"A few days later the officers of the division pooled their money and
bought him a jeweled dress sword, a pair of revolvers, and a glass and
silver wine set valued at two thousand dollars to commemorate his new
rank.". (Sheridan, by Roy Morris, Vintage Books, 1993, pp. 116-117).
Morris subtended the paragraph, in which this statement appears, with
end-note number 8, on page 407, which reads: "OR,23,pt.2,83. Sheridan,
Memoirs,1:247. Parsons,"Sheridan," 267-77." Now, I have checked these
references, and have found no mention of jeweled sword or revolvers.
Only the Parsons citation, found in MOLLUS, mentions a "service of
silver". I contacted Morris, and he promised to try to find his
sources for me, but he never returned my call. Question: what exact
sources could Morris have used to get the details in the quotation
cited ?
hose7-ga,
Would you happen to know when -- what year -- this gift to Sheridan
was supposed to have occured?
Morris' statement says "A few days later ..." referring to a few days
after April 10th, 1863.
I cannot find the precise source of the statement, but I can confirm a
bit about the sword, which was presented to Gen. Sheridan -- according
to the date you rprovided -- just a few days after his confirmation as
General by the US Senate.
An article from 1864 profiling Gen. Sheridan offers the following:
"...The wants of his soldiers are always amply provided for...His old
command is earnestly devoted to him. A magnificent sword was
presented by them to their favorite leader in 1863..."
No further details about the sword -- or other aspects of the gift --
are provided.
Please let me know if the source of the above quote would be of value
to your work.
pafalafa-ga
Sure, any combination of sources which, combined, would supply the
sword, the pair of revolvers, the glass and silver wine set valued at
two thousand dollars, would be adequate. But the sole source you
mentioned would be worth perhaps ten dollars.
Dear hose7-ga;
I?m going to go out on a limb here and post an answer because for the
life of me I cannot see how anything can come much closer than what I
have found. The wine service may be difficult if not impossible to
find after all these years (there seems to be no official record of
them) but I noticed your question (and subject line: ?Sheridan's
jeweled sword and revolvers?) seem to focus primarily on the sword and
pistols.
Well, I know where THOSE THINGS are...in fact, I?ve pinpointed them PRECISELY!
According to civil war historian Virgil Robinson, the twin inscribed
Navy Colt revolvers you are searching for, which were gifts from
Sheridan?s men, do indeed exist and are now in the possession of the
famous Smithsonian Institute:
"At some point, possibly even after the war, the officers of the Third
Division, 20th Army Corps, presented Sheridan with a pair of Navy Colt
revolvers, Robinson said. Three Civil War battles are inscribed on the
pistol grips. The inscription reads: Boonville (an 'e? was omitted),
Chaplin Hills (Perryville, Ky.) and Stones River (Murfreesborough,
Tenn.) Booneville was the first battle inscribed. The Smithsonian
Institute has the pair of pistols..."
IN SEARCH OF . . . HISTORY
THE BATTLE OF BOONEVILLE
http://www.virrob.home.dixie-net.com/battle.htm
You can contact Robinson (who is the author of this article and also
the President of The Tri-State Coin & Relic Hunter's Club) at (662)
728-7388
or by e-mail to: virrob@dixie-net.com
Upon consulting the Smithsonian?s web site I also found that General
Philip Sheridan's pearl-studded sword is in their possession too (on
loan from none other than Philip H. Sheridan III).
?And swords, 2,000 of them: drawer after drawer of
gold-and-silver-hilted presentation swords, including Union general
Phil Sheridan's pearl-studded one and the sword that Strong Vincent,
then a Union colonel, carried at Gettysburg.?
SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE
?Around the Mall & Beyond?
http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/issues96/may96/mall_may96.html
Here is an image of the ?jeweled? sword though the pearls are not as
decorative (or obvious) as one might think. You will note that this is
indeed the sword in question as it was inscribed with each of the
historical campaigns well after the fact.
SMITHSONIAN CIVIL WAR
http://www.civilwar.si.edu/weapons_sheridans_sword.html
In addition you might want to acquire the book, 'Little Phil, The
Story Of General Philip Henry Sheridan', ($29.95) by William F. Drake.
In this book the author has tried to show not only the history, but
also the little things in the General?s life that have been ignored by
other writings. This book may mention the articles you are interested
in.
THE PERRY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
http://www.perrycountyohiohistory.org/LittlePhil.htm
It would seem logical then that Philip H. Sheridan, III would have
supplied at least a PORTION of the historical record since he is (or
was) the owner of the sword on loan to the Smithsonian. It appears at
least that the story about the gifts is not only historical but a
matter of family record as well (after all, they were deemed
significant enough to loan to the Smithsonian so apparently the family
knew how they were acquired).
Since you asked what source Morris COULD HAVE used to get the
quotation he cited, this is my best and most intelligent guess, if I
may be so bold. It certainly makes sense that he COULD HAVE gotten
them this way or perhaps from historian Virgil Robinson. At any rate,
BOTH sources are equally the most likely and credible sources for the
information.
I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad ? Google Answers Researcher
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Sheridan's jeweled sword and revolvers.