Civil War Burial Pit Reveals Horrid Details of Bones of Severed Limbs

A shallow burial pit in the Virginia City revealed severed limbs and two almost complete skeletons. They city was the place where Second Battle of Bull Run took place in 1862. The bones belong to the Northern fighters and bring to light the ghastly realities of the Civil War soldiers. Once the battle was over, the medics must have met men with frightful injuries, with some who have been waiting for their treatment with the wound since days. Doctors had to make a decision of who they can save and who they cannot. The severed limbs were mostly from the amputations of soldiers who had a chance to survive. There are wounds on the skeleton too which suggests that medics might not have chosen to operate on them.   

There was one soldier that the scientists discovered who was shot in the butt. The bullet that had gone through fractured his upper femur bone, which completely smashed the insides of his leg. There were no trouser buttons on his bones which kind of gives an inclination that he survived the initial wound. The researchers have sent in the skeletons to Arlington National Cemetery for burial as it is now discovered that they were fallen soldiers. The historical interpretation of the Battle will definitely change after the details of Manassas National Battlefield Park are revealed.

By: Neha Maheshwari

Content: https://www.history.com/news/civil-war-burial-bones-severed-limbs