Anonymous donor sends severed arm to museum

An anonymous donor sent an unforgettable gift to the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, one that involved five fingers instead of six or seven figures. The Maryland museum received a severed human arm, believed to be from 1862's Antietam, the bloodiest one-day battle in American history. A farmer plowing his field reportedly unearthed the grisly souvenir two weeks after the Union territory clash. Although it had previously been displayed in a private collection, the arm's new curators hope to determine not only its authenticity, but details about its original owner. "This was what they gave for what they believed," museum director George Wunderlich said. "It's a very poignant story."