The genealogists at our sister organization, FHD Forensics are close to solving a 245 year old mystery.

When they walked a Revolutionary War battlefield in 2023, they were asked, "Can you do what you do to identify John Does with men who died over 200 years ago?" They said, "Maybe!" As shared in their press release in January, 2025, the rest is history. And, now they're on their way to identifying the first profile!

The remains of 14 combatants were rescued from erosion and relic hunters in 2022 and honored with a lavish military funeral in 2023. Thirteen of the men were reburied as Unknown in 2024.

When asked why it was important to try to identify these men who died in 1780, Dr. Steve Smith of SC Institute for Archaeology and Anthropology' (SCIAA) emphatically told CBS News, "These are the first Americans...the first American soldiers."

Traceable genetic profiles for two of the soldiers were acquired in October 2024. Over the next year, an expansive genealogy research project took shape - including 800 volunteer participants who submitted family trees and tens of thousands of genetic matches in public databases. Unfortunately, the genetic genealogy research sponsor ran out funding in November 2025 right as one of the subjects was close to being identified.

The board of Genealogy For Justice has now adopted the project to identify Continental 9B, a 14-18 year old boy from Anne Arundel County, Maryland. In order to help bring this groundbreaking project - what CBS News' Bradley Blackburn called one of America's oldest cold cases - over the finish line, we need your help!

The final phase of our research for this subject now requires YDNA and mtDNA reference testing and analysis for verification of his family of origin among just three likely families. And records from 250-300 years ago are being pored through in an effort to prove the last few connections in this teen soldier's family tree.

When seeing they were vastly outnumbered, the American forces threw down their loaded arms and fled the field. The general himself immediately rode away in cowardice. This boy stood and fought with men from a handful of companies from Maryland, Delaware, and North Carolina that remained until the end. We think the story of a teenaged boy who marched hundreds of miles from his home in Maryland to fight for freedom in the face of absolute slaughter is worth telling.

Proving his identity is a cause that belongs to the whole country.

With your tax deductible donation, you can help us name this boy. A generous G4J patron has seeded this campaign and challenges all Camden genetic relatives and American history buffs to donate!

Any remaining funds not used in the identification of 9B will be applied to Continental 11A, a mid-stage Camden Fourteen project with solid common ancestral surnames and genetic networks that requires several more months of research and testing.

Continental 9B - Camden Fourteen

By Genealogy for Justice™

Continental 9B - Camden Fourteen

Bridge funding to bring home the first Camden Fourteen identification