The Lost Confederate Treasure—Part I
(This originally appeared in Spring 2005 issue of Splash magazine.)
The facts seem simple enough: On April 2, 1865 the Union Army faced tattered and battle-weary Confederate soldiers defending Richmond, Virginia under the overall command of General Robert E. Lee. Realizing that his lines could not hold and that the fall of the Confederate capital was imminent, General Lee sent an urgent message to President Jefferson Davis that the government must evacuate or face certain capture. Late that night a special train carrying the President and Members of the Confederate Cabinet departed Richmond for Danville, Virginia. Although the news was bleak, it was the hope of all on board that the struggle could be continued.
Shortly after midnight a second train departed the Richmond station following the fleeing government south. On board were all the hard currency reserves of the Confederate States of America guarded by a group of young midshipmen from the Confederate Navy who had scuttled their vessel in the James River. Amongst the official records of the Confederacy were many—some say hundreds—of crates and barrels containing gold and silver coins, bullion, and a substantial amount of fine jewelry donated to the Cause by women across the South. In addition there was more than $450,000 in gold from Richmond bank reserves, taken to keep it from falling into the hands of the invading Yankees.
By the end of the day on April 3, 1865 Richmond lay in ashes as occupying Federal troops had fanned out across the city looking for stragglers. Over the ensuing weeks, Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Lincoln was assassinated, and the dwindling band of Confederate fugitives continued to work their way south, hoping to escape west beyond the Mississippi, or perhaps overseas to Cuba or Britain. When Jefferson Davis and his ragged group were finally captured by members of the Fourth Michigan Calvary near Irwinville in south Georgia on May 10th they had only a few dollars in their possession. The fabled riches of the vast “Confederate Treasure” were not to be found.
Lincoln’s assassination was widely but erroneously assumed to be the terrible result of a covert Confederate plot. The Northern press, rightfully outraged as such a horrific event, had screamed for retribution against Davis and other government officials. Fuel by vitriol in the press, rumors of the amount of gold and silver carried away by the fugitives grew to millions and millions of dollars. The knowledge of the fact that the treasure did leave Richmond with Jefferson Davis and was not with him when he was captured led to wild speculation as to its fate.
Over the years stories of “The Lost Confederate Treasure” have become ingrained in American culture and folklore. From movies to books to the internet, stories and guesses abound as to “what really happened.” The Clint Eastwood classic, “The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly” revolves around a search for missing Confederate gold. Dozens of cities and counties across the South and even further afield each have their own unique story as to where the treasure is “really” buried accompanied by—of course—logical reasons as to why it hasn’t yet been found.
Rumors and speculation aside, the truth is that the exact amount of the gold and silver carried south by the fleeing government is not known. The destruction and disorder that accompanied the fall of the Confederacy led to the loss of most of the records that could have been used to establish a more exact figure. The best estimates hold that the hard currency actually held in the Treasury at the end of the war was only about $327,000, a paltry sum for a government even in 1865. As many officials testified after the war when accused of somehow having knowledge of the treasure’s disappearance, the Confederacy was nearly broke. The reverses of the last two years of the war combined with the effective Federal blockage of southern ports had nearly drained the treasury dry. Assuming that this sum is in the range of accuracy, this amount together with the Richmond bank gold, plus jewelry and other valuables would suggest that the actual worth of the “treasure” was in the range of one million dollars.
So, what happened to it? Did the leaders of the Confederacy steal it as some have alleged? Was it buried in some secret location to be dug up by future generations? Or did the treasure suffer a more mundane fate? Why do rumors of “lost Confederate gold” persist even today, spurring on generation after generation of treasure hunters? Parts II and III of this article in the next issues of Splash! will attempt to answer those questions and others.
Continue to Part II