My ancestor who served in the 8th Alabama was Isham King, captured at Gettysburg PA on July 2, 1863. He was a conscript living in Coffee County AL and moved to Lincoln County TN immediately after the war.

General Cleburne's mother died when he was 18 months old and never left Ireland. Isabella Cleburne, Patrick Cleburne's stepmother, came to the United States about 1856 with three other stepchildren. Mrs. Cleburne (born Scotland ca 1810) will be found on the census of Campbell County KY in 1860, 1870 and 1880. See Muriel Phillips Joslyn, A Meteor Shining Brightly: Essays on Maj.Gen. Patrick R. Cleburne, p. 47.

According to the Arkansas Historical Assn., a sister (half-sister) lived in Omaha. At the time of writing, she was the only living relative not residing in Maysville KY.
http://books.google.com/books?id=ysoUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA239&lpg=PA239&dq=isabelle+cleburne+newport+kentucky&source=bl&ots=UhuPrPd1E9&sig=rE9XvJO5uvl3AGqlZ-SaXDbkvEc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=I-OrT-nRB-Te2AXO_7ymAg&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=isabelle%20cleburne%20newport%20kentucky&f=false

While we cannot deny what you have personally seen and what you read in a book, cheap or otherwise, we can't be certain who the owner(s) of the saddle might be. If someone wanted to purchase the saddle for what it would be worth, a certificate of authenticity or some other relaible evidence would reason to reduce my net worth for it. Failing that, I would want to know exactly which Cleburne relative lived in Texas and anything else that could verify residence in that state and/or their possessions of items once owned by PRC.

In any case, this is a great story and well-worth exploring.

To touch on a related topic, ability to reason and think critically is a great attribute of any good citizen. Without it, we simply believe what we want to believe, little pursuasion of any kind being necessary. Without it, we buy things we don't really need or even want, and elect people who shouldn't enjoy public trust. We don't want to be negative, but it's best to be skeptical of anything.

Returning to Col Herbert, without evidence to the contrary, I do not contend that he knew my ancestor or yours. I will contend that Col Herbert simply reproduced Col Wm H Fowler's record of the regiment from 12/31/1864 word for word. If you can demonstrate that Hebert's publication differed materially from the Fowler rolls and that Col Herbert added personal recollections to any soldier's record, I will stand corrected and publicly acknowledge that I am wrong about this. Col Oates added many personal notes in his records of the 15th Alabama; I do not recall anything like that in Col Herbert's published record of the 8th Alabama Regiment.