Tourist finds soldier's bones at Civil War site

updated 2:26 p.m. ET Jan. 8, 2009

SHARPSBURG, Md. - Park officials say a visitor has found the remains of a Civil War soldier at the Antietam National Battlefield in western Maryland.

Battlefield Park Superintendent John Howard says a visitor found bone fragments and a uniform button near a groundhog hole in October.

During an excavation last month, workers led by a National Park Service archaeologist found more bone fragments, buttons and a belt buckle establishing that the young man was from New York state.

The bones have been sent to the Smithsonian Institution for analysis, but Howard says experts are unlikely to determine the soldier's name.

Nearly 23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, captured or declared missing at Antietam in 1862. It was the bloodiest one-day battle of the war.

More on  Civil War  |  Archaeology

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