Stunning image reveals Revolutionary War soldier whose bones were found in N.J. field

Composite sketch of one of the soldiers prepared by artist Moises Martinez of the New Jersey State Police Forensic Technology Center.

Rob Jennings | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Two years after an archeological dig accidentally uncovered skeletal remains in a New Jersey field, there is now a face to help tell the story of what happened on a key Revolutionary War battlefield in 1777.

Working off of a skull recovered from a trench just outside Red Bank Battlefield Bank, a New Jersey State Police artist sketched one of the Hessian soldiers who died fighting for Great Britain against the Continental Army.

Scientists now believe 15 sets of skeletal remains, all from men, were located in the trench during the 2022 dig. DNA testing so far has failed to identify any of the soldiers, but that remains a goal of the ongoing research project, officials said Wednesday in an update on the discovery.

The newly-released image by artist Moises Martinez of the State Police’s forensic technology center includes a headdress and a mustache, both of which were associated with Hessian soldiers of that period. The rendering helps convey the humanity of those who were killed, said Jen Janofsky, director of Red Bank Battlefield Park.

https://www.nj.com/news/2024/07/stunning-image-reveals-revolutionary-war-soldier-whose-bones-were-found-in-nj-field.html
(paywall)

The Red Bank location is in Gloucester County, NJ, not the Red Bank in Monmouth County.