{"id":2200,"date":"2026-06-27T09:35:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T09:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2200"},"modified":"2026-06-27T09:35:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T09:35:12","slug":"he-died-fighting-for-americas-independence-at-14-hes-only-just-been-identified","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2200","title":{"rendered":"He died fighting for America\u2019s independence at 14. He\u2019s only just been identified"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Thirteen of America\u2019s first ever veterans lie beneath a towering pine forest that was once the site of one of the Revolutionary War\u2019s bloodiest battles, names lost to history \u2014 until now.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2198\">USC\u2019s proposed civil rights center has a powerful location \u2014 here\u2019s why it matters<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The world now knows one of those John Does is actually a John Pumphrey, a 14-year-old private killed in the Battle of Camden who was identified Tuesday by a team that included University of South Carolina researchers.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt doesn\u2019t get done very often,\u201d Steven Smith, lead USC archaeologist on the project, said. \u201cIt\u2019s cutting-edge science, and it\u2019s kind of an honor to be able to be part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Pumphrey, felled by musket fire and originally buried in a hasty, shallow grave, was identified after nearly 250 years through genetic analysis of a skull fragment by FHD Forensics, an international genealogical investigation firm.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>They were finally able to make a DNA match to more than 20,000 modern relatives, mainly by contacting families to share their family trees and other records to confirm Pumphrey\u2019s lineage.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Nancy White, a 71-year-old Maryland resident and one among the thousands of relatives, told <u>Utah Public Radio<\/u> that the news was \u201cabsolutely a miraculous discovery\u201d for her family.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>After the identification, Smith and the team are piecing together a fuller picture of what happened at the Battle of Camden, drawing new conclusions from years of work, including the mapping of lead shot found across the battleground.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The young teen was a member of the 7th Maryland Regiment and 1st Maryland Brigade of the Continental Army, who had to stand nearly alone against a heartier and more experienced British army after the North Carolina and Virginia militias fled.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2196\">Severe Storms Are About to Hit America\u2019s Highways: Here\u2019s What Drivers Need to Know<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Pumphrey would likely have been buried very close to where he died, giving historians a better idea of how far the Marylanders advanced at Camden before retreating.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s just one little piece of information that you gather,\u201d Smith said. \u201cYou add it all up to all the other things we find, and that tells the story of the battle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The 1780 Battle of Camden was one of the patriot army\u2019s most costly defeats \u2014 what Smith calls a \u201cmajor disaster\u201d \u2014 with more than 1,300 casualties estimated on the colonists\u2019 side according to the <u>American Battlefield Trust<\/u>. It was a crushing setback to the colonists\u2019 campaign to retake South Carolina.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Pumphrey, alongside a dozen brothers-in-arms and one British soldier, were reburied with full military honors in a historic cemetery near the battleground in 2023.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Smith and his colleagues were originally led to possible remains by relic collectors, and eventually discovered bones that were exposed, visible just beside tree roots. The team kept the location of the remains quiet until they were carefully excavated and reburied, said Smith, who was concerned that too many visitors could disturb the site, as well as the soldier\u2019s peace.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>He hopes the team will identify the remaining soldiers lost at Camden, shedding a little more light on America\u2019s birth and South Carolina\u2019s place in it.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe did everything we could to honor them and to treat them with respect, and we\u2019re glad they\u2019re reburied,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThe goal would be to identify all the Continental soldiers that are now buried in Camden.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2194\">China industrial profits stay resilient as economy leans on factories, exports<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Researchers, including USC archaeologists, used DNA and genealogy to identify 14-year-old John Pumphrey, killed at the 1780 Battle of Camden and reburied.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-south-carolina"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>He died fighting for America\u2019s independence at 14. 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