Every account that I have read about Cleburne dying at Franklin states when they found his body it had been stripped of all valuables, including his boots. If they stripped the body they surely took his gun and that was not an item sent to Dr Nash (see below). Some reports also say his horse was killed which is in opposition to Dr Nash’s book unless it was not Old Pepper or Dr Nash did not know.
Dr Charles E Nash was a very close personal friend of Cleburne and he published a little book about him in 1898. Cleburne lived with the Nash family for quite a while. This is a couple of excerpts from the book. The part from pages 114-117 leave me wondering if someone thinks they have his sword.
Biographical Sketches of Gen Pat Cleburne and Gen T C Hindman, Charles Edward Nash, M D, Little Rock Ark., First published 1898, republished 1977 by Morningside Press
Page 113 from the 1977 edition.
His staff sent me, agreeable to his instructions if he should be killed, all of his personal effects, he having told them I would know what to do with them. They consisted of his uniform in which he was killed, his fine wearing apparel, and the scabbard of the sword presented to him by the state of Arkansas (the sword was never sent, or if it was I never received it), “Old Pepper”, his war horse, and another he used as a fatigue horse. All these articles were received except the two horses, which were captured by the Federals before reaching Selma. A letter was enclosed in the box from the two members of his staff, Mangum and Hanly. I sent Miss Sue (Tarlton, Pat’s fiancé) the box, retaining nothing but the uniform. I wrote her that I would forward “Old Pepper” as soon as he arrived in Selma, but that I would keep the other horse.
Excerpts from pages 114 – 117
A little incident might be brought in here, if for nothing more than amusement. On his visit to Selma, Cleburne jestingly said to my little daughter Mary, “I will catch a live Yankee and put him in a cage and send him to you.” One of my servants, Parker, who had been importuning me to let him go to the front, as he called it, ran away and went to the front, and told Cleburne I had sent him to be his hostler. Parker remained for several weeks, but by this time the novelty of camp life began to wear away, so he applied to Cleburne for a pass to return home. This Cleburne gave him, with a letter thanking me for my kindness. In the letter he added a postscript to the little girl saying he did not catch the Yankee, but got his sword, which he sent by Parker. This old sword my daughter, Mary E Lindsey, has kept as a memorial of her friend.