Gone for a Soldier: An Archaeological Signature of a Military Presence aboard the Storm Wreck

Summary

Six seasons of excavation have yielded numerous artifacts from the Storm Wreck, site 8SJ 8459, a ship that wrecked off St. Augustine on 31 December 1782 as part of the Loyalist evacuation fleet from Charleston, South Carolina. Many of these artifacts reflect the presence of military personnel amongst the ship’s passenger grouping. These include Brown Bess muskets and diagnostic regimental uniform buttons, which spurred archival research in England and Scotland that has led to a better understanding of which British Army regiments were in and evacuated from Charleston on the December 1782 fleet. This paper will discuss a number of these artifacts and how they fit within the greater context of the Loyalist evacuation, ultimately leading to the identification of the Storm Wreck as one of sixteen vessels reported lost during that event.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Archaeology, Conservation, and Interpretation of the Storm Wreck, a Wartime Refugee Vessel Evacuating Charleston, South Carolina at the End of the American Revolution and Lost at St. Augustine, Florida on 31 December 1782   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2016

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 814