Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1896-07-22
GEN. FORESTS SILVER SPURS.
A Much-Prized Confederate Relic Melted
Up by a St. Louis Barber.

a
Up by a st. Louis Barber.
There is a lawsuit pending in Judge
Dillon's division of the circuit court that
not only involves the intrinsic value of
| a famous pair of war spurs, but also
their sentimental value as the relic OF a
great soldier, who. like Mira beau, tram
pied on impossible III his march to
fame, says the st. Louis Post-Dlspatch.
They are the silver spurs whose row
els so often sunk into the TANKS OF the
coal-black charger that Lieut.. Gen. Brad
ford Forrest rode into battle at the head
of his devoted cavalry. Forrest never
ordered his men to follow the lead of
subordinate commanders: he always led
the charge, and well in advance, an eX-
emple that made his legions invincible.
The spurs are of solid silver and were
the gift of a number of Mississippi la
dies. They wanted to give the general
something that if such a thing were pos
slble would spur him on to more last
ing victories. Money they had not with
which to purchase an almost priceless
pair, for they wished to have them of
gold, and equally scant were they in sill
yer coins
So they decided to make a collection
of silver thimbles and have them mold
ed into pair of spurs. 1t took upwards
of 1000, but they bought and begged
lIIeuN uull LHeV ndO enough, anu III lAe1
stead they used brass thimbles, with
which they sewed night and day to make
uniforms and other clothing for the
boys in the field
When Forrest died he bequeathed the
silver spurs to his grandson, Bedford
Forrest, Jr., who fell heir to most Of his
grandsire's war relics. and when young
Forrest came to st. Louis from Mem
phis to live, nearly year ago, the young
man was SO careful of his prizes that he
would not risk them in his own bag
gage. but put them along with a number
of silver spoons, knives and forks into a
package and shipped them by the Amer
lean Express company to st. Louis.
to IT. p Bradl s ple broth e Of
young Forrest. When it arrived in St
Louis, there being no street address on
it. the express clerk looked into the
city directory for a '|T. j. Bradley" of
which there are several. The clerk took
the first one he came to and thereby
made d grievous mistake.
The I. ]. Bradley picked out at the
express Office happened to be a journey
man barber at a Pine street shop.
Straight to that barber shop the express
delivery man drove. asked for Bradley
and was told that he was standing just
outside the door. but was no longer en-
ployed there. The expressman handed
the package over to Bradley and went
away.
Luck had come to the idle barber. He
opened the package, saw its valuable
contents. but knowing full we'll they did
not belong to him, decided to appropri-
ate them.
Young Forrest and his brother-in-law
grew uneasy about the precious package.
and made imperative demands on the ex-
press company. An investigation re-
vealed that mistake had been made.
and the express company set about
to recover the mementoes. After weeks
Of searching they were located-that is,
the metal that had composed them was.
The bogus Bradley, knowing that he
could never dispose of them in their
artistic shape. resolved not to be cheated
of their gross value. He melted them
in silver slugs and sold the base metal
for a pittance to an out-of-the-way jew
eler.
Thus had persisted from all semblance
of their former value the devoted gift of
a band of patriotic women to one of the
Souths idoliZed field marshals
Young Forrest and his family were
furious and grieved at the irreparab BILE
loss and demanded restitution in a heavy
amount. The express company refused
Forrest against the company for S10.-
600. 1t was brought by Harry NJ Hill
and the bill is an historically interesting
one. The origin of the spurs is re-
counted and SO is that of the other high
ly-prized gifts.
The case will come up for hearing at
the fail term. and the Forrest heirs side
of it, at least. will be most interesting to
hear and will be eagerly watched by
Confederate veterans, especially the fol-
lowers of the matchless Forrest.