"Death Rode on Every Volley": How the Discovery of a Mass Hessian Burial Offers Interpretive Opportunities and Challenges at Red Bank Battlefield Park

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "“A Little Grass and Earth Thrown in to fill up the Grave”: Archaeological studies of American War for Independence burial spaces", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Red Bank Battlefield Park, located in Gloucester County, New Jersey, is best remembered for the upset victory over attacking Hessian forces in October of 1777. In 2022, with the addition of a new parcel, the New Jersey Historical Commission awarded the park a grant to support an archaeological survey of the addition as well as a public archaeology project. On the last day of the project, a volunteer discovered human remains. Since then, the remains of 15 individuals, believed to be Hessian soldiers lost at the battle in 1777, have been recovered. This paper explores how the discovery is prompting a reexamination of the battlefield’s interpretation and preservation strategies. This paper will include a discussion of current proposals to memorialize and interpret the burial site as well as the challenges of working with the public to appreciate the horror of a Revolutionary War battlefield.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) - Revolutionary War Resources   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025   •
• “A Little Grass and Earth Thrown in to fill up the Grave”: Archaeological studies of American War for Independence burial spaces

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow