Human Remains, Likely From Revolutionary War, Found In NJ Archaeological Dig

RED BANK, GLOUCESTER COUNTY, NJ — The recent, rare discovery of a mass grave during an archeological dig at Red Bank Battlefield Park in Gloucester County has prompted a surge of sadness and awe among a historian and some of her volunteers .

Previous digs at the same site have unearthed a gold coin, musket balls, grapeshot, canister shot, and a uniform knee buckle from the Revolutionary War era, but nothing like bones, said Jennifer Janofsky, the park's director, the historian and a history fellow at Rowan University, in a blog on the institution's website and during a news conference on Tuesday.

"Finding battlefield remains is incredibly unusual," she said in the blog. "I’ll never forget that moment. It was stunning. It was overwhelming. It was sad," she said of the bone's discovery.

The remains are believed to belong to about 13 Hessians, Janofsky said. The Hessians are the soldiers probably best known for being defeated in a surprise attack near Trenton shortly after Christmas in 1776 by George Washington's army, according to history.com.

The Battle of Red Bank occurred about 10 months after the Trenton attack, said revolutionarywarhistory.com. The Gloucester County skirmish pitted 2,000 Hessians against 500 Americans, the Rowan University blog said.

Despite being outnumbered, the American troops suffered fewer casualties — 377 to 14 — in the Battle of Red Bank, according to the Rowan University blog.

Perhaps more significantly, the Battle of Red Bank was called an "incredible American victory against overwhelming odds" and considered a pivotal moment in American troops securing control of the Delaware River by revolutionarywarhistory.com.

Returning to the present, Janofsky said she hopes to track down ancestors of those whose remains they found.

"We’re hoping that eventually, perhaps, we can find some of these individuals,” she said in the Rowan University blog. "If we can extract their stories, and if we can tell their stories, it lets us put a name to a face. And that, to me, is a very powerful moment in public history."

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