Firearms from Revolutionary War era returned to PA museum

Jalen Rhodes
·2 min read

EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) — The Federal Bureau of Investigation has announced they have recovered stolen U.S. firearms from the Revolutionary War era.

According to the FBI, the firearms recovered were part of a string of thefts from the 1960s and the 1970s around Valley Forge Park. A repatriation ceremony was held at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, the FBI continued.

The FBI states that the firearms were a part of items that were looted during robberies which have little evidence to uncover the past.

“We brought our multijurisdictional apparatus where we could cover leads in other parts of the country in a fast and orderly fashion. As well, we brought forth our evidence-response capabilities and that art crime-specific knowledge of how these cases should be investigated, and how the objects should be cared for,” said Jake Archer a member of the FBI’s Art Crime Team who worked this case for the FBI in Philadelphia.

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Officials state this investigation started in 2009, three men by the names of Michael Corbett, Scott Corbett, and Thomas Gavin admitted to taking the items, however, the whereabouts of ten items still remain unknown.

  • English Ferguson breech loading rifled carbine (Courtesy of the FBI)
    English Ferguson breech loading rifled carbine (Courtesy of the FBI)
  • French dragoon pistol, M 1763 Libreville (Courtesy of the FBI)
    French dragoon pistol, M 1763 Libreville (Courtesy of the FBI)
  • David Gager powderhorn (Courtesy of the FBI)
    David Gager powderhorn (Courtesy of the FBI)
  • New England musket (Courtesy of the FBI)
    New England musket (Courtesy of the FBI)

This missing items:

  • New England musket

  • David Gager powderhorn

  • French dragoon pistol, M 1763 Libreville

  • English Ferguson breech-loading rifled carbine

  • American “Kentucky” musket

  • Smaller Schimmel eagle

  • John James Audubon’s shotgun

  • Larger Schimmel eagle

  • Carved powder-horn dated 1776 with deer and Native American scene

  • 1690 English oak Bible box

As stated by the FBI in 2009 someone came into the police station and said they spotted a stolen gun at an area antique show.

Through further investigation, officials were able to discover the firearms were from break-ins at the historical park on three separate incidents for about a decade.

Investigators say they discovered the case files for minor crimes during that era were discarded and no departmental records about burglaries at the historical site existed.

For more information on the discovery of the stolen items visit the FBI’s website.

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