Archaeologists Unearth Mass Grave of Hessian Soldiers at New Jersey Revolutionary Site

During a 2022 excavation at Red Bank Battlefield Park in southern New Jersey, researchers uncovered a previously unknown graveyard containing bone fragments from 15 Hessian soldiers who died in the 1777 Battle of Red Bank. The find began when a volunteer spotted a bone in a ditch near the ruins of Fort Mercer, prompting Rowan University archaeologists Jennifer Janofsky and Wade Catts to conduct a summer-long survey. With support from the New Jersey State Police Forensic Anthropology Unit, the team recovered skulls, jawbones and thigh fragments, along with buttons, buckles and musket balls that confirmed the remains were German mercenaries.

Historical accounts note that Colonel Christopher Greene’s militia routed the Hessian brigade, killing over 100 and burying the dead in an unmarked ditch the following morning. One set of remains showed injuries from a musket ball, a canister round and a grapeshot, illustrating the brutal weaponry used. Scholars say the discovery offers a more nuanced view of the enemy and the harsh realities of eighteenth-century combat.