Lake George Ceremony Honors Unknown Colonial American Soldiers

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. (AP) — A local history group is holding a Memorial Day ceremony to honor four unknown Colonial American soldiers whose remains were discovered and reburied in upstate New York 80 years ago.

The Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance is holding a wreath-laying ceremony Monday morning at the soldiers' gravesite in the park, located near the lake's southern end.

The soldiers' skeletons were unearthed in 1931 during road work just south of Lake George, where militiamen from Massachusetts and Connecticut were ambushed at the start of a French and Indian War battle. The remains were reburied in the park on Sept. 8, 1935, the 180th anniversary of the Battle of Lake George.

Though their names are unknown, it was determined the soldiers served in a Massachusetts regiment commanded by Col. Ephraim Williams, who was killed in the battle.