In June 1994, a well-preserved male skeleton was found buried in a then-wooded area a few yards away, with remnants of a woolen uniform jacket and military-style brass buttons covering the upper half of the remains. Three years later, forensic anthropologists and archaeologists from the Smithsonian Institution and Fairfax County Archaeological Services explored the site further and found five additional burials, all in a row. Initial efforts to identify the men were inconclusive, but after extensive examination of forensic data and genealogical and military records, researchers concluded that they were among the earliest casualties of the Civil War. They died during or after the sharp fight at Blackburn’s Ford on July 18, 1861, when Confederates under Gen. James Longstreet blocked a Federal column under Daniel Tyler attempting to cross Bull Run. Three days later, the war’s first large-scale battle, the First Battle of Manassas or Bull Run, took place. Forensic evidence and records identified the remains as members of Companies G and H, 1st Massachusetts Infantry: 1st Sgt. Gordon Forrest, 32, a printer; Pvt. Thomas Roome, 31, a currier; Pvt. James Silvey, 23, an upholsterer; Pvt. William H. Smart, 21, a wood turner; Pvt. George Bacon, 22, an oil mill worker; and Pvt. Albert F. Wentworth, 17, a conductor and a year younger than the minimum age. On June 10, 2006, the six soldiers were reinterred with full military honors in the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne, Massachusetts.
