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Anthropologists Use DNA to Identify Remains of Revolutionary War Soldier Who Died in 1780
Researchers matched the remains to relatives in public DNA databases, and biological anthropologists estimate Pumphrey was 13 to 15 when he enlisted.
- Archaeologists with the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of South Carolina used DNA to identify American Revolutionary War soldier John Pumphrey of Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
- Pumphrey's remains were discovered in 2020 at the historic Camden Battlefield and Longleaf Pine Preserve alongside 13 other soldiers who died in the 1780 battle, which claimed more lives than any other in the revolution.
- Biological anthropologists estimate Pumphrey was 13 to 15 years old when he enlisted in Maryland's 7th Regiment in Baltimore in 1777, with his genetic genealogy profile matched to relatives through public forensic databases.
- Steve Smith, a research professor at USC's South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, said the discovery "helps highlight the critical role that South Carolina played in the winning of American independence."
- The 14 soldiers' remains were later given a proper burial in Camden, honoring those who sacrificed their lives to gain American independence.
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Index-JournalScientists identify a soldier who died in the 1780 Battle of Camden, hold out hope of naming others
University of South Carolina archaeologists work in the fall of 2022 to recover the remains of 14 unidentified Revolutionary War soldiers who fell at the 1780 Battle of Camden. The identity of one soldier, John Pumphrey of Maryland, was unveiled in June 2026. (Photo courtesy of USC)CAMDEN — Fourteen unknown soldiers who died in the Battle of Camden are one step closer to being identified 246 years after their deaths. With one soldier named last …
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