First on the Picket: Newly released photos of 2024 excavation of Civil War soldier's remains at Manassas battlefield. The teen will be buried soon at Arlington

National Park Service archaeologists with human remains at Manassas in March 2024 (NPS)

Sometime in the coming weeks, an unknown Civil War soldier whose remains were found in a surgeon’s burial and limb pit at the Second Manassas battlefield will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

The National Park Service in August announced the March 2024 discovery of the young man, saying he was apparently buried in a New York infantry jacket after his August 1862 death in Northern Virginia.

The Picket has been checking in since then with the agency regarding plans for burial and photographs of the excavation.

“The National Park Service is coordinating with the U.S. Army for the dignified burial of an unknown Civil War soldier later this fall. The date and time of the service are not being released at this time,” the agency said in response Thursday. 

National Park Service staff check in on the Manassas work in March 2024 (NPS))

The Picket on Friday received access to an NPS photo gallery; this post may be the first time the images have been published. Officials said they have only recently been made available to the media.

The limb pit was discovered in 2014 during excavations associated with water pipe maintenance at Manassas National Battlefield Park. Two bodies and seven (possibly eight) amputated limbs were removed in 2015. The burial occurred near the site of a field hospital.

The entire pit was not excavated at the time, apparently because of time and funding limitations. While archaeologists believed there were more partial remains, they did not expect a whole set to be found when they returned in 2024.

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

Archaeologists found six brass New York State Excelsior coat buttons and seven brass cuff buttons with the soldier, who was between 16 and 19 years old.

NPS documents studied by the Picket indicate the excavation also yielded four new surgically amputated limbs. “Found in direct association with this soldier's interment was a rubber pocket comb,” the agency said. The Army has requested personal effects, including the comb, for burial.

In total, three sets of human remains and 16 amputated limbs were excavated and removed from the property in 2015 and 2024. The remains of the first two unknown soldiers were buried in a new section of Arlington National Cemetery in September 2018 

Marker at the battlefield includes sketch showing Dogan house, where wounded were treated (Devry Jones, HMdb.org)

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.

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.

Park officials say they have not been able to identify the soldier or his New York unit or exactly where on the battlefield he fought. He apparently suffered a neck wound.

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

An archaeologist excavates human remains at Manassas National Battlefield Park (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.”

Asked by the Civil War Picket whether there has been an attempt to identify the soldier via DNA, the NPS in August said extensive archaeological and osteological analysis was done.

"Professional archaeological evaluations concluded that additional analysis was unlikely to yield significant new information. Throughout this process, our focus has remained on treating the soldier with dignity and respect while following professional standards and applicable preservation laws."

The Picket reached out Saturday to Arlington National Cemetery, which is managed by the U.S. Army, for details about the upcoming interment.

(NPS)

Illegally removed remains of soldier at Wilson's Creek to be buried this weekend

Flat marker that will go over grave (Springfield National Cemetery)

The soldier’s identity went with him to a shallow grave following the second major battle of the Civil War. More than four years after part of his remains were illegally removed by a relic hunter, the soldier will be reburied Saturday

The Department of Veterans Affairs will conduct the public service, in conjunction with the National Park Service, at 10 a.m. CT at Springfield National Cemetery in Missouri. 

Re-enactors and staff members at Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield will perform honors, including the firing of a cannon and a 21-volley salute. A marker will state the identity of the soldier remains unknown.

“I just want to honor this soldier and give him proper burial rites,” Wilson’s Creek Superintendent Ted Hillmer told the Picket.

Gary Edmondson of the cemetery said the soldier will be buried among Confederate fallen and veterans who served during more recent conflicts.

Officials are not certain which side the man -- believed to be at least 20 years old -- fought with, but they believe he may have been a Confederate because of the manner and haste of burial.

An NPS investigation found the skeleton was about 29 percent complete. The recovered bones were from the knees and below. There was not enough of the right material to test for DNA, Hillmer said. “There is no confirmation or history of the family.”

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the western district of Missouri, Coy Matthew Hamilton, then 31, of Springfield, admitted to removing remains from the Wilson's Creek battlefield.

Hamilton said he and a friend found the remains on Feb. 27, 2011, while paddling down Wilson's Creek, looking for archaeological artifacts.

“Recent heavy rains had eroded parts of the riverbank, and during the early afternoon, Hamilton saw a bone sticking out of an eroded embankment by the creek,” prosecutors said in a November 2012 press release. “Hamilton attempted to remove the bone, breaking it in the process. He then began digging into the embankment, removing additional bones. Ten days later, Hamilton, through an intermediary, turned the bones in to the National Park Service.”

Confederates won a victory at Wilson's Creek (NPS)

A subsequent excavation of the remaining skeleton found eight handmade, machine-tooled buttons made of bone, near the ankles. They were manufactured between 1800 and 1865 and consistent with buttons used during the Civil War.

The Battle of Wilson’s Creek, on Aug. 10, 1861, resulted in a Confederate victory after its forces made multiple assaults on Union lines. Eventually, Federal troops retreated to Springfield.

“The remains were found in a location that would have been in an area of intensive fighting,” federal prosecutors wrote. “Mounted, infantry, and artillery units were in and near the vicinity of the find, which was just north of a road crossing the creek. The shallow grave suggested an expedient but respectful interment, head to the west in concert with Christian practices of the time.”

Hamilton avoided federal prosecution for disturbing and removing items from an archaeological site by agreeing to pay $5,351 in restitution to the NPS and performing 60 hours of community service.

Hillmer, who said the park was involved in a similar burial in 2003, has invited the Sons of Confederate Veterans and Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War to take part in Saturday’s event.