Confederate Gold and Silver

by Peter F. Warren

  “Well, alright then.”

  Swamp slowly began to move his boat back down the river and away from where Paul’s boat was still tied up. As he did, Paul chuckled at the thought he just had regarding Swamp’s likely disregard for hunting and fishing laws as on the right rear of Swamp’s boat he now saw a South Carolina DNR sticker displayed. The ‘Stop Game and Fish Violators—Call Operation Game Thief’ sticker was a nice touch he thought, but by the looks of him Paul’s impression was he likely fit the mold of being one of the area’s bigger violators rather than that of an enforcer of the South Carolina hunting and fishing laws. As he watched Swamp move away down river, Paul’s law enforcement training kicked in again. “Call it profiling or call it whatever, but that guy is bad news.” He now knew Betty had been right when she referred to Swamp ‘as a pain in the ass.’ He had been all of that for sure.

  After waiting a few minutes to make sure Swamp had left the area, Paul untied the boat and headed back to the marina. As he did, he started to put a game plan together for the following day when he planned on returning back to where he had found the soldier. “First thing is to head home so I can look over the items I have in the cooler; then I need to head over to Wal-Mart and get a good flashlight, or maybe even a portable spotlight, so I can have something to look up into the tree with tomorrow.” He still had the feeling the tree might be hiding other items inside of it and wanted to make sure he left nothing behind. Paul then wondered if he had missed any other items which might have been hidden under the layers of leaves that had accumulated in the tree and on the ground. As he steered the boat towards the boat launch, he had another thought about what he needed to bring with him the following morning. “Perhaps I also need to bring a metal detector with me.”

  ******

  On a blanket that covered the top of a small folding table in his garage, Paul had laid out the items he had found. Deep in thought as he sat by the table examining the gold coins, he was startled by the noise that came from his Stanley garage door opener. The garage door opening signaled Donna’s arrival home. Looking up at the battery operated clock on his garage wall, he realized he had simply lost track of time as he looked over the femur bone and the other items. “This is the second time today I have been spooked. I hate when that happens.” As Donna got out of her car, he quickly covered the items on the table with two beach towels which had been drying on a rack in the garage.

  Between the many unpacked moving boxes that remained in the garage, as well as the folding table which was now set up there, Donna had been forced to park her car outside. Waving to him as she exited her car, she soon entered the garage carrying her belongings. Donna had barely gotten into the garage when Paul already had the garage door going down. Now he walked over to the refrigerator running near the folding table and grabbed two cold cans of Coors Light.

  Donna was surprised Paul had been in the garage when the door had opened and was even more surprised when he closed the door so quickly. “Why did you close the garage door so quickly? Are you afraid of the neighbors seeing us having a beer together?”

  “No, not really, just thought we could use a little privacy right now.”

  Putting her pocketbook and the rest of her belongings down on a couple of cardboard boxes, she asked Paul about his first ride on the boat. “So tell me, how was the first day out on the boat? Did it go OK? Did you have any surprises?”

  Paul gave her a somewhat sarcastic reply after he had taken his first swig of beer. “Surprises? Yeah, I guess that’s what I had today. Surprise is definitely a good word for what happened to me today.”

  “So what happened? Tell me.” Then Donna saw the towels covering up the objects Paul had found earlier in the day. “Hey, what’s on the table under the beach towels?”

  Telling Donna he had a surprise for her, Paul made her close her eyes and told her to hold her hands out in front of her. As she did, he turned over one of the beach towels and picked up the gold coins he had found. After placing a coin in each of her hands, he told her to open her eyes. Paul held the third coin in the palm of his opened left hand.

  “Are these real? Where did they come from?” Donna looked at each of the coins quickly and then took the third coin from his hand, examining that one just as quickly. She bombarded him with questions as she looked over the coins, but each time he attempted to answer one of them she would ask him another one. Growing frustrated by the number of questions being asked of him, and by not being able to get a word in to answer any of them, Paul grabbed two plastic lawn chairs and placed them next to the folding table.

  After taking another long swig on his beer, Paul placed the can down on the garage floor. He then told Donna to just sit and listen to what he had to say. “Honey, the coins are only part of what I found today. To be honest, I still do not know what I have found, but it’s already becoming a great story.” He spent the next several minutes piecing together what had occurred earlier in the day. As he told her what he had found, Donna sat quiet, just listening as the events of the day were told to her. Stunned by what she was hearing, she sat in the chair with her mouth wide open at times, just digesting what Paul was telling her. When he finished telling her the story, Donna placed the coins down on the table and took the biggest gulp of beer she had ever taken.

  Reaching over to the table, Paul pulled the two towels off the other items they had covered. While Donna was taken back by the sight of the minie ball that was lodged in the bone, she found the other items fabulous to hold and touch. “Donna, think about this while you are looking at these items. Besides me, you are the only person who has seen and touched these items in almost one hundred and fifty years. Kind of freaky, huh?”

  “Kind of? It most definitely is that.”

  Paul then told her of his plans to go back to the site the following day so he could inspect the area for any other items he may have missed. When he finished, he swore her to secrecy about his plans and jokingly threatened to place her within the same tree if she gave up his secret. Laughing at his threat, Donna promised not to tell anyone about what he had found. “I cannot wait to see what you might find tomorrow and to see how this all plays out. This is fascinating stuff!”

  She then asked him the obvious question surrounding the discovery of the two bottles. “Something is definitely inside these bottles. What do you think it is?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t really had time to think about it. Good question though, but that’s going to have to wait for now.” Paul was beyond tired from the events of the day. While he was tempted to try and open the bottles, he knew they would have to wait until he was ready to open them properly. Securing all of the items he had found during the day, Paul placed them inside one of the moving boxes that had already been unpacked. The saber was placed inside a large coat box that had yet to be unpacked. The only items he did not pack into the boxes were the gold coins. Sealing the box up, a box which had been marked as ‘Kitchen items’, he mixed it within the other boxes they still had to unpack. “No one’s going to find these items in this mess.”

  Later in the evening Paul and Donna took a ride to the Wal-Mart in nearby Surfside Beach. It was one of several in the area, but it was the closest one to their home. Paul had to pick up a few items he needed for his return trip back to mystery tree the following day. After they had gotten what he needed, they stopped and picked up the pizza they had ordered from a Pizza Hut restaurant on Highway 17. As they drove home, with the three gold coins still in his pants pocket, they could not stop laughing when they thought about the pizza and beer they would be having for their dinner. With the three gold coins they figured they should have been able to afford a couple of steaks for dinner, but neither of them had the energy to cook. Pizza and beer would work out just great for them. As they pulled into their driveway, Paul jokingly asked Donna what the change would have amounted to if he had paid for their pizza with one of the ten dollar gold
coins.

  These three gold coins were just the beginning.

  Summer, 1863

  8

  The Mission Begins.

  “I am willing to serve my country, but do not wish to

  sacrifice the brave men under my command.”

  Major General John Buford, USA

  Captain Francis watched from the train station’s platform as his men loaded the rail cars with their horses and gear. As he watched them work, he reached into one of the pockets of his uniform blouse and pulled out the pocket watch his father had presented to him three years ago as a Christmas present. Turning the watch over before checking the time, he ran his right thumb over the initials ‘JF’, initials his father had engraved on the cover of the watch. He often found himself rubbing the initials on the watch and he knew he did so to remind him of his parents back home. It had been almost two years since he had last seen them. He longed to see them again. Opening the watch he saw it was 5:15 pm. “Forty-five minutes to go before we move out.” As he closed the watch, Francis went over the details of the trip in his mind, hoping things would go as planned and hoping the money would be delivered to Atlanta without incident.

  After he closed his watch for the third time within the last hour, Francis reinspected the contents of the rail cars to make sure they had been properly secured. He wanted no last minute problems holding up their departure. When he first inspected the Conestoga wagons, making sure they had been tied down properly within the rail cars so they would not move when the train pulled out, he had not attempted to open any of the hidden compartments as he feared some of the gold would fall out. During this inspection he noticed the bottoms of the wagons, which in some cases were actually the bottoms of some of the hidden compartments, had pitch placed between all of the wooden joints to protect the gold and silver from the elements they would be facing. He now took note of the ample supply of provisions the Quartermaster’s Office had provided them with. “All we will seem to need is beef. It looks like they have us well supplied for the start of our mission with everything else.” Finishing his inspection, he silently wondered how well the Quartermaster’s Office had done supplying them with extra rifles and ammunition, but then he saw they had even taken care of that need as well.

  Francis knew the Conestoga wagons, from the precious cargo, as well as from the supplies they each carried, were likely at their weight capacity for what the wagon’s axles and wheels could carry. While they had been built to carry several thousands of pounds, he wondered how the horses would hold up pulling these heavy wagons on the rough and muddy roads they might have to travel over if they experienced problems with the railroads. As he completed his inspection, Francis prayed both the wagons and the horses would hold up to the demands of the difficult trip they were about to make.

  As part of his preparation for the ride on the train, Francis had made sure his men had watered and fed their horses. He had even made sure his men had eaten a meal themselves before the train moved out. Now it was his turn to do the same. Sitting down in the railroad stationmaster’s office, he looked over the meal Captain White had sent over for him. Before starting to eat his meal of fried chicken and baked potatoes, Francis bowed his head and prayed for the safety of his men. “Lord, I hope these men, men whose names I barely know, have the courage to face the unknown that is about to confront us. I pray for their safe return, and of mine, so we may be reunited with our families when this terrible war is over with.” As he finished his short prayer, he had one final thought before he started to eat. “I cannot let President Davis, General Lee, or my father down. I must not fail them.” Quietly eating his meal, he read the letters Davis and Memminger had written in his behalf. Soon finished with his meal, he placed his copies of both letters into an inside pocket of his uniform blouse. He placed the rest of the letters back into his haversack. Leaving the small office, he walked to the front of the train and spoke with the engineer about the route they would be taking.

  As the train slowly began pulling out of the station, its wheels slipping at first on the tracks, but then finally gaining both traction and speed, it moved out of the rail yard and began the first leg of their journey south towards Atlanta. Soon the train crossed the James River and Francis knew there would be no turning back. As the train gradually increased its speed, he gathered his men in one of the boxcars to start the ride with him as he wanted to briefly speak with them once they had gotten underway. He wanted them to know what their assignments were going to be in the event they had to move the wagons off the trains and start moving over land. Now he advised each of the men what their assignments would be. Some would be wagon drivers, some would be scouts, and some would ride alongside the wagons protecting the gold and silver in the event a problem occurred. With the assignments made, he now deployed his men so the entire train was guarded. Outside of the precious cargo they now were responsible for, the train carried only mail and other war materials southbound from Richmond.

  As his men moved out to the positions they had been assigned, Francis was approached by a very remorseful Sgt. Vane. He again expressed his regret to Francis for his earlier conduct. “Sergeant, as long as you have learned from your mistake, and you assure me your conduct will be exemplary for the rest of the mission, then I will accept your apology. I will consider the matter closed and we will not speak on it again. However, and remember this, I will not tolerate any kind of challenge to my authority again. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir. Captain, I ain’t looking for any problems. I’m truly sorry, sir.”

  As they continued to talk, Francis learned Vane had worked on one of the railroads in Georgia before the war. Taking advantage of his previous railroad experience, he deployed Vane to ride with the train’s engineer so he could get word back to him if a problem occurred. As Francis explained this to him, he also told Vane he wanted him to ride up front with the engineer and the brakeman so he could also keep an eye out for any sabotage efforts done by the Union army to the tracks. “Don’t worry none, captain. I’ll keep a close eye out.”

  The train had moved slowly south along the tracks for almost two hours when Francis finally was comfortable knowing everything that had to be done had been. Climbing from one slow moving rail car to the other, he reached an open rail car with one of the Conestoga wagons on it. As he jumped down into the rail car, he saw Sgt. Edward Odom, a tall and lanky Alabama country boy from outside of Mobile, standing guard. Even though he had only known his fellow sergeants for a few hours, Odom had already acquired the nickname of ‘Big Ed’ due to his stature. He was at least six inches taller than most of the other men. After briefly speaking with Odom, Francis climbed up into the wagon, found a blanket and then sat down, preparing to take a brief nap while he could. Before he fell asleep, he again pulled his pocket watch out to check the time. As he placed the watch back into his pocket, his thoughts returned to the trip they were taking down the rail lines. “Hopefully we can stay on schedule. I want to get back to the army and to the men in my unit so we can help us win this war.” As his thoughts played out in his head, his mind began to race. “Should I be planning an alternate route of travel in the event we have problems with the train, or with Yankee sabotage, or should I just deal with problems as they arise?” Realizing these were issues out of his control, and that he would have to deal with problems when they arose, he tried to fall asleep. “I will just have to adapt to the problems as they occur. I’m praying we can just make our first connection with the East Tennessee & Georgia Railroad, that would at least get us started off well.” Closing his eyes, Francis soon fell asleep on top of the gold and silver hidden below him in the wagon.

  As he slept, the early evening sky displayed a bright red sun as it started to go down for the day. The red sun gave every indication the following day would be just as hot as this day had been. Soon the sun faded out of view and the sky gradually gave way to darkness. As day turned to night, Francis still catnapped
in the back of the wagon as the train moved through the Virginia countryside under a full moon and a sky full of bright stars.

  Without the slightest bit of warning, the peaceful ride they had been enjoying abruptly ended. As the train made its way down a slight grade and then began to navigate a turn, the train’s engine, The Lady Richmond, jumped the tracks that had been sabotaged earlier in the day by Yankee troops. Despite the brightness of the full moon there had been no time for either the train’s engineer or brakeman, or even for Sgt. Vane, to see the tracks had been damaged. The sharp curve in the tracks had given them little chance to see what lay ahead as they approached the damaged rails. The Yankees had picked the perfect spot to inflict their damage.

  As the train derailed from the sabotaged tracks, its speed from going down the grade of the small hill caused the out of control engine to strike several large trees as it continued off the western edge of the tracks. As it struck the final tree, the train’s engine and fuel car came to an abrupt stop. Stopping abruptly caused the train’s fuel car, filled with wood for the trip, to violently slam into the rear of the engine. Wood from the fuel car now flew forward into the engine car. Despite leaving the tracks, and despite both cars striking each other, the train’s engine and fuel car both managed to remain upright.

  The derailment caused the rest of the rail cars to separate from the train’s engine and fuel car. It also caused both men and horses to be knocked off their feet. At first, the only injuries were thought to have been a broken left leg and a broken left wrist that were sustained by Sgt. Edward Hatfield. He was from Florida and had been in the army for over two years without suffering a scratch during the several battles he had fought in. Now he had been seriously injured after riding in the relative safety of a rail car. After Francis and his men finished checking on everyone who had been in the rail cars, they moved to check on the three men in the train’s first two cars. As they did, they quickly located the crushed and mangled bodies of Sgt. Vane and the train’s engineer. Both had been killed instantly when wood used to fuel the train had flown forward into the engine compartment when the two cars had collided with each other. Both men had sustained significant injuries to their head and chest areas. As Francis had found these two men, his men soon found the brakeman’s body. He had died after being thrown from the train when it struck the last tree. The mission was barely three hours old and Francis already had his first casualty. It would prove to be a sign of things to come.