Confederate Gold and Silver (14 page)

The observations made by Francis of the soldiers who had been guarding the boxcars and the train station itself, not only caused all of the sergeants assigned to his command to be impressed at what he had detected, but also caused McAulay and White to be impressed as well. They had been responsible for setting up the guard around the perimeter of the boxcars, but had not yet told him about it. Francis’ detection of the soldiers who were guarding the train before they could tell him about them, as well as how quickly he had handled a challenge to his authority, would later be relayed to Secretary Memminger. It would confirm to all of them that Lee had selected the proper person to lead the move of the treasury further south.

Opening one of the boxcars, McAulay and White explained to Francis and Sgt. Hatfield that President Davis had elected to move the majority of the treasury in three separate moves, each to three different locations for now. White explained further that two days prior a smaller detachment of soldiers had moved almost one million dollars in gold and silver coins south to Meridian, Mississippi. He then told Francis of another plan already in place. It was a plan to be executed in another two days and it involved a similar size shipment of gold and silver being shipped to Louisiana. The last shipment, in due time, White further explained, would also be sent to Meridian. The rail lines running through Meridian would make it easier to transfer the treasury to a new Confederate capitol if Richmond fell to the Union army. But for now, White continued to explain, the money would sit in three different cities until President Davis gave further orders on where it was to be consolidated. The money being moved in two days was also being shipped by rail. It would be protected by a group of soldiers disguised as wounded soldiers returning further south to recuperate from their wounds.

Captain White then told Francis his assignment involved the largest amount of money of the three shipments. It was a shipment of several million dollars, mostly in gold and silver coins, which was being shipped to Atlanta. Once inside the boxcars, Francis was shown how the gold and silver had been concealed. The boxcars held a total of four large Conestoga wagons and nine large buckboard wagons, several of which had been secretly modified. While two of the Conestoga wagons simply held supplies and provisions for their trip, the other two wagons, and each of the nine buckboards, had been outfitted with special compartments to hide the money. The wagons also carried several large wooden barrels with false bottoms that contained gold and silver coins as well. Most of these barrels, Francis was told, also contained flour, sugar, salt, and water in a further attempt to give the appearance they were simply what they appeared to be.

As Francis listened to White talk about the various hidden compartments, he saw one of the Conestoga wagons had a small painted star on each side of the wagon’s canvass top. “Excuse me, captain, but the wagon with the two stars on the canvass; do those stars have any significance?”

White walked them to the wagon with the stars painted on the canvass top. “Captain, I’m impressed. Your powers of observation are again very good. Those stars were painted on the canvass so you could easily identify this wagon from the other three like it. Look here.”

After they moved closer to the wagon, White showed them this wagon, like the others, also carried some provisions so it would look like any other wagon. But then White opened a hidden compartment, one of several built into the wagon by some of Richmond’s finest cabinetmakers. The opened hidden compartment revealed to Francis and Hatfield a total of ten gold and silver bars of assorted sizes. “Captain, there are a total of five hidden compartments within this wagon, plus the barrels with their false bottoms. Each compartment holds gold and silver bars which have been made from some of the South’s finest gold and silver jewelry. Some of the bars have been made from silverware as well. All of which has been donated by our citizens to help fund the fight for our cause. Also inside one of the compartments is a large cloth bag which contains some expensive jewelry. It is jewelry many Southern ladies have only just recently donated to help fund our cause. The stars have been put on this wagon so you know, in the event of trouble, that this is the most important wagon for you to protect. It must be protected at all costs.”

Listening to what White had told him, Francis quickly realized his mission had been well planned out. It was not a mission which had been pieced together overnight. “Very impressive! I can see the wheels on these wagons also appear to be built differently than the wheels on the other wagons. They give the appearance of being built stronger, perhaps to handle the weight of the gold and silver bars better?”

“Captain, you are correct. They were purposely built just for that reason. We also have had two extra wheels placed in one of the wagons in the event you should experience a problem with one of the wheels during your trip. Hopefully you will not need them.” As they closed up the hidden compartments, and then the side door to the boxcar, Francis was told the train would also have three additional boxcars on it for the teams of horses needed to pull the wagons. Those additional cars would also have space for his men’s horses and for other supplies they would be taking with them. Francis was then told the final piece of information he needed to know. The train was scheduled to leave at 6 pm.

Captain McAulay then spoke the words Francis had earlier privately raised with himself when he had thought about the trip south. “Captain, as much as possible you should be travelling by rail as it will get you to Atlanta in the shortest amount of time. However, you need to be ready to adapt to the problems you may face when you are confronted by acts of Union sabotage to our rail lines or from equipment failure that may stop a train you are riding on. Regardless of what you encounter, you must get these wagons, and the precious cargo contained within them, to Atlanta as soon as possible. Captain, we wish you good luck and a safe trip.”

As the three officers shook hands and said their goodbyes, White reached inside his uniform blouse and pulled the letters from President Davis and Secretary Memminger out of his pocket, handing them to Francis. Memminger had instructed White to hand them to him after he knew for sure Francis was up to the challenge of this assignment. White now knew he was. Leaving him standing alone on the train station’s platform, McAulay and White walked back to their horses so they could report back to Secretary Memminger.

Remaining on the railroad platform, Francis watched them as they rode away; standing there until he could no longer see them. He was now alone with a large sum of money and a group of men he did not know. As he walked down the steps from the station’s platform, he had but one thought as he eyed his men who were now posted around the boxcars. “I hope these men are up for the challenge that awaits them. God knows I will need their help to complete this mission.”

After motioning to his men, Francis gathered them near one of the rail cars. He then told them some of the particulars of the mission they were about to start. “Men, we have been charged with a most sensitive assignment, one which must be completed as it has been planned. If we fail, well that will likely mean the end of our way of life I am afraid and we will be governed, again I’m afraid, by the laws of the Union. I will tell you more as we move south, but what I will tell you right now is our destination is Atlanta. I will also tell you this train is leaving at 6 pm. So right now, I need you to get your horses and your gear onboard one of those three boxcars being coupled to the other cars. Be prepared to leave very soon.” Pausing for a moment to think a thought out, Francis then looked at Banks. “Sgt. Banks, pick two men and have them stay with you guarding the boxcars until we are ready to leave. Sgt. Griffin will make sure your horses are put onboard the train.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Steele, you and Rickert come with me. Just bring your rifles and leave the rest of your gear here. Frank will see it is taken care of for y’all.”

After detailing Sgts. Steele and Rickert to complete a task for him, Francis stood off to the side watching as the other sergeants started to load the train with their horses. His men were working together for the first time. Over the coming weeks he hoped they would mesh well with each other, forming a hard working unit. Their success depended on it. The South needed them to succeed so they could continue to wage their fight against the hated Yankees. Unfortunately for this group of men the fight would not go quite as planned.

Summer,
2011

7
Clues
Uncovered.
 

“Never
take
counsel
of
your
fears.”
General
Thomas
Jonathan
‘Stonewall’
Jackson,
CSA

It all took place so fast that Paul was not sure what had happened when the object fell on him, but now as he examined himself he saw he had not been bitten or injured by what had fallen. At first, he thought it had been an animal or a wasp’s nest, but it was neither. Now as he got up off the ground, he saw what he had been looking for earlier.

As Paul moved closer to what he had tossed away when it fell on him, he saw the rest of the bones he had been thinking about earlier. It was not the bones that now shocked him; what shocked him was what was lying there with the bones. Lying on the ground was a frayed and tattered Confederate soldier’s uniform which apparently belonged to a soldier who had hidden himself within the tree many years ago. Shocked to think he had just found the remains of a long dead Confederate soldier, he stared at what was on the ground in front of him. As he did, he quickly did the math in his head and calculated what he had found had likely been inside the massive Live Oak tree for almost one hundred and fifty years. It would take weeks for him to put all of the pieces of his discovery together, but he quickly made a connection between the tattered clothes and the rusted bayonet; they had all belonged to this soldier. As he looked at the collection of bones, some of which were still partially entangled within the old uniform, he also saw within the base of the tree a piece of rotted rope, a saber, and what appeared to once have been a hat. Paul quickly looked around to see if anyone else was now present in the woods with him. He saw no one.

Stunned by what he had just found, Paul began to question what had occurred and how a body could have possibly remained hidden within a tree for so many years. His law enforcement experience told him this was not possible, especially after a body’s skin and muscle had decomposed and deteriorated. “How the heck did this soldier stay hidden for so many years? And how come animals and humidity did not do more damage to the clothes and bones?” Paul did not immediately have any answers for the questions he asked himself. He then attempted to try and make some sense out of what he had found.

Crawling into the base of the large Live Oak on his hands and knees, Paul cautiously looked up into the dark interior of the tree. Summoning his courage, as he was still afraid of being bit by an animal hiding within the tree, he reached up inside the tree and grabbed onto the first object he felt. Tugging on it, he pulled down two sections of rotted rope that appeared to have been tied to something inside the tree. Two more similar attempts of reaching into the interior of the tree turned up nothing else. “I bet something else is up there, but I just cannot see, it’s too dark.” The tree’s cavity easily extended upwards for at least eight feet, but Paul could not see past the first few feet due to the lack of light inside the tree. His last two attempts at trying to find anything else hidden inside the tree produced little except for a long scratch on his right forearm. Looking at the scratch on his arm caused him to have a thought as to why the soldier may have stayed hidden for so long. “I bet some of the clothing, perhaps the bones as well, got hung up on the inside of the tree as it is obviously splintered pretty bad in there.” Reaching into his back pocket, he used his handkerchief to wipe the small amount of blood off his arm.

Sitting back down on the ground, Paul began looking at the tattered Confederate uniform and the rotted pieces of rope he had found. It took him several minutes of thinking about what the rope had possibly been used for, but then he theorized the soldier had perhaps used it to somehow hide himself inside the tree. “It’s almost like the soldier may have been hiding from someone. Sounds kind of crazy, but who knows. Maybe he put the rock inside the tree so he could climb a little higher. Who knows, but it’s very weird though.”

As he continued to inspect the items he found that afternoon, items the tree had previously refused to surrender for almost one hundred and fifty years, Paul continued to search for answers to the many questions racing through his head. While the clothing was tattered, he easily identified the items as being a shirt, a pair of badly ripped pants, and a blouse. The blouse was easily identifiable as part of a Confederate uniform. “Perhaps this soldier was a Confederate officer? I doubt too many regular soldiers wore this type of blouse.” Then, despite the many dead bodies he had handled at the various crime scenes he had supervised, Paul felt a chill run down his back as he began to inspect the items even closer.

Starting with the pants, besides noticing one of the pant legs had been slit open from the bottom of the leg to almost up to the knee area, Paul found nothing except for one long bone which had gotten caught inside one of the legs of the pants. Reaching inside the pant leg, he simply pulled the bone out and set it aside for now. After realizing the pants had no pockets to them, he placed them off to the side with the bone he had found. Then he picked up the tattered remains of a shirt, one which still had two buttons sewn on it. After looking at the shirt for a couple of moments, he set the shirt aside as well.

As Paul placed the shirt down on the ground, he then remembered as these items had fallen on him that something fairly hard had struck his head when he was attempting to back out of the tree. Looking around on the ground he tried to identify what had struck him, but he could not tell for sure what it was.