Stolen Civil War-era sword surfaces in Newport News

NORFOLK

Col. Rush C. Hawkins marched his Union troops to victory over Confederate forces time and time again, including the Siege of Suffolk and battles in Fredericksburg and the Outer Banks.

His reward following his retirement from battle in 1863: a Tiffany-made silver presentation sword, which he later donated to Brown University in Providence, R.I., where it stood on display in its scabbard for decades.

In the 1970s, the sword was swiped from the school's Hawkins collection. Then, a little over a year ago, it turned up in Newport News, part of a Civil War exhibit at Lee Hall Mansion.

After learning that its lost treasure had resurfaced, Brown University went to court to get it back.

On Friday, a federal judge ordered a Williamsburg man who had loaned the sword to the Newport News museum but retrieved it last month not to sell it until its ownership can be resolved.

"We've been trying to locate it for more than 30 years," said Norfolk attorney Robert McFarland, who represents Brown.

The university considers the sword priceless. It was part of a collection at its Annmary Brown Memorial, an exhibit of Hawkins' 17th- to 20th-century artwork, manuscripts and Civil War mementos. Hawkins founded the memorial in 1907 in honor of his wife, the daughter of one of Brown's founders.

Hawkins was a key officer in the Union army during the first two years of the Civil War, leading his New York-based regiment to battles throughout Hampton Roads, North Carolina and Fredericksburg. He returned home to New York after being wounded and was later named a general.

A similar presentation sword given to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant sold at auction in 2007 for $1.6 million. Christie's is currently auctioning a similar silver Tiffany sword made in 1890 for between $80,000 to $120,000.

The Hawkins sword has had a mysterious history the past 30 years. Brown had closed the Annmary Memorial for renovations in the mid-1970s. When the school reopened the museum in 1977, officials discovered two of Hawkins' swords missing.

One turned up in the Boston area in the early 1990s at an estate auction. Brown took the estate to court and a judge ordered the sword returned, according to a 1993 Boston Globe story.

The sword in the current dispute was obtained by artifacts collector Donald R. Tharpe of Williamsburg, a collector of Civil War mementos and military equipment, according to news reports. In 2008, he auctioned a part of his collection, grossing $476,000. He had offered 19 swords at that time, and the Hawkins could have been one of them. However, he sold only two swords, including an 1846 field officer's sword that went for $77,000, according to the Heritage Auction Galleries in Gettysburg.

Tharpe and his attorney did not respond to phone messages this week.

McFarland said he has no reason to believe Tharpe obtained the sword through any nefarious way. Tharpe apparently has had it for years. He provided it to Lee Hall Mansion in late 2009 on a one-year loan.

In December, another collector alerted the university that he had seen the sword at the museum. By the time the suit was filed last week, Tharpe had retrieved the sword.

In Norfolk on Friday, U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar granted Brown's request for a 14-day restraining order that requires Tharpe to retain possession of the sword.

The judge scheduled another hearing for Wednesday on Brown's request for a lengthier permanent injunction until a formal hearing on the sword's ownership can be held.

Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com