Investigators found in a New Jersey mass grave the remains of up to 12 Hessian infantrymen who fought in the Revolutionary War, authorities said Tuesday.
The remains, discovered at the site of Fort Mercer and the Battle of Red Bank in 1777, rested for 245 years until a human femur was discovered in June in an archaeological dig of a trench shape surrounding the fort, scientists said. Excavations yielded more skeletal remains and artifacts, adding tin and brass buttons and a gold guinea from King George III, which would have been a soldier’s pay for a month.
A team of scientists from Rowan University and Gloucester County presented their initial findings at a news conference at Red Bank Battlefield Park, just south of Philadelphia.
The remains are part of a mass grave of Hessian infantrymen, German troops hired through the British, who were among the approximately 377 infantrymen killed by colonial forces during the Battle of Red Bank. The Americans lost 14, according to historians.
The victory allowed the Americans at the fort to prevent the British from being transported down the Delaware River.
“Based on everything we discovered and the context of what we discovered, they appear to be Hessian,” Wade Catts, a senior archaeologist at South River Heritage Consulting of Delaware, said in a statement.
The remains were turned over to forensic anthropologists from the New Jersey State Police Forensic Unit to extract DNA from bones and teeth to identify their origin. Additional studies are being conducted to read about life history, fitness, and illness.
Scientists hope to be able to identify the remains and locate their descendants.
“We hope that eventually, perhaps, we will be able to locate some of those people,” Rowan University public historian Jennifer Janofsky said in a statement. “If we can extract their stories, and if we can tell their stories, we must make a call in one face. And that, to me, is a very hard time in public history. “
Authorities said the remains had been searched with “extraordinary care” to maintain the dignity of those killed in the war.
Once the examination is completed, they will be buried elsewhere and the trench will be filled. The land will be incorporated into the park on a cliff overlooking the river.
“Archaeology is helping us better perceive what happened on the battlefield,” Janofsky said.
More than a decade ago, archaeologists discovered other artifacts, some dating back to the 1770s and others dating back to 500 BC. C. , in front of a museum at Red Bank Battlefield Park, CBS Philadelphia reported.
Some of the pieces included stone fragments that were torn down when Native Americans made arrowheads and spearheads, as well as pottery. They also found pieces of plates, bottles, glass, clay pipes, buttons, French-made rifle stones from the 1770s, and an Andrew Jackson victory button from 1828.