Civil War Confederate soldier skeletons have been discovered at Colonial Williamsburg

Archaeologists recently announced the discovery of skeletons at Colonial Williamsburg – but the skeletons weren’t from the Revolutionary War.

The remains were found while excavators searched around the grounds of a Revolutionary War-era gunpowder magazine, or storage facility, according to The Associated Press. (See the video at the top of this article.) 

Near the building, archaeologists were taken aback when they uncovered the eye sockets of a human skull – and then four human skeletons, plus three amputated legs.

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Rather than dating back to colonial America, the four skeletons are from Civil War times. The soldiers died during the Battle of Williamsburg while fighting for the Confederacy in 1862, according to local historians. 

The skeletons were found with their arms crossed. Interestingly, they were not buried in their uniforms – rather, they were found in more comfortable clothes, and archaeologists uncovered buttons and a trouser buckle.

Four Confederate soldier skeletons from the 1862 Battle of Williamsburg were found at Colonial Williamsburg, according to local historians. (Getty Images; AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

The graves were aligned east-west, with the head at the west end and the feet at the east end, a burial tradition commonly associated with Christianity.

Since the discovery, historians have determined that a makeshift hospital once operated nearby to treat wounded Confederate soldiers.

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Although the remains were found in 2023, Colonial Williamsburg officials didn’t announce the discovery until this month. 

Archaeologists are working to identify the soldiers — whose identities are unknown.

“Everyone deserves dignity in death. And being stored in a drawer inside a laboratory does not do that.”

Researchers have narrowed down the possible identities of four men who served in regiments from Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina and Virginia, but are withholding the names until they have confirmation.

Jack Gary, Colonial Williamsburg’s executive director of archeology, told the Associated Press that the discovery came together when they found lists of hospital patients in the archives.

A church once stood near the gunpowder magazine where the Confederate soldiers were found. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

“It is the key,” Gary noted. 

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“If these men were found in a mass grave on a battlefield, and there was no other information, we probably wouldn’t be trying to [identify them].”

The Battle of Williamsburg took place on May 5, 1862, and is considered an inconclusive battle. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

Last week, the bodies were reinterred at a local burial ground where other Confederate soldiers were buried.

“Everyone deserves dignity in death. And being stored in a drawer inside a laboratory does not do that,” Gary said.

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Even though the Civil War has been thoroughly studied for over 160 years, new discoveries are still being made.

Last spring, a Civil War-era cannonball was found in the backyard of a Virginia home.

The skeletons, which shed light on Civil War history, were found during an excavation at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. (Colonial Williamsburg Foundation via AP)

A few years earlier, a long-forgotten map that shed light on the aftermath of the bloody Battle of Antietam was uncovered. 

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The Associated Press contributed reporting.