The Texas Civil War Museum on the west side of Fort Worth is the largest Civil War museum west of the Mississippi River. Its latest acquisition should put it in the top echelon of all Civil War museums.
On June 24, 2007, the museum purchased the Ulysses S. Grant presentation sword at auction in New York City.
This is the sword the people of Kentucky made to be presented to Grant upon his promotion to General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States’ in 1864.
The Kentucky patriots raised the money to purchase this unique and extremely valuable sword crafted by St. Louis silversmith and jeweler Henry Folsom. The presentation was made by President Lincoln.
Being promoted to the rank of General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States put Grant in a position only one man had held before him — Gen. George Washington. Both men went on to become president.
The St. Louis Dispatch described this sword as “the most beautiful and costly sword yet manufactured in this country.”
The sword is solid silver with gold inlays. The sword hilt is in the form of the goddess Victory. An American eagle with its wings spread sits atop her head.
At the base of the hand guard is a solid gold plate topped with a large amethyst, and it contains the following inscription: “Presented to Lieut. Genl. Ulysses S. Grant by his friends in Kentucky in recognition of their great faith in leadership and appointment as Genl.-In-Chief of the Armies of the United States.”
The blade, which is 33 inches long, is etched with various battle scenes, including a stand of arms, artillery firing, cavalry engagements and an infantry scene symbolizing Grant’s command of the entire United States armed forces.
The scabbard is solid silver with gold plates holding the initials “USG,” U.S. Grant, “A,” for USA, and “KY,” for Kentucky. The initials are encrusted with 26 mine-cut diamonds.
Each set of initials is on a separate gold plate spaced out along the length of the scabbard.
The sword and scabbard are displayed in their own glass case in the center of a small alcove, and you can walk around the case and view them from all sides. This is truly a wonderful work of art.
It is well worth the drive to Fort Worth to see.
While there you should take a full tour of the museum.
The museum is laid out in six different galleries devoted to the Civil War and one gallery devoted to Victorian dresses.
The first gallery you enter is devoted to the infantry, with the U.S. infantry represented on one side and the Confederate infantry on the other side.
The next is a small gallery of flags.
After the flags you enter the section for the cavalry, with the U.S. cavalry on one side and the Confederate cavalry on the other side.
The artillery section is next and is laid out in the same way.
The Navy section has one part dedicated to the medical corp.
In this section is an amputation kit made by G. Tiemann & Co., New York.
It was initially used by an assistant surgeon of the 160th New York Regiment. T
he kit was taken on June 23, 1863, when the Confederate forces under command of Gens. Tom Green and Dick Taylor captured a Union garrison at Morgan City, La.
Confederate surgeon Dr. Frank Rainey, 4th Texas Cavalry, received the kit and used it for the remainder of the war.
In the Navy section is displayed an underwater keg mine, also known as a Confederate torpedo or an infernal machine.
The destruction of Union ships around Mobile Bay was severe. During the campaign that ended April 12, 1865, nine U.S. warships were sunk by the Mobile Bay mines.
The keg mine was developed by Gen. Gabriel James Rains, chief of the Confederate torpedo service.
The main body is made from a barrel or keg, and the inside and outer surfaces are coated with tar to make it watertight.
The barrel was filled with black powder with an air pocket left for buoyancy.
The mine was tied with rope to a weight, which was dropped to the seabed. It was set just below the surface of the water.
One fuse was attached to each side. When a ship’s hull struck the fuse, the pressure from the hit caused the volatile chemicals inside the fuse to ignite into flame.
The flame traveled down the fuse tube to the gunpowder chamber, which caused the mine to explode.
Confederate torpedoes sank more U.S. ships than all the other Confederate weapons or ships combined.
Twenty-seven U.S. ships were lost, and hundreds of sailors were killed as a result of the underwater mine explosions.
Besides Mobile Bay they were used in Charleston Harbor, Wilmington, Savannah, Yazoo River, James River, Red River, and the St. John’s River, Fla.
The last section of the museum is the Texas Confederate collection.
One thing I found of interest here was the bugle of Terry’s Texas Rangers.
Ben Polk of Houston was bugler of Co. B, 8th Texas Cavalry Regiment. He was 30 years old in 1861.
Polk served with the regiment throughout the entire war. The bugle was donated by the Col. B. F. Terry Family.
To get to the museum, exit onto Interstate 820 west off I-35W and continue to the west side of Fort Worth. After you pass the I-30 exit, take the Silver Creek exit. The museum will be on the right.
The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.
John Watson is a Cleburne resident and can be reached at texastraveler@sbcglobal.net.
