Crittenden watch survived Civil War,
Battle of Little Bighorn, now on display

Union Gen. Thomas L. Crittenden purchased a gold pocket watch in England in April 1850.

Although likely, it cannot be proven that he carried the watch with him throughout his illustrious Civil War career. But, it is known he gave the watch to his young son, John Jordan Crittenden. And, that’s where the story of the watch gets interesting.

Young John J. Crittenden was an officer in the U.S. Army and a member of Kentucky’s distinguished Crittenden family. The male Crittendens were prominent in political and military circles throughout the 19th century. And, John was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in the 7th Cavalry, the unit led into battle against the Sioux and Cheyenne by Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer at Little Bighorn.

John Jordan was killed at the Battle of Little Bighorn in June 1876 while on temporary assignment with the 7th Cavalry. His body was identified by a prosthetic glass eye from an earlier injury when a shotgun accidentally discharged in his face. At the specific request of his family, Crittenden was initially buried with his men on what became known as “Calhoun Hill.” His body was exhumed in 1931 and reinterred in the Custer National Cemetery immediately adjacent to the battlefield.

The gold watch was taken from his body by a Sioux Indian and changed hands at least once before ending up in the possession of Edward Francis Gigot in Manitoba, Canada. Gigot traced the serial number to the watch’s original purchaser, Thomas L. Crittenden, and returned the watch to the still grieving family in 1880. Gigot corresponded with Gen. William T. Sherman and the Crittenden family during the process.

The watch’s movement is signed Robert Roskell, Liverpool, and is a key wind, key set movement. Several pieces of the interior works, including the balance wheel, are missing. All of the hands also are missing, as is the crystal, and the movement is loose in the case. The enameled face is cracked and chipped. The hunter style case fares better with only the bow missing.

In 1949, the Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) received the watch on loan for display. No one picked it up after the loan period, so it remained on loan until recently when the KHS historical resources staff decided to try to gain title to it through the state abandoned property statute.

Museums can do nothing with a loaned item that isn’t stated in the loan agreement. In accordance with Kentucky’s statute, KHS made several attempts to contact the people named on the loan agreement for the Crittenden watch, but armed only with their names and no known addresses, the process was difficult. No match was found and the watch remains on display at KHS in Frankfort.