CIVIL WAR ARTIFACTS ABOUND IN ALTENBURG

Relics of the Civil War conjure visions of the great struggle over states' rights in Gary and Sarabeth Repp's antiques shop. The photo at center is of Confederate Lt. Gen. James Longstreet.

Sarabeth Repp arranges pamphlets and brochures in her antiques shop. Although the shop specializes in Civil War artifacts, other items of historical significance can be found.

Whether one calls it the Civil War, the War Between the States or the War for Southern Independence, those bloody, tumultuous years between 1861 and 1865 when Johnny Rebs clashed with blue-coated Yankees have fascinated Americans for over a century.

Sarabeth and Gary Repp of Altenburg are among those smitten by the glory and tragedy of the Blue and the Gray. In a wooden building that dates to the late 1800s, they collect and sell Civil War-era antiques.

In their shop, The Soldier and His Lady Antiques, one can almost hear the brass bugle, mounted under a cap-and-ball musket, blare a blood-curdling command to charge a picket line.

A well-worn book, "The Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant," sits on a shelf near a faded photo of Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate officer Grant admired for his innovative and resourceful tactics.

A set of surgical tools to include a bone saw -- probably used in an unsterile field hospital -- is within stitching distance of medical books thought modern during that period.

A Civil War canteen, buttons off of uniforms, blue and gray caps, lead bullets and a book of marching songs used by the Grand Army of the North crowd the antiques shop like the whispering ghosts of fallen cavalry.

The Repps started their Altenburg business almost three years ago, although for many years they have shown their wares in antiques shows from Nashville to Chicago to Cape Girardeau.

"We do all the major Civil War shows," said Sarabeth Repp, sipping a glass of iced tea while a scented candle burns nearby. "We go to the big shows in Knoxville and Kansas City. There's up to 500 dealers at these shows."

They accumulated so much merchandise over the years that the attic in their home became as crowded as a, well, battlefield.

"We've got about enough room here," said Repp, of the building that housed a harness shop from the late 1880s to maybe 1940 or '50. "It's one of the oldest buildings in town, and after it closed it stayed closed until we bought it."

The hardwood floor is thought to be original, and a section of the floor near where a counter was has been visibly worn down.

"They say an old German man owned the harness shop and he was very energetic," said Repp. "He never stood still and kind of paced back and forth and wore the floor down. It has a lot of history to it."

History was a favorite subject of Gary Repp when he attended Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, says his wife. And years spent in the Army and the Reserves gave Repp a military background that ties in with his intense interest in the Civil War.

Sarabeth Repp, when she taught fourth grade in the area, would take Civil War artifacts to different schools and explain their use and significance to students. She still teaches in the area.

The Repps obtain most of their Civil War relics from areas in the South. Forays into Dixie garner them musket balls, Confederate paper money, black powder pistols, tooth brushes used by soldiers in the field and war documents.

Three weeks ago they journeyed into nearby states for a week-long "treasure hunt." They went to two major auctions and stopped at dozens of antiques shop.

"We were buying," said Sarabeth Repp, smiling. "We have a conversion van we haul it all in.

"We spent three nights in a bed-and-breakfast and had three candle-light breakfasts and a candle-light supper.

"And we traded a couple of antiques for it all -- an old powder horn and a couple of postcards from the Civil War."

At an auction outside of Hermann, Mo., the Repps bought a case of Civil War-era corsets that were found in a mice-chewed box in the attic of a general store.

Repp says they were like the corsets shown in "Gone With the Wind" -- "They were the kind used to lace ladies up to see how small you could squeeze them," she said, laughing at the vision. "They were in good shape and had the old (whale) bone ribs to hold you firm."

Repp says the corsets may appear on the silver screen someday -- she sold them to a movie maker in California after responding to an ad soliciting old clothes.

At The Soldier and His Lady Antiques are military-issued forks -- they have three prongs and sell for $5 each. In the 1880s, explained Repp, forks gained a fourth prong.

Of the myriad books there, one is titled, "Grant as a Soldier and Statesman," another is "The Life, Speeches and Public Service of Abraham Lincoln," yet another is "Field, Dungeon and Escape."

A Yankee song book has words and music to such ditties as "Marching Through Georgia," "On, On, the Boys Came Marching" and "We'll Fight It In, We'll Fight It Out, the Old Union Line."

A doctor's bag clashes with a ladle used to dip lead for bullet molds. An original painting of a black Union soldier holding a pistol hangs on a wall not far from a Confederate cap worn by an enlisted man in an artillery unit. The painting sells for $200.

The Union siege of Vicksburg in 1863 is depicted on a page from "Harper's," a publication at that time.

And somewhere in the shop, says Repp, is a first edition of "Gone With the Wind."

More easily spotted is a bayonet, an assortment of Confederate money (each state printed its own), postcards -- some sent, some not -- and assorted photos of such legends as Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, John Mosby and William Sherman.

"Things come and go pretty quickly around here," said Repp, holding a couple of lead bullets found at various battle sites. "I don't think I've ever been open when I didn't sell something."

And visitors come from near and far, she says. Several weeks ago, for example, a couple from Louisiana, traveling I-55, found the Altenburg antiques shop after spying one of the Repp's business cards somewhere.

The Civil War, the War Between the States, the War for Southern Independence -- regardless of the name, those glorious and terrible years live on in the mementos left behind.