During a routine basement renovation in late November 2019, contractors at a 1790 Main Street house in Ridgefield found four human skeletons lying in a shallow communal grave beneath the floorboards.
State archaeologists later identified the remains as uncoffined adult men linked to the April 1777 Battle of Ridgefield, and uncovered a trove of military artifacts—four pewter buttons stamped ‘USA’, lead musket balls, and a damaged American musket butt plate.
According to a report by the Ridgefield Historical Society, the ‘USA’ buttons are the earliest physical evidence that Continental soldiers were wearing national insignia a year after Independence, overturning the belief that early Patriots wore only provincial uniforms.
Archaeological surveys revealed that the battle was far bloodier than written accounts suggest; a concentration of British musket fire and unused American ammunition indicates a sudden ambush by Tryon’s forces, which wounded Major General David Wooster and briefly shattered the American line.
Ground‑penetrating radar has located seven additional sites that may hold more wartime burials, and the Office of State Archaeology is conducting DNA and isotope analyses to trace the soldiers’ origins, while the Ridgefield Historical Society prepares a documentary for the 250th anniversary in 2027.
The project earned an Award of Merit from Preservation Connecticut for its documentation and outreach, and the findings are reshaping the narrative of the early Revolutionary War in New England.