A common rumor that surfaces from time to time is that the guns surrendered by Lee's Army April 1865 are still in storage somewhere in the Northeast. I would certainly like to have GG Grandpapa's musket. Or at least one I thought was his.

If these weapons are still in storage I cain't see what use they would be to the US government now.

One of the great mysteries of familes Genealogy is a French quadifoil socket bayonet that has been passed down from father to his youngest son (my grandfather) who claimed it was his father's that he used during the war. The problem is that I am sure he would have had to surrender any such bayonet at Appomattox. But why and how did he keep or obtain this 1860's relic, and French at that?

I know what the bayonet is supposed to fit an 1869 French rifle. But I am wondering if this bayonet may now have been used prior to 1869 on a different weapon which is not uncommon in military arsenals. No member of this family has served in the military since the War for Southern Independence. So it wasn't picked up in France during WW II.