We had a great program yesterday at our Civil War museum.

TEETH?

It was said that soldiers had to be so-tall (to load the non-breech
loading rifles) and had to have teeth. If anyone wanted to duck the
war, they merely had to have their natural teeth removed.

Anyone besides Steve Fawks know the answer why?

Joel

**

Here is some background for an excellent site and of course, some
details on one of my favorite topics, corruption!

Joel

**************************************

http://www.civilwarmuseumphiladelphia.org/

*********************************************************

http://www.ushistory.org/districts/rittenhouse/civil.htm

Civil War and Underground Railroad Museum of Philadelphia
At 18th and Pine you discover the Civil War and Underground Railroad
Museum of Philadelphia. Few

Philadelphians know of this museum and more should. Organized in 1896,
the museum is devoted to

memorabilia of the Civil War with a library of 10,000 volumes on the
War and related subjects. (The

library is open to scholars, students and others doing research on the
period.) The contents of the museum

are staggering.

The Lincoln Room, in addition to numerous photographs and portraits,
has a life mask done in 1861 and

another made two months before his assassination and also a lock of
the President's hair. A broadside, or

wanted poster, in the room has photographs of the three assassins
sought for the murder of Lincoln. A

$100,000 reward is offered, since "The Murderer of our late beloved
President, Abraham Lincoln, is STILL

AT LARGE."

In the Meade Room is General Meade's uniform and his magnificent
jeweled presentation sword. The

authentic head of General Meade's horse, "Old Baldy" (picture at right
courtesy of the Civil War Library

and Museum), is preserved in a glass case. Baldy, a war horse in the
truest sense of the phrase, was

wounded five times, in battles ranging form Bull Run to Gettysburg.
This beloved equine survived the war

and died at the age of 30.

Upstairs one finds the paisley dressing gown worn by Jefferson Davis
when he fled from the Union Army.

Naturally, when the news flashed through the North that Davis was
captured "impersonating a female," it

furnished a field day for satirists and cartoonists. The museum has a
Currier and Ives print entitled, "The

Last Ditch of the Chivalry, or a President in Petticoats."

Learn more

**********************************************************************************

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/jan04/sword011304.htm

Headline Archives  
THE CASE OF THE MISSING CIVIL WAR SWORD
Piece of History Returned by FBI in Ceremony at U.S. Naval Academy
01/13/04

On March 9, 1862, just three days shy of his 44th birthday, Lieutenant
John Lorimer Worden was fighting

the battle of his life. The ship he commanded -- the iron-plated USS
Monitor -- had just arrived in the

waters outside Hampton Roads, Virginia. Its mission: to turn back
another armored vessel, the CSS

Virginia (often known by its previous name, the Merrimack), which had
sunk two Union frigates the day

before and was threatening the North's naval blockade.

Shortly after noon, following hours of heavy volleys back and forth,
the Virginia aimed its fire at the

pilothouse of the Monitor, where Worden was directing the fight. A
shell exploded, temporarily blinding

the Lieutenant. His injuries were so severe that he had to relinquish
command. But the Monitor kept

fighting, forcing the Virginia to withdraw and preserving the
blockade, the Union fleet, and ultimately,

the Union itself.

An Elegant Tribute. News of the world's first ironclad battle spread
quickly, electrifying the nation and

forever changing the history of naval warfare. It also made John
Worden a hero. President Lincoln himself

visited the injured lieutenant. Worden's home state of New York paid
tribute to its native son as well -- in a

grand way. It commissioned from Tiffany & Co. an ornate, finely
crafted 37-inch sword, inlaid with gold

and silver. Its handle was emblazoned with the Roman God of the Sea,
Neptune. And with it came a

gold-plated sheath and gold-embroidered belt. All together, the set
cost some $550, a hefty sum in those

days.

The Theft. Worden's star continued to rise. He served as
Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy and

ended his career as Rear Admiral. Fifteen years after his death in
1912, the family donated the sword and

other items to the U.S. Naval Academy museum. Then in 1931, the sword
-- already considered priceless

because of its link to the infamous ironclad battle -- vanished. The
Navy's investigation came to nought.

How was the Sword Found? In 1998, FBI art theft experts in
Philadelphia began investigating the shady

dealings of several appraisers on the hit PBS series, the Antiques
Roadshow. By 2002, three men were in

jail for engaging in more than $1 million worth of memorabilia fraud.
But FBI Agents didn't stop there.

They pored over the voluminous records of the appraisers,
file-by-file, looking for more stolen treasures or

phony deals. Late last year, they found records on the Worden sword,
which had been bought by an

appraiser and then resold to a collector. The Agents contacted the
U.S. Naval Academy, discovered the

sword was stolen, and tracked it down. On Monday, the sword was
returned to the Naval Academy in

Annapolis by the FBI.

The FBI's Advice For Collectors: Two words: due diligence. When buying
a priceless work of art, make sure

you know its history. It is a federal offense to obtain by theft or
fraud any object of cultural heritage from

a museum. For more information, see the FBI's Art Theft website.

Related Link: See more detailed pictures of the Worden sword... and
learn more details about the case on

the press release

 



Press Release Baltimore Division, FBI

January 12, 2004



Jeffrey A. Lampinksi, Special Agent in Charge of the Philadelphia
Division of the Federal Bureau of

Investigation (FBI), Jennifer Smith Love, Acting Special Agent in
Charge, Baltimore Division of the FBI

and the United States Naval Academy announced today the recovery and
return of the presentation sword

of Admiral John L. Worden, (1818-1897). This sword has been missing
from the United States Naval

Academy since 1931 and was recovered as a result of an ongoing FBI
investigation conducted by the Art

Theft Task Force in Philadelphia, PA. The belt, which was made to hold
the sword, was also returned

today.

An investigation into fraudulent dealings of three appraisers on the
“Antiques Roadshow,” resulted in the

location of the Worden presentation sword. The FBI was able to
identify the collector, who was in

possession of the presentation sword, and notified him that it
belonged to the United States Navy. As a

result, he voluntarily turned the sword over for repatriation to the
USNA. No charges have been filed

regarding the sword.

In 1998, as a result of numerous appraisals done regarding Civil War
artifacts on the “Antiques Roadshow,”

a family contacted certain appraisers they had seen on the show. The
family offered the Worden sword for

sale. It was purchased and subsequently sold to a collector, who will
not be named. The family had the

sword in their possession since the 1930’s.

The presentation sword belonged to Admiral John L. Worden, the
Commander of the United States

Warship Monitor. The Monitor was the first ironclad ship in the US
Navy. Worden commanded the

Monitor in 1862 during its historic battle with the CSS Virginia, aka
Merrimac, in Hampton Roads,

Virginia. In 1862, the New York legislature passed a resolution to
present Worden, a New York native, with

a sword to commemorate his heroics during the battle. The sword was
made by Tiffany and Company,

New York and is considered priceless. It is thought to be one of the
finest Naval presentation swords ever

made.

Worden was promoted and became the 7th Superintendent of the U.S.
Naval Academy (1868-1873). At the

time of his death in 1897, he was a rear admiral. His family donated
the sword to the Museum in 1912. The

sword and its belt were reported missing by the US Navy in 1931.

SAC Lampinski stated, “ Over the past few years the FBI has recovered
millions of dollars of artwork and

cultural property. Each of these pieces has an important place in
history. Although many of these items

belong to museums, they really belong to each one of us. They are a
part of history and our heritage. The

sword marks an important date in United States history and represents
a pivotal moment in U. S. Naval

history. We are proud to return this to the United States Navy and the
American people.”




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Back to Press Releases  



**

http://www.civilwarnews.com/archive/articles/indictments.htm

For People With An Active Interest in the Civil War Today

New Federal Indictments Against Dealers Russ Pritchard Jr. and III

The following press release from the U.S. Attorney's office was
released on May 17. The full indictment can

be seen at www.usao-edpa.com/Pr/may/pritchard.pdf

United States Attorney Michael L. Levy and Robert Conforti, Special
Agent in Charge of the Philadelphia

Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, today announced the
filing of an twenty-two-count

superseding indictment charging Russ Pritchard, III and his father
Russ Pritchard, Jr., for their

involvement in fraudulent schemes involving the acquisition of Civil
War related artifacts in Bryn Mawr,

Montgomery County, PA.

The initial indictment

In an indictment filed on March 15, 2001, the grand jury charged that
Russ Pritchard, III and George Juno

were engaged in the business of appraising, purchasing, and selling
military-related artifacts through their

business American Ordnance Preservation Association (AOPA), of 311
Millbank Road, Bryn Mawr,

Pennsylvania.

As appraisers appearing on the PBS television series "Antiques
Roadshow," the grand jury alleged that the

defendants engaged in staged or phony appraisals to enhance their
reputation as experts in the appraisal of

military artifacts and to attract from the viewing potential sellers
of military artifacts to AOPA.

The grand jury charged that through phony television appraisals, the
defendants attracted potential

customers and fraudulently obtained a Civil War sword from descendants
of a Union officer, Major

Samuel J. Wilson. It was further alleged that the defendants engaged
in a deceptive appraisal of the sword

and falsely represented that the sword was being acquired by, and
would be permanently displayed at, the

Harrisburg National Civil War Museum.

In fact, the indictment charged, the sword was obtained for the
personal profit of the defendants who then

provided phony paperwork to the descendants of the Union officer to
disguise their acts.

The grand jury further alleged that defendant Russ Pritchard, III
engaged in a fraudulent scheme to acquire

artifacts that had belonged to General George Pickett of "Pickett's
Charge" fame from the Battle of

Gettysburg.

It was alleged that Pritchard fraudulently obtained military
artifacts, correspondence, and photographs

from Pickett descendants for approximately $88,000 and, in turn,
resold those artifacts to the Harrisburg

National Civil War Museum for approximately $880,000.

It was further alleged that the defendants provided false sworn
testimony in federal civil proceedings that

stemmed from a civil suit instituted by a Pickett descendant against
Pritchard and AOPA.

Pritchard was also charged with attempting to tamper with a potential
witness in the civil case. That

witness, the grand jury charges, had participated in the phony
Roadshow appraisal with Pritchard and

Juno.

On May 15, 2001, defendant George Juno entered a guilty plea to mail
fraud, wire fraud, and false

testimony as charged in the indictment.

The Superseding Indictment

The Superseding Indictment again charges defendant Russ Pritchard, III
with the offenses initially charged

on March 21, 2001. These charges are contained in Counts One through
Seven and Nineteen through

Twenty-Two of the Superseding Indictment.

The grand jury has charged additional offenses against Russ Pritchard,
III concerning the acquisition of a

presentation firearm of General George Meade of Gettysburg fame, the
Patterson Collection of Civil War

artifacts, the uniform of Confederate Officer Lieutenant Colonel
William Hunt, and a Union Zouave unit

sergeant's uniform. These offenses involve allegations of mail fraud
and theft from two museums.

The Meade presentation firearm

The grand jury charged that Russ Pritchard, III through false
representations that the firearm would be

permanently displayed at the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg,
fraudulently obtained a Civil

War presentation firearm from a descendant in Philadelphia of Union
officer Major General George

Meade, who led the Union forces at Gettysburg.

It was further alleged that the defendant engaged in a deceptive
appraisal of the firearm. In fact, the

indictment charged, the firearm was obtained for the personal profit
of the defendant who resold the

firearm at great
profit to a private collector.

The Patterson Collection of Civil War Artifacts

The grand jury further charged that Russ Pritchard, III through false
representations that the Patterson

Collection of Civil War artifacts would be permanently displayed at
the National Civil War Museum in

Harrisburg, fraudulently obtained portions of the Patterson Collection
for resale to a private dealer.

It was further alleged that the defendant engaged in the theft of a
Confederate enlisted man's overcoat

from the Collection after advising the owner of the uniform that the
article was worthless. The grand jury

charges that the defendant sold this authentic overcoat for personal
gain.

It is also alleged that Pritchard, III stole uniform ornaments from
another Confederate uniform, a cavalry

officer's frock coat, and placed them onto another coat that he owned
to increase its value for resale.

The Confederate Lieutenant Colonel William R. Hunt uniform

The grand jury further charges that Russ Pritchard, III and his
father, Russ Pritchard, Jr. obtained and stole

the uniform to conduct an appraisal and then falsely advised the
museum that the uniform was a costume,

worthless, and had been given away to Goodwill. In reality, the grand
jury charges, the uniform was

resold by defendant Russ Pritchard, III to a private dealer.

The Union Zouave uniform

The grand jury further charges that defendant Russ Pritchard III
initially sold a Union sergeant's Zouave

uniform to the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg. At a later
date, it is charged, Pritchard bought a

second Zouave uniform. After discovering that this uniform was not
authentic and practically worthless, it

is alleged that Pritchard switched the fake uniform with the
legitimate uniform at the National Civil War

Museum. The stolen Zouave uniform was then resold by AOPA.

The indictment charges Pritchard, III in eleven counts of mail fraud,
in violation of Title 18, United States

Code, Section 1341; three counts of wire fraud, in violation of Title
18, United States Code, Section 1343;

three counts of interstate transportation of stolen property, in
violation of Title 18, United States Code,

Section 2314; two counts of theft from a museum, in violation of Title
18, United States Code, Section 668;

one count of false statement ancillary to a court proceeding, in
violation of Title 18, United States Code,

Section 1623; and one count of witness tampering, in violation of
Title 18, United States Code, Section

1512(b)(1).

The indictment charges Pritchard, Jr. in one count of theft from a
museum, in violation of Title 18, United

States Code, Section 668; and one count of accessory after the fact,
in violation of Title 18, United States

Code, Section 3.

If convicted, Pritchard, III faces 130 years imprisonment and a
$5,250,000 fine. Pritchard, Jr. faces 15 years

imprisonment and a $500,000 fine. The case was investigated by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation.


Historical Publications Inc.
234 Monarch Hill Rd.
Tunbridge VT 05077
Our email address is: mail@civilwarnews.com
Subscriptions: (800) 777-1862
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**

http://www.civilwarnews.com/archive/articles/juno.htm

For People With An Active Interest in the Civil War Today

Juno Pleads Guilty To 4 Counts Of Fraud & Lying
By Deborah Fitts

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - A nationally prominent dealer in Civil War relics
pleaded guilty May 15 to two

charges of fraud and two of perjury.

George Juno, 40, of Allentown, Pa., was indicted by a federal grand
jury March 15 in connection with two

phony appraisals that he helped to stage on the popular PBS television
program Antiques Roadshow (May

Civil War News), defrauding the family of Union Maj. Samuel J. Wilson,
and lying under oath about the

staged appraisals in court proceedings brought by George Pickett V.

Juno's decision to plead guilty and cooperate with the office of the
United States Attorney was regarded as

a sobering development for his co-defendant, Russ Pritchard III.
Pritchard, 37, of Bryn Mawr, and Juno

were principals, with Pritchard's father, in American Ordnance
Preservation Association (AOPA), a

for-profit business dealing in military artifacts.

Pritchard III was also indicted March 15 on multiple charges of fraud,
making a false statement and

witness tampering.
Sources close to the investigation indicated that further indictments
were expected May 17, the day after

the June issue of The Civil War News went to press. Full coverage will
follow in the July edition.

In making his plea, Juno admitted to the phony Roadshow segments and
to lying under oath. He blamed

"bad associations and an error in judgment." [See later indictments at

www.usao-edpa.com/Pr/may/pritchard.pdf]

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Goldman said the day after Juno's plea
that he was "pleased with the

developments of the case." He declined further comment on account of
the secrecy of grand jury

proceedings. But during Pritchard's arraignment, Goldman had advised
the judge that a "superceding

indictment," with additional charges, would be filed against
Pritchard. Pritchard's attorney could not be

contacted by presstime. Pritchard pleaded innocent and is free on
$300,000 bond.

Juno's attorney, John Waldron, said he and his client would seek
probation rather than jail time during

sentencing Aug. 16 in front of U.S. District Judge Petrese Tucker.

Goldman noted, however, that while Juno was cooperating with the
government, he still faces a possible

20 years in prison and a $1 million fine, plus restitution, for
pleading guilty to one count each of mail and

wire (telephone) fraud, and two counts of making false statements in a
court proceeding ancillary to a

civil action. The sentence will ultimately be up to the judge, he said

Waldron asserted that Juno "has accepted responsibility. He regrets
that this happened. He made a mistake

but he's done everything he can to correct it."

Waldron added that Juno, who is free on $100,000 bond, continues to
deal in military relics, although

AOPA no longer exists. "It's his life," Waldron said. "I gather he's
one of the best in his field."

The indictments stemmed from two appearances by Juno and Pritchard on
Roadshow in 1996. The pair

allegedly provided acquaintances with swords ahead of time and then
appraised the swords on the air as if

they were chosen from the crowd. The sessions were crafted "to enhance
their reputation as experts in the

appraisal of military artifacts, and to attract potential sellers…,"
the indictment charged.

The two appearances were what led to the main charges in the
indictment. The family of Major Wilson,

who participated in Sherman's March to the Sea, contacted AOPA after
watching Roadshow, seeking an

appraisal of Wilson's presentation sword.

Pritchard and Juno purchased the sword for $7,950, allegedly making
"false representations" that it would

be displayed for the public at the new National Civil War Museum in
Harrisburg, Pa
.
Instead, Juno admitted giving the sword to his father as collateral
for a personal loan, and later it was sold

to a private collector for $20,000, half in cash and half in relics.
Juno gave the Wilson family a false receipt

stating the sale price as $10,000

Waldron noted that Juno has since recovered the sword, compensating
the private collector for it, and

turned it over to the U.S. Attorney's office. The sword was present in
court during Juno's plea session May

15. Waldron said it would eventually be returned to the Wilson family.
The counts of making false

statements stem from depositions by Juno in an entirely separate case,
one brought in 1998 against AOPA

by George Pickett V, after Pritchard and Juno purchased a trunkful of
relics belonging to Pickett's

great-great grandfather, Gen. George Pickett, for $87,500 and sold
them to the City of Harrisburg days later

for $880,000.

Goldman noted that when Pickett's attorney asked Juno if the Roadshow
appearances were faked, Juno

flatly denied it under oath.

Antiques Roadshow severed its ties with Juno and Pritchard last year,
accusing the two men of

"extravagant deception."


Historical Publications Inc.
234 Monarch Hill Rd.
Tunbridge VT 05077
Our email address is: mail@civilwarnews.com
Subscriptions: (800) 777-1862
Free Sample: (800) 777-1862
Display Ads: (800) 777-1862
Editorial: (802) 889-3500
Fax: (802) 889-5627



**

http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/articles/feb02/prit0202.htm

Click here to subscribe to M.A.D.

Pritchard Pleads Guilty to Laundry List of Counts in Federal Court

by David Hewett

Russell Pritchard III of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty on
December 20, 2001, in U.S. District

Court of Eastern Pennsylvania to 21 counts: 11 counts of mail fraud,
three counts of wire fraud, three

counts of interstate transportation of stolen property, two counts of
thefts from museum, one count of

false statement ancillary to a court proceeding, and one count of
tampering with a witness.

It was a mighty fall from grace for the 38-year-old military and Civil
War expert, who with his partner,

George Juno, ran the American Ordnance Preservation Association (AOPA)
and appeared in many episodes

of the PBS television program Antiques Roadshow taped between 1996 and
1999. Their Roadshow

exposure, however, may have led to their ultimate undoing.

On July 12, 1996, Pritchard and Juno traveled to Seattle, where they
provided a sword to a friend to bring

to the Roadshow taping the next day. The resultant "discovery" of the
valuable sword, once used to "cut

watermelons," and its appraisal made for great theater, so much so
that Pritchard and Juno staged another

"discovery" in Denver a week later, this time of a Revolutionary War
sword, the government alleged. The

government charged that the AOPA experts staged the phony appraisals
"to attract customers."

When the shows aired a year later, insiders within the militaria
collecting fraternity recognized the swords

and spread word of the phony appraisals, which led to the eventual
ousting of Pritchard and Juno by the

producer of the series, Boston PBS station WGBH, on March 30, 2000.
Their appearances were subsequently

expurgated from archival videotapes.

Pritchard and Juno were in trouble before the discovery of the staged
appraisals, according to the

memorandum presented to the court by U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan.

In 1995 Pritchard conned a North Carolina man out of artifacts that
had belonged to Major General

George E. Pickett. The city of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, wanted the
artifacts for its museum. Pritchard

falsely appraised the North Carolina descendant's objects as worth
$87,000, paid that price, and then resold

them to the city of Harrisburg for $870,000.

There were other purchases made after falsified low appraisals, the
government charged, such as the

firearm belonging to Major General George G. Meade for which Pritchard
paid $184,115. Pritchard said he

was buying it for a museum, but instead he sold it to an Illinois
collector for $385,000.

Pritchard was especially avaricious in acquiring Civil War uniforms.
He told owners who left them with

him that they had no value and had been discarded or given away to
charities, such as Goodwill

Industries, when in fact they had been sold to collectors. Pritchard
even replaced an authentic sergeant's

Union Zouave uniform in the very Harrisburg museum that had paid him
$870,000 for the Pickett artifacts

with one that had little value, then resold the authentic one.

Partner George Juno pleaded guilty on May 15, 2001, to mail fraud,
wire fraud, and giving false testimony.

He cooperated with federal authorities and provided evidence used
against Pritchard.

Russell Pritchard III, in turn, will provide evidence to be used
against his father, Russell Pritchard Jr., 62,

who was indicted on May 17, 2001, and charged with the theft of a
Confederate officer's uniform from the

Hunt-Phelan Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, and being an accessory after
the fact.

Russell Pritchard III faces up to 135 years in prison and $5.25
million in fines at his sentencing in April,

but those numbers are expected to be reduced substantially.


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