Veteran-led dig of Revolutionary War battlefield seeks to shed light on history, empower disabled vets

A group of disabled veterans were recently brought together to excavate a Revolutionary War battlefield — but it was far from the usual dig.

The project, which was organized by the American Veterans Archaeological Recovery (AVAR), took place over the course of four weeks and ended in February. 

Fourteen veterans came to Kershaw County in South Carolina to excavate where the Battle of Camden was fought in August 1780, but they weren't just looking for musket balls. 

AVAR founder Stephen Humphreys told Fox News Digital that the archaeologists-in-training were using GPS receivers to collect spatial data in order to learn more about the battle, which was considered a devastating loss for the colonial forces.

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"A lot of Americans haven't heard about it… but it's an extremely significant battle for the South in particular and for the North as well," the expert explained. "One of the big research questions is, you know, how much the American militia really fight, because the American militia really catch the brunt of the blame for losing the battle."

Part of the mission was to improve historical understanding of the conflict by gathering enough data to generate a heat map of the battle's movements.

"The American militia textual sources indicate that they break almost immediately… and so we wanted to see, ‘archaeologically, is that true?’" Humphreys explained. "So we're working in those areas to see how much American fire is there over here. How much did the American militia actually engage before they retreated?"

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Looking for old artifacts may sound more straightforward than what the AVAR archaeologists are doing, but Humphreys emphasized that collecting spatial data helps shed more light on the movements of the battle.

"[We're] using intensive metal detector survey to plot exactly where the different forces were during the battle, what the movements were," he described. "We're getting spatial data for every musket ball that's found on the site, plotting that on a giant GIS [geographic information system] map. And that allows us to see, ideally, where some of these units were on the day of the battle and where they weren't."

"And what you end up with is basically a heat map that shows patterns on the battlefield, and we use that to evaluate where the troops were firing from, where they were firing at," Humphreys added.

Humphreys, a U.S. Air Force veteran who deployed during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, holds a Ph.D. in archaeology from Durham University. He has participated in digs across the world, ranging from Israel to Sicily to the U.K.

Humphreys founded AVAR in 2016 to give veterans a chance to become archaeologists. Many of his students bring unique traits to the field, and Humphreys noted that a good portion of AVAR's veterans are disabled.

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"While most of our veterans do have various disabilities, we really focus on the strengths that they bring to the field," Humphreys said. "And we leverage those, which is why we focus so much on conflict sites. We really do find that military veterans bring a unique understanding and a unique respect for those sites."

The AVAR founder also said that working on-site can help reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression for disabled veterans — but the main focus of AVAR is to get them jobs.

"They bring excellence and teamwork," Humphreys said of his veterans. "They can bond together really, really quickly. They understand how to get the work done. The veteran work ethic really is unsurpassed in this field."

"Our vets do work harder than most of the other people out there, and they are in demand for that," he added. "And they're willing to put in the extra work, go the extra mile to find every artifact that might relate to that person and tell that personal story."

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Humphreys also described the American Revolution site as being "special," and noted that veterans often feel an attachment to such areas.

"They have a profound appreciation for those sites as hallowed ground," he said. "You walk out there, you feel the wind blowing through the pine trees that are there now, and it's just got a presence to it."

The excavation's partner organizations also included the American Battlefield Trust, the Historic Camden Foundation, the South Carolina American Revolution Trust and the South Carolina Institute for Archaeology and Anthropology. 

American Battlefield Trust President David Duncan told Fox News Digital that it was an honor to be part of the excavation.

"AVAR’s mission demonstrates multiple ways in which preserved battlefields remain impactful: as a means for us to deepen our understanding of the past through tangible exploration and as a venue for the betterment of the mental and physical well-being of veterans," Duncan said. 

"We were honored to bring this immensely impactful program to Trust-owned land and be a part of this meaningful program." 

Fox News Digital's Brooke Curto contributed to this report.