The Bones of Burgos Initiative
In 2008, the remains of 6 soldiers killed during Wellington’s 1812 siege of Burgos, were found by archaeologists outside the castle’s wall. Having been disturbed from their 200 year-long resting place, their skeletons now lie forgotten, gathering dust in the city museum’s storage facility.
The Bones of Burgos project, led by Zack White, is an international team of historians and archaeologists seeking to study the remains of these men, unlocking their secrets, before giving them the proper burial in marked graves that they undoubtedly deserve.
Using DNA and isotope analysis alongside archive documents, the team will discover where these soldiers came from, and potentially even their names, as well as finding out the toll their job took on their bodies.
The team are engaged in discussions with authorities in Spain over the release of these soldiers for study and burial. Until an agreement has been reached and signed, we will not be taking donations for transparency reasons, but when the time comes to honour these men, we will be launching a £20,000 crowd funding bid to pay for their burial, as these men sadly are not eligible for Commonwealth War Graves Commission funding.
If you might be interested in donating to this project in the future, or just want to stay up to date with the project’s developments, please fill out the form below to join our mailing list.
You can find out more about the project by listening to the Bones of Burgos episode on Zack’s podcast ‘The Napoleonicist’, available here.