space for any other burials.” That means they were off by themselves from other pits dotting the green.

Trying to bring closure more than 160 years later

The research team, which includes Dr. Raquel Fleskes at Dartmouth College, noted that the South Carolina soldier had no children but several brothers and sisters. They are in touch with male descendants of one brother. 

Those who responded to Gary’s letter have the same last name as the unnamed soldier, who died in his 20s. (Below, Powder Magazine, Wikipedia)

“If we can make a match with him we can likely confirm the other individuals,” said Gary.

Bell said the challenge with the other three soldiers is there are either few siblings to work from or almost no information available on their families.

Even if Colonial Williamsburg is unable to match DNA matches, the descendants will know their ancestors fought at Williamsburg and struggled for life in a field hospital before passing away.

“I want to see if my hypothesis is right and (we) bring closure to the descendants,” said Bell.

The result also could bring narrative stories to an American citizenry that doesn’t interact as much with history as they used to, he added.

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 Williamburg’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.