Weekend of Honors Commences with Release of Initial Profiles
Camden Revolutionary War Soldiers to be reinterred this weekend
CAMDEN, S.C. – April 20, 2023 -- The South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust (SCBPT) today launched three days of ceremonies to honor and reinter the remains of Revolutionary War soldiers excavated on the Camden Battlefield in Fall, 2022; and released the initial findings of biological profiles of the fourteen soldiers.
“Honoring these heroes in a respectful manner and ensuring the permanent protection of their remains continues to be the mission of this effort,” commented Doug Bostick, CEO, South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust. “Today, they begin their final journey to Camden where they will be honored and then permanently re-interred.” A full schedule of the weekend’s ceremonies and events can be found on the Camden Burials website.
Since early November 2022, the Richland County Coroner’s office has been carefully working to prepare the remains for permanent burial and to collect information on the soldiers’ biological sex, age-at-death, stature, cause of death, and burial positions. Previous field work and artifacts recovered during the 2022 excavations indicated that remains were those of twelve Continental soldiers of the Maryland and Delaware regiments, one British Loyalist of a North Carolina regiment, and one Scottish Highlander 71st regiment.
“The Camden Burials project is a kind of humanitarian recovery, preventing these individuals from being further damaged from the field to the lab, to the burial reinterment with respect. That's a full circle,” commented Dr. Bill Stevens, deputy coroner, Richland County Coroner’s office. “The biological anthropologists in our office have worked months to x-ray, clean, visually examine and re-assemble the remains.”
The initial findings revealed that five of the soldiers were teenagers. This discovery says quite a bit about the composition of the Continental Lines from Maryland as they made their way with Baron de Kalb to engage in the Southern Campaigns. The oldest was estimated to be 40 – 50 years old. They ranged in stature from five feet two inches to more than six feet tall, with many being in the range of five feet, seven inches. While not all of the soldiers revealed evidence of traumatic injury, others were uncovered with clear evidence of battle injuries from musket balls and buck shot. The Scottish Highlander was the only soldier who appears to have been carefully laid to rest, face up with arms crossed. Others were found to be face down or overlaying each other.
The Loyalist militiaman may be of Native American ancestry as evidenced by the shovel shape of his upper incisors. The Camden Burials team has been working closely with the Catawba Nation to ensure proper handling of these remains. This individual will be honored in a private ceremony with the Catawba Nation and the Lumbee Tribe and is not a part of this weekend’s ceremonies.
The Camden Burials project has been of interest to descendants of soldiers hoping to learn more about their own family tree. “We're developing a partnership with genetic genealogists to sample DNA from bones and teeth that could be put into a database,” commented Bostick. “We look forward to sharing additional details if or when we are able to move forward with that effort.”
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About the South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust
The South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust seeks to protect and preserve these battlefields and historic military sites across South Carolina to not only honor the soldiers who gave their lives in service to their country, but also provide current and future generations a space at which to remember, contemplate, discuss, and learn how our history not only shapes the past, but is also relevant to the present and future of our great state. Over the last 30 years, the organization has protected 72 sites. For more information visit, www.scbattlegroundtrust.org.
