Revolutionary War Soldiers Buried in Unmarked Delaware Grave Identified After Nearly 250 Years

Key facts

• At least 66 Revolutionary War soldiers are buried at the Wilmington and Brandywine Cemetery in Wilmington, Delaware; researchers have identified 33 of them.
• The identified soldiers include 28 from Rhode Island—half of whom were Black—and 5 British officers.
• The British soldiers died after the Battle of Brandywine in Pennsylvania on September 11, 1777, the largest single-day battle of the Revolution with nearly 30,000 troops.
• After the battle, the British set up a hospital in Wilmington for 488 wounded; 112 wagons brought injured soldiers to the city two days later.
• The Rhode Island soldiers fought at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781 and later contracted smallpox; 28 died in Wilmington between December 8, 1781, and January 27, 1782.
• Ten of the Continental soldiers were free Black men, and four were enslaved laborers.
• Local historian Bill Knightly led research on the British soldiers, using algorithms to estimate 38 deaths from the 488 wounded.
• In 1778, Rhode Island lawmakers allowed enslaved men to enlist for freedom and compensation to enslavers; the policy was repealed months later after over 100 enlisted.