Historic Civil War Revolver

[Shotgun Steve]

Photo by Robert Wilson

Confederate Gen. George Dibrell and his Colt Model 1851 Navy .36-caliber revolver are shown using images from the Library of Congress, including a drawing by Alfred Waud. The White County Heritage Museum in Dibrell’s hometown of Sparta, Tenn., recently purchased the firearm from a private collector with the help of a $10,000 donation from an anonymous Knoxville-area resident.

An anonymous donor from the Knoxville area kicked in $10,000 so a Middle Tennessee museum could purchase a historic Civil War revolver.

The gun, presented to Gen. George Dibrell at the formation of the 8th Tennessee Cavalry in 1862, but confiscated as a war prize three years later, was at the center of a massive fundraising campaign orchestrated by the White County Heritage Museum in June. A total of $22,500 was needed to buy the gun from a Connecticut collector after it had been kept underground by private individuals for the last 144 years.

The Knoxville donor kicked in the last chunk of money needed to fund the purchase, and the transaction to purchase the revolver was finalized last week.

Bill Hurteau, director of the White County Heritage Museum in Sparta, Tenn., said the donor has no known ties to the White County area, which is about 100 miles southwest of Knoxville, and wanted no recognition for the contribution.

"I don't even know who the person is, but we do know they have a strong interest in the South and the events of the war and wanted it returned to Tennessee," Hurteau said. "The person definitely did not want the revolver to go back north."

The pistol is extremely rare and could be worth tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars, Hurteau said. The $10,000 was transferred in the form of a cashier's check, which Hurteau traveled to Knoxville to pick up from a courier.

"We were really lucky this person came forward," he said.

The gun was first presented to Dibrell upon his formation of the 8th Tennessee Cavalry on Sept. 4, 1862 - the only regiment raised entirely in the Upper Cumberland, including men from White, Jackson, Smith, Van Buren, Overton and Putnam counties. The unit marched from Sparta to Murfreesboro to become part of Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's brigade, and was involved in a remarkable number of battles and skirmishes during the war.

In the terms of the surrender, on May 5, 1865, Dibrell and his men were allowed to keep their personal sidearms - but when the men got to Chattanooga, the provost marshal of the 44th Indiana unit stripped them of all their weapons, horses and boots.

An appeal by Dibrell to retrieve his sidearm later was unsuccessful.

"The story is, there was an understanding not to tell anybody they had this pistol, because Dibrell's name was on it," Hurteau said.

Efforts to find the name of the provost on duty that day in Chattanooga have so far proved unsuccessful, but research shows the gun did end up in Wabash, Ind., where it stayed until the 1950s, when a door-to-door insurance salesman saw the revolver and worked out a deal with the family to purchase it.

When that man died, his widow sold the revolver to the private collector in Connecticut, who didn't even know its significance until searching Dibrell's name, which is etched on the handle, on the Internet. And, even though two groups in Indiana had expressed interest in purchasing the gun, he offered to sell it to the museum for the same price he had paid for it. Hurteau said that man also donated $1,000 to complete the transaction.

"It's been indicated that it's one of the most significant revolvers in Tennessee, especially for the War Between the States," Hurteau said. "The history has all been proven."

The gun will be presented to White County Executive Herd Sullivan during a ceremony at the Sparta city cemetery today. Afterward, it will be placed on permanent display at the museum.

"I think it belongs back here with his people," Hurteau said. "The heritage here - there's lots and lots of descendants of the 8th Cavalry. People know their story, and people love it."

Liz Engel is a freelance contributor to the News Sentinel.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Now that is a story of the full range of human interaction, but finally ending on a happy note.

[Forty Rod]

Amazingly good shape for its age and history.

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