By Bill Knightly
Wilmington is the site of a recently uncovered Revolutionary War–era mass grave containing the remains of 63 Continental Army and British Army soldiers. Of those soldiers, 33 have been identified by name — 28 American soldiers and five British soldiers.
This level of identification is unusual for a mass grave from the Revolutionary War era and gives the site exceptional historical significance.
The soldiers buried in Wilmington & Brandywine Cemetery belonged to two different groups and died under different circumstances between 1777 and 1782. For generations, their identities, the details of their deaths, and the location of their final resting place remained largely unknown. However, on September 23, Wilmington Mayor John Carney will host a memorial ceremony to honor these fallen soldiers. During the ceremony, the city will unveil a memorial that includes the names of the 33 soldiers who have been identified.
How the British Soldiers Came to Rest in Wilmington
The historic Birmingham gravesite commemorating the Battle of Brandywine. The site is just 10 miles north of Wilmington. Photo courtesy Historical Society of DE.
The first group of soldiers buried in Wilmington came from the British Army. Their story began with the Battle of Brandywine, the largest battle of the American Revolution, fought on September 11, 1777, just 10 miles north of Wilmington.
Immediately after the battle, the British Army seized and occupied Wilmington and used the town as a general hospital for its wounded soldiers. British casualties at Brandywine included 488 wounded men. Two days later, the British transported 112 wagons filled with wounded soldiers down Concord Pike to Wilmington.
Although the exact number of wounded soldiers brought into the town is unknown, contemporary accounts suggest a substantial influx. One primary source described the wounded arriving in “large numbers,” while a British officer referred to the “immense” number of injured men brought into Wilmington.
Estimating the British Dead and Their Burial Site
Modern algorithms conservatively suggest that at least 38 British soldiers may have died from wounds sustained at the Battle of Brandywine. The question that remained was where those soldiers had been buried.
Intensive research and historical clues point to the Poor and Strangers burial ground, a relatively little-known 18th-century potter’s field in Wilmington, as the likely original burial site for the British dead. Between 1850 and 1853, the remains were disinterred from that burial ground and moved to a mass grave in Wilmington & Brandywine Cemetery.
The Rhode Island Regiment in Wilmington
Reenactors representing the 1st Rhode Island Regiment. Photo courtesy of Bill Knightly.
The second group of soldiers buried in Wilmington came from the Rhode Island Regiment. These men passed through the city in December 1781, after participating in the battle of Yorktown.
As they moved through Wilmington, many soldiers contracted smallpox and were treated at a hospital located in the old academy building that stood on the current site of the Grand Opera House on Market Street. Twenty-eight members of the regiment died, including 14 African American soldiers.
The Rhode Island soldiers followed the same burial path as the British soldiers four years earlier. They were first interred in the Poor and Strangers cemetery and later moved, between 1850 and 1853, to the present mass grave site at Wilmington & Brandywine Cemetery.
Upcoming Memorial Ceremony
The fall ceremony hosted by Mayor Carney takes place at Wilmington & Brandywine Cemetery and includes the unveiling of a permanent monument honoring the 63 soldiers buried there. The monument will include the names of the thirty-three soldiers who have been identified.
Invited guests are expected to include representatives from the State of Rhode Island, State of Delaware and the United Kingdom. After nearly 250 years, the City of Wilmington will formally honor these soldiers and restore their place in public memory.
— The public ceremony will begin at 10am on September 23 at Wilmington & Brandywine Cemetery (701 Delaware Ave., Wilm.)
In celebration of Delaware 250, this monthly series will spotlight historic sites unique to our state.
Above: A visit to Wilmington & Brandywine Cemetery, in the heart of downtown Wilmington, is to walk through history. Photo courtesy of Bill Knightly.