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.

Amputated limbs recovered from shallow pit at Manassas provide insight into surgeons' work

Erin Godwin excavates limb / Kate D. Sherwood, Smithsonian Institution

The extraordinary discovery of the remains of two Civil War soldiers buried next to 11 amputated limbs at Manassas National Battlefield Park in Virginia has brought new insight into how surgeons treated the critically wounded.

The National Park Service on Wednesday announced it’s the first time a surgeon’s “limb pit” from the conflict has been excavated and studied. It dates from the Second Battle of Bull Run in August 1862, a decisive victory for Confederates.

Bone fragments were found in an undisclosed area of the park during a utility project in 2014. The next year, NPS and Smithsonian Institution archaeologists excavated the site.

“Beneath the surface, they found two nearly complete human skeletons, and several artifacts including buttons from a Union sack coat, a .577 Enfield bullet, three pieces of .31 caliber lead buckshot, and an assemblage of eleven arms and legs,” the park said.

Femur with lodged bullet / Kate
D. Sherwood, Smithsonian Institution

The team was able to determine that the bones belonged to Union soldiers. On Tuesday, the two skeletal remains were transferred to the U.S. Army, which will bury them at Arlington National Cemetery in caskets made from a fallen tree on the battlefield.

A glance of photographs of the amputated limbs shows the bleak realities of war. Surgeons sawed them off with precision because the bullets caused so much damage and soldiers needed an opportunity to ward off deadly infection.

As casualties piled into tents not far from the fighting, Civil War surgeons had to make quick decisions on who might have a chance of going home – without an arm or leg – and who was too seriously hurt to be operated on.

That appeared to be the case with the two soldiers.

The first was in his 20s and died of injuries from an Enfield bullet striking his upper leg.

“Surprisingly, the bullet was still lodged in the femur bone, likely because it slowed as it passed through the man’s cartridge box, the National Park Service said.

Cut marks show surgeon's skill / Kate D. Sherwood, Smithsonian Institution

Doug Owsley, lead physical anthropologist at the National Museum of Natural History, told the Smithsonian's online magazine that the soldier was shot in the buttocks while retreating.

The slug went in at an angle, causing a longitudinal fracture that caused the femur to snap, with bits splintering off inside his leg. “This is just so difficult to treat,” says Owsley, adding the wound was too high for amputation. The man was set aside and died.

The second skeleton is that of a man estimated to be between 30 and 34 years old. He died as a result of a buck and ball shot to the upper arm, pelvis and leg.

Regarding the amputated limbs, Owsley said the surgeon was skilled, given the precision of the cuts.

Brandon Bies assists in 2015 dig /
Kate D. Sherwood, Smithsonian Institution

“There’s a lot of choices that those surgeons had to make when they realized they were left and supplies were not coming in, and they basically had to fend for themselves along with thousands of wounded,” Kari Bruwelheide, a Smithsonian anthropologist, said in a video.

Manassas Superintendent Brandon Bries said, “We can start to have a personal connection to these soldiers and these remains. So instead of some bones, you are looking at somebody who was between 30 and 34 years old and was from the state of New York. That person may have had a wife, may have had children.”

The NPS said research on the recovered limbs continues and its possible they could be matched with a name.

“By examining the cuts, it is possible to determine the skill of the surgeon and even his physical position relative to the patient. With help from historical records, researchers believe it may be possible to match the bones with a specific surgeon and maybe even the soldier they belonged to, a truly unique discovery.”

Bruwelheide, Bies examine bones / Nathan King, NPS

Bies, an archaeologist, told NPR that the men were likely wounded during a charge up Deep Cut, held by thousands of Confederates. “As (Union soldiers) start to get closer, within 300, 400 yards, they start to receive rifle fire and musket fire," he says. "Men are dropping left and right." 

Bullet entrance wound /
Kate D. Sherwood, Smithsonian Institution

Surgeons had a standard kit, with a variety of saws.

"If you could imagine sitting with a horrific wound of your own and hearing the moans and screams and seeing a growing pile of limbs from the surgeon, and knowing that your turn was coming, I can't possibly imagine what that would have been like,” Bies told NPR.

The bones were found in a shallow pit, indicating they likely were buried in haste. According to Smithsonian experts, the surgeons were allowed by Confederates to conduct the hasty operations after the battle, when the wounded had been in the sun and rain for days. They may not have had chloroform at their disposal.

Remains are in Army custody / Bradley Waldron, NPS

Foot of amputated leg / Kate D. Sherwood, Smithsonian Institution