TIME CAPSULES LARRY HALL

The case of the stray sword Three years after the death of Williams Carter Wickham, thousands came to Monroe Park for the unveiling of a statue dedicated to his memory.

The Richmond Times estimated that 5,000 turned out for the Oct. 29, 1891, ceremony, at which speakers recalled the Richmond native's service in the Confederate army and his achievements as a lawyer, politician and railroad president.

The Wickham Monument Association had commissioned noted Richmond sculptor Edward Valentine for the work and gave the completed statue to the city for placement in the park.

When the drape was removed to reveal Wickham's likeness, cheers went up. The next day's Times described the 7-foot figure as "the best quality" bronze.

"It represents Gen. Wickham in the full uniform of a Confederate brigadier general of the cavalry, booted and spurred," The Times said. "The sword is caught full up to the belt by the top ring, with hilt in a position to be grasped on a moment's notice."

Today, the Wickham statue stands at the western edge of the park much as it appeared originally, except now the figure of Wickham has no sword at its left side, as it did for more than six decades. The sword did not go quietly, however.

On the afternoon of Sunday, Aug. 5, 1956, a severe thunderstorm with high winds tore through Richmond, leaving much damage in Monroe Park. The next day, The Richmond News Leader reported that during the night a city resident had found a sword in the middle of Belvidere Street and gave it to police.

"City officials were searching today for a heroic Confederate general who has lost his sword," The News Leader said. "Sculpted from either copper or brass and oxidized to a pale green, the sword obviously came from a statue."

Police believed vandals may have stolen the sword from one of the city's monuments, or it had blown loose in the previous day's storm. Jesse Reynolds, director of the Department of Recreation and Parks, said a check of all city monuments was under way.

The next morning's Richmond Times-Dispatch reported the mystery solved. The sword belonged to the Wickham statue and was to be reattached immediately.

On Aug. 9, The News Leader reported an added wrinkle. City employees had been unable to find the sword's original bolts. "'We want to get some bronze or brass bolts that will blend in with the statue and also resist corrosion,' C.F. Wilkerson Jr., chief of parks, said." He added that the sword should be in place by the next week.

But The Times-Dispatch archives contain no further reports on the sword. Other sources reveal its continued absence.

"At present, the sword is missing," says a 1986 survey of outdoor sculpture completed for the Richmond Department of Planning and Community Development.

Similarly, a 1995 survey done for a Smithsonian Institution inventory of American sculpture comments on the absent weapon. "A sword once was attached to his [Wickham's] proper left side, but the sword is now missing," it says. "The figure's sword was removed by vandals in August 1956," it adds, citing contemporary newspaper accounts.

A recent call to the city's Recreation and Parks Department did not turn up the sword. A spokesman said it may have been donated as an artifact to a local museum.

A spot check of museums that emphasize Richmond history did not uncover the sword. Robert Hancock, senior curator at the Museum of the Confederacy, said it has no record of the sword's presence.

Likewise, Heather Beattie, collections manager for the Virginia Historical Society, said, "I did not find anything listed in our database, nor does it ring a bell."

A similar response came from the Valentine Richmond History Center. "Our collection database lists a variety of swords," archives director Meghan Hughes said via e-mail, "none with any indication that one was associated with the Wickham statue."

Meanwhile, Wickham remains defenseless, awaiting the return of his trusty saber.