Stolen Teddy Roosevelt Pistol Recovered 16 Years Later
EmailA 16-year-old mystery of the theft of a famous gun belonging to Teddy Roosevelt came to an end last week with the recovery of the gun and a guilty plea by the thief. "This gun is unpriceable," Tweed Roosevelt, the great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt, told ABC News. "He carried it at one of the most important moments in his career when he charged up Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill." Anthony Joseph Tulino, 55, pled guilty last week to stealing the gun, a violation of the American Antiquities Act of 1906, which, ironically, Roosevelt signed into law. THE BLOTTER RECOMMENDS The Top 10 Art Heists in the World Million-Dollar Goya Painting Recovered Click Here to Check Out the Latest Brian Ross Investigates Webcast on the CIA’s Secret Prisons According to the FBI, the revolver, which was stolen in April 1990 from the Sagamore Hill National Historical Site in Oyster Bay, N.Y., is "a .38 Model 1892 Colt double-action, six-shot revolver that was originally acquired by the United States government for the U.S. Navy in 1895." It fell into Roosevelt’s hands when it was recovered from a sunken ship three years later. "Recently Congress and the President decided to award Teddy Roosevelt the Medal of Honor … for that charge and that made this even more significant," Tweed Roosevelt said. "So it has Spanish significance, presidential significance, Medal of Honor significance, but most of all, it’s just a priceless national heritage." The revolver is now back on display at the Sagamore Hill National Historical Site.
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You discribe the revolver as being a doule action .38 cal but in the picture is a single action gun. Which is it to be?
Posted by: Bill Hamersley | December 4, 2006, 12:22 pm 12:22 pm
It sure is a single action. Was the same criteria applied to his award of the Medal of Honor? The gun represents death not honor. As a patriot as well as a veteran I resent this hype because of his name. If you wish for honor, go enlist and earn some for yourself.
Posted by: Patriot | December 4, 2006, 1:04 pm 1:04 pm
Yes, it is a double-action revolver. The trigger return spring is broken or missing. TR deserved the Medal of Honor for his actions in Cuba. Unfortunately, his political opponents prevented this during his lifetime.
Posted by: Randy Reed | December 4, 2006, 3:34 pm 3:34 pm
Awarding Medals of Honor so long after the fact is a re-writing of history. T.R. was a great man, but he was no Audie Murphy.
Posted by: Rob Platt | December 4, 2006, 4:13 pm 4:13 pm
The lack of a loading gate shows that it is in fact a double action revolver. It is a piece of Priceless American Hertigage and should be preserved. Every piece of Americana needs to be doubly protected in this time when there are so many so-called Americans who are trying to deny our heritage and all of the principals that the United States of America was founded on.
Posted by: Russ Briggs | December 5, 2006, 5:15 pm 5:15 pm
I you wish to protest the awarding of the Medal of Honor, protest the 20 that were awarded to members of the 7th Cavalry for the massacre of innocent women and children at Wounded Knee.
Posted by: S.Bell | December 8, 2006, 3:05 pm 3:05 pm
This .38 Colt was on board the U.S.S MAINE when this American battleship was blown up in Cuban waters. Deep sea divers recovered this Colt and gave it to Teddy Roosevelt who used it to kill a Spanish soldier while charging up San Juan Hill, riding a horse alone 400 feet in front of his troops while being shot at by 200 Spaniards. Medal deserved.
Posted by: sparky | December 10, 2006, 3:46 am 3:46 am
T.R. was initially denied the Medal of Honor because he joined with other officers in signing a document requesting that the forces be returned to the U.S. (More men died from malaria and tropical illness than from combat.) The war department refused to grant the request and black-balled those who signed it. A century later the Army finally reviewed the actions TR took in Cuba and approved the award, which was requested by the Congress and presented by the President. Yes, it is a Double Action New Navy Colt M1892 based on the Model of 1889 and modified for the Navy. It is chambered for the now obsolete .38 Long Colt cartridge (not to be confused with the .38 S&W or the .38 S&W Special). Follow-on modifications were the New Navy M1895, New Army M1901, and New Army M1903. Ref. Pittman Notes.
Posted by: Rusty Springfield | March 24, 2007, 10:51 pm 10:51 pm
On Feb. 15, 1898, the battleship exploded in Havana Harbor, killing 270 sailors and Marines. A salvage crew led by Roosevelt’s brother-in-law, William Cowles, recovered from the wreckage a double-action revolver that Cowles later gave Roosevelt.
Six months later, as Roosevelt and his Rough Riders stormed San Juan Hill in Cuba, he carried the revolver as a memorial to the men whose lives were lost on the Maine.
Though it can’t be viewed directly, it is likely in the holster TR is wearing while being photographed with his unit at the top of Kettle Hill on the San Juan Heights after the battle.
Posted by: Rusty Springfield | March 25, 2007, 4:56 pm 4:56 pm
In response to Patriot, I just read an article that states, around 1963, this revolver was stolen from the Sagarmore Hill site; the thief panicked and dumped the gun into some bushes, where it was discovered the following Spring by landscapers. The revolver was in bad shape, left out in the open during the winter. Site staff cleaned the gun, then removed the Hammer Spring and added a lead plug to the barrel. That’s why the trigger is back in this photo.
Saw this revolver when I visited Sagamore Hill in 1982. Glad it’s back where it belongs!
Posted by: F.Fernandez | August 1, 2011, 9:42 am 9:42 am