Battle of Yorktown

11. British Burials

Yorktown, VA

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There are no headstones or monuments in the Yorktown area to identify the graves of British soldiers who died during the siege in 1781. Records of the time period don't even agree with one another about how many were killed. One record estimates that the casualties were fairly light; approximately 156 British and German soldiers and 72 American and French soldiers lost their lives during this battle. One German record, however, lists the numbers as being much higher, with 309 killed on the British side. There is a marker on the Colonial National Historic Parkway that shows where several of the French graves are located, but most of the British graves have been lost to time. The Wren Building was a French hospital during the Revolutionary War, and the state house in Williamsburg treated wounded American soldiers. Those who did not survive were buried on the grounds. During the 1930s the remains of many French and American soldiers who were buried at these sites were excavated and reinterred at the Capitol building. Many French soldiers may have also been buried on the Fusiliers Redoubt in Yorktown. The British most likely buried their dead at various sites along the Yorktown waterfront. Dr. Hank Lutton from the Department of Archaeology at Boston College excavated several burials. Two internments were found under the site that later became the parking deck, and another was buried below the parking lot at Nick's Seafood Pavilion. One of these graves was that of an adolescent male who was buried during the siege of Yorktown. Lutton also explored some trenches in the lots below Kiskiack Watch. Charles Hatch notes that in 1956, Yorktown archaeologist John L. Cotter noted two burials during the laying of a sewer line that was being placed on the inland side of Water Street. He also discovered a burial about 50 feet upstream on the northwest side of Buckner Street. This site was close to the northwest British stockade line. In his Orderly Book, Ensign Dennis indicated there was a British burial ground at this location. Another grave was found at the foot of Church Street. In 1972, a human skeleton was found on the beach in the Yorktown Beach picnic area. The site was about 30 feet away from the shoreline and was only exposed during high tide. These graves were most likely those of British soldiers who died and were buried during the Siege of Yorktown.