Colonel Falkner's fingers

In the photo above, it appears that Col. W. C. Falkner's statue is missing some fingers. Local rumor has it that some time after the statue was erected, a relative of Richard J. Thurmond's (Col. Falkner's killer) had too much to drink and shot off the fingers of Falkner's extended right hand.

In real life, Col. Falkner was missing the first joints of three of his fingers on his left hand, the fingers shown tucked into his pocket above. Falkner was injured during his service in the Mexican War although his injuries came not from battle but from a mysterious incident in which he defied orders and rode off on a "private" errand. A search party later found Falkner lying a couple of miles away with his left foot shattered and part of the fingers on his left hand blown away. Later, there were claims that Falkner had been ambushed while he was on an errand of private pleasure.