Twenty-one men died at Fort Laurens and were buried in the fort cemetery. Several remains were in single or double burials, but a mass grave of at least 13 individuals held an ill-fated wood-gathering party ambushed by Indians besieging the fort in February 1779. The graves were excavated in 1973, 1984, and 1986. Except for the soldier in the grave uncovered in 1973, who lies in the nearby tomb, the others rest in a crypt inside the museum.