After 246 years, the remains of Pvt. John Pumphrey, a Maryland teenager who died in the Battle of Camden, have been identified through DNA testing and old-fashioned sleuthing. Pumphrey was a member of the 7th Maryland Regiment and fought alongside George Washington in the snows at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

Identification Process

The identification process began when archaeologists surveying the area in 2020 came across human bones protruding from the ground. Eventually, 14 sets of remains were identified, with 12 of them belonging to Continental soldiers. The remains were examined and cataloged, and samples from two of the soldiers were sent to Astrea Forensics in California for DNA extraction and sequencing.

Through DNA testing, researchers were able to extract DNA from a petrous portion of the temporal bone, a delicate structure behind the ear at the base of the skull. The DNA generated Pumphrey’s entire genome, which was then uploaded to FamilyTreeDNA and GEDmatch to trace three types of DNA matches: autosomal, X chromosome, and Y chromosome.

Pumphrey’s Story

Pumphrey’s story began to emerge when a profile was created of a young orphan from Maryland’s Anne Arundel County, who enlisted in the militia at the age of 13. He signed his reenlistment papers with an ‘X’, indicating that he was unable to write. Pumphrey and his comrades were involved in some of the major contests in the Northern Theater, including the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth.

Pumphrey’s unit marched over 1,000 miles before he met his end in the pinelands of South Carolina. The cause of his death is still unknown, but it is possible that he had a soft tissue injury, such as a bayonet wound. Pumphrey’s remains were buried beneath a thin layer of dirt, and his headstone read: ‘UNKNOWN. REV WAR. BATTLE OF CAMDEN. AUG 16 1780’.

Relatives of Pumphrey wept during an emotional ceremony at the 19th-century Benson-Hammond House in Anne Arundel County, where his identity was finally confirmed. The U.S. government is expected to replace his ‘UNKNOWN’ gravestone with one bearing his name.

Original reporting: Dallas TX News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.