2 Civil War Sailors from USS Monitor Buried at Arlington

A century and a half after the Civil War ship the USS Monitor sank off the North Carolina coast, two unknown crewmen found in the ironclad’s turret were buried Friday evening at Arlington National Cemetery.

The Monitor made nautical history when the Union ship fought the Confederate CSS Virginia in the first battle between two ironclads on March 9, 1862. The battle was a draw.

DNA from the skeletons was compared with living descendants of the ship’s crew and their families. The DNA did not positively identify the men, although medical and Navy records narrowed the possibilities to six people. A genealogist who also worked on the project believes the older sailor is Robert Williams, the ship’s fireman, who would have tended the Monitor’s coal-fired steam engine.

A possible descendant [of one of the two unknown sailors whose remains were found] could be Jamie Nicklis, a 46-year-old construction worker from near Columbus, Ohio, who attended the ceremony with son Brock, 15. The Navy identifies Jamie Nicklis as the great-grandnephew of seaman Jacob Nicklis, 21.

You can read more in an article by Erica Ryan in the NPR web site at http://goo.gl/dZJHV.