The Long Road Home

In June 1994, a well-preserved male skeleton was found buried in a then-wooded area a few yards in front of you and reported to authorities. Remnants of a woolen uniform jacket with military-style brass buttons covered the upper half of the remains. Three years later, forensic anthropologists and archaeologists from the Smithsonian Institution and Fairfax County Archaeological Services explored the site further and found five additional burials, all in a row. Initial efforts to identify the men were inconclusive. Who were they, and why were they buried here?

After extensive examination of forensic data as well as genealogical and military records, researchers concluded that the men were among the earliest casualties of the Civil War. They died during or after the sharp fight about two miles in front of you at Blackburn's Ford on July 18, 1861, when Confederates under Gen. James Longstreet blocked a Federal column under Daniel Tyler that attempted to cross Bull Run. Three days later, the war's first large-scale battle took place—the First Battle of Manassas or Bull Run. Forensic evidence and records identified the remains as members of Companies G and H, 1st Massachusetts Infantry. On June 10, 2006, the six soldiers were reinterred with full military honors in the Massachusetts National Cemetery, Bourne, Massachusetts.

(Sidebar):
Soldiers'



remains indentified as:
1st Sgt. Gordon Forrest, 32, Co. G., printer
Pvt. Thomas Roome, 31 Co. G., currier
Pvt. James Silvey, 23, Co. G., upholsterer
Pvt. William H. Smart, 21, Co. G., wood turner
Pvt. George Bacon, 22, Co. H, oil mill worker
Pvt. Albert F. Wentworth, 17, a year younger than the minimum age, Co. H., conductor

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Civil War Fortifications
Convicts and Slaves
Archaeology at Newgate Tavern
Newgate Tavern
Centreville Methodist Church
Old Stone Church
Minnie Minter Carter Saunders
First Battle of Manassas
Second Battle of Manassas
Campaign of Second Manassas

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