(Fredericksburg, VA) May 5, 2025 – The City of Fredericksburg worked with the National Park Service to formally bury U.S. Civil War soldiers’ remains discovered in 2015 during excavation along Sophia Street. This burial took place on May 2nd, following several years of archaeology and research on how to move forward with this unprecedented historic event.
In May 2017, the City of Fredericksburg requested the remains be buried in the Fredericksburg National Cemetery to rest alongside other fallen American Civil War soldiers who died locally. Since the cemetery has been formally closed to burials since 1945, multiple archaeological investigations were required to ensure a clear plot for burial. The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted these investigations and delayed the process of finding an appropriate location until late fall 2023. Managed by the National Park Service, the Fredericksburg National Cemetery was established in 1866 and holds the remains of 15,243 soldiers, sailors, and Marines who mostly died during the Civil War. At least 85% of the graves are unidentified, resulting in over 12,770 unknowns.
Archaeologists determined that the remains belong to U.S. soldiers using DNA and radiocarbon dating, the context in which they were found, and associated artifacts, including uniform buttons. The Fourteenth Connecticut Regiment, among others, used the location where they were found as a divisional hospital for their wounded soldiers. The found soldiers likely died from wounds inflicted during the first Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862.
The partial remains of an estimated three United States soldiers were interred in the Fredericksburg National Cemetery as a partnership between the City of Fredericksburg and the National Park Service. The National Cemetery Administration has provided the headstone, which will match others in the cemetery and include the epitaph “Unknown.” The Fredericksburg National Cemetery is open to the public daily from sunrise to sunset. The annual luminaria event is also scheduled for Memorial Day weekend, Saturday, May 24, 2025 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
To learn more about the important work the National Park Service has done, visit their website at https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/discovery-of-union-hospital-burial-in-fredericksburg.htm.