Confederate Gold and Silver (49 page)

After briefing inspecting the exterior of the warehouse, Francis rode back through the city, stopping at a small tavern he found along the way. Silently he thanked Hodges for his support as he ate a small meal of oysters and rice at the tavern on Tradd Street. He briefly gave thought to how he would move the gold and silver further south from Charleston. The taste of his meal, coupled with the additional thought of his men and he being safe and well fed for a few days, quickly drove the first thought out of his mind. Now he focused on simply enjoying a quiet meal.

By late afternoon Francis arrived back to where his men had been waiting for him. As he was elated to see nothing had happened to them while he was gone, his men were down right giddy with joy at the news he brought them. His men, like all soldiers, did not ask for much, but the prospect of a few good meals and sleeping with a roof over their heads for the next couple of days made their spirits soar. As is often the case, with good news also comes bad news as well.

“We have a place to hide the wagons and to get some much needed rest. We also will have some hot meals delivered to us over the next couple of days. I am hopeful some food for our horses will be delivered as well. I have seen the warehouse where we will be staying and it will more than suit our needs. The bad news is I am not confident we will be able to move further south by train and the prospect of moving by boat is likely not possible either. The Union naval blockade is keeping our ships in the harbor and no ship’s captain will now dare try to run it. I certainly cannot risk running the blockade with the gold and silver as it is far too important to our cause than to risk losing it at sea. We may be forced to continue to move it by wagons after we rest for a few days. For now, we will just rest. I will continue to look for another means to move the money during that time.”

While the news was a disappointment to his men, as they had hoped for a better way to finish their mission than being forced to again move with the gold and silver over land, for now they focused on the positive news Francis brought them. News of a few good hot meals, a safe place to sleep, and perhaps after that maybe even a bath, made the bad news bearable. They had endured many hardships over the past few weeks, especially losing some of their friends. They each had also lost weight, slept too little, and travelled in all kinds of weather, but mostly they all had been affected in some way by the loss of a friend along the way. They would deal with the adversity the future would present to them, but for right now, on this unusually hot late October afternoon, they just wanted to eat and sleep. Like Francis would do, they also would deal with their problems as they were confronted by them.

It was early evening when they entered the city. As they did, most of the city’s residents had already eaten their suppers and finished up their chores for the day. The streets were quiet and free of most people, even though the heat of the afternoon had dissipated. The breeze off the harbor made it a pleasant evening to be outside. Francis had wanted to enter the city under the cover of darkness so as not to draw any attention to his men and their wagons, but he could not refuse Colonel Hodges’ offer of a hot meal for his men. Reluctantly he entered the city earlier than he had wanted, but was soon pleased to see the streets were strangely deserted so early in the evening.

Still ever cautious, Francis had them enter the city through the Goose Creek section of town, not far from where the Washington Race Course stood off of Grove Street. It was away from the busier section of the city. He had reminded them to move as quietly as they could and as they slowly moved down the King Street road his men now did their best to keep the horses quiet. Moving south, parallel to the South Carolina Railroad lines, they made a right turn onto Warren Street, then pushed southwest through the Radcliffe Borough of the city, then onto Wentworth Street, and then back onto the King Street road. Francis knew they could have made their way directly to the warehouse once they had been on the King Street road, but he had chosen to take the streets he had seen earlier in the day which were less travelled. He wanted to avoid some of the busier intersections in the city so prying eyes did not see them as they moved towards the warehouse. He also did so to make sure no one was following them, pausing several times where streets intersected to make sure no one was.

Once back on the King Street road they proceeded to South Battery Road, a road running close to where the Ashley and Cooper Rivers merge with Charleston Harbor. Off to their east sat Castle Pinckney, one of the first Union pieces of property the Confederacy had seized near the start of the war. Close by in the harbor sat Fort Sumter. Francis had the men halt briefly so he could point out the two locations to them. As his men took a few minutes to look at where the war had started, he also found himself briefly looking out at the fort. Then he turned and focused his attention on his men as they looked out at the fort. He thought about why he had stopped there on the street. “They deserve to see where this has all started. They have sacrificed so much for our cause. Those who have died along the way have sacrificed even more. They can at least now tell their families they saw where the war started for all of us.”

Slowly they moved along King Street, soon pulling up in front of the warehouse Colonel Hodges had made sure was unlocked for them. They had just slid open the two large wooden doors to the warehouse when a sergeant assigned to one of Hodges’ artillery units arrived driving a buckboard wagon. Still seated, the sergeant saluted as Francis walked up to the wagon.

“Sir, I assume you are Captain Francis?” Francis could tell from the young sergeant’s question that he was somewhat nervous as he spoke to him

“Yes, sergeant, I am Captain Francis.”

“I see y’all found the place OK. Hope the warehouse suits your needs for the time y’all are here. I had my men drop off some grain and hay earlier for your horses. Them broken cannons inside, we dun lined them up against one of the walls so y’all would have plenty of room to store them wagons y’all got with ya. You can lock the doors from the inside if y’all need to, but ain’t no one gonna bother y’all down here. I got your hot grub here in the wagon. Colonel Hodges done arranged a right fine spread for y’all. I’ll bring the wagon inside and your men can unload it there.”

“Thank you, sergeant! Please extend our thanks to Colonel Hodges. Also, please tell him we would appreciate the same courtesy tomorrow evening as well. I expect we will be here for at least three days. We appreciate your efforts as well.”

“Happy to oblige, captain. I’ll have one of my boys bring y’all some biscuits and hot coffee in the morning as well.”

By now Francis’ men had opened the back doors of the large warehouse, one which had stored cotton and tobacco prior to the war. It was stored there before being shipped to Europe and Mexico. Soon fresh air off the harbor circulated throughout the building, clearing the stale and musty air from inside the warehouse. The men closely eyed the food in the wagon as it was driven into the warehouse to be unloaded. Knowing Francis would not let them eat until they had moved the wagons safely inside, and had taken care of the horses, the men now worked quickly to accomplish those tasks.

“Sergeant, I need one more favor from you. Can you leave me your wagon? You can take the horses with you, but I may have the need for a smaller wagon to use while we are in town for a few days.”

“Sir, Colonel Hodges told me personal like to make sure y’all got what ya need while y’all are in town. So if y’all need this here wagon, then I guess it’s yours to use. No need to return it, just leave it here in the warehouse and I’ll come back to fetch it when your gone.”

As Francis shook hands with the sergeant, the men turned the horses out into the small corral behind the warehouse. Soon the horses were fed and watered. The men had gotten fresh water for the horses and for themselves from a hand cranked water pump they found inside the warehouse. With those tasks finally completed, they knew it was their time to eat.

Moving the food closer to the opened wooden doors in the rear of the warehouse to both enjoy the fresh air and to use the remaining light to eat under, they gorged themselves on the food Hodges had sent over for them. They ate far too much, and far too fast, but after weeks of limited food they each surrendered to their cravings for fresh food.

Shortly after they had eaten, they again checked on the horses. Seeing the horses were well taken care of, they secured the doors to the warehouse and quickly fell fast asleep. They slept soundly and together for the first time in several weeks as no one had to ride guard duty during the night. They were now inside a secure warehouse and inside a fairly secure Confederate city. With their bellies full and after a good night’s sleep they would almost feel like new men the next morning.

Summer,
2011

23
A
Cemetery’s
Treasures.
 

“
. . .
we
cannot
dedicate,
we
cannot
consecrate,
we
cannot
hallow
this
ground.
The
brave
men,
living
and
dead,
who
struggled
here,
have
consecrated
it,
 . . .”
President
Abraham
Lincoln’s
Gettysburg
Address,
19
November
1863

The white plastic pails holding the gold and silver coins had been hidden under a folding table which had been draped with a white drop cloth in Paul’s garage. Next to the table sat Paul, Chick, and Bobby Ray, and several empty cans of Coors Light. On the table was a bottle of Jack Daniels which Bobby Ray and Chick had put a good dent in after they had arrived back at Paul’s home from North Carolina. They had been so tired from their two days up in North Carolina that they had just looked forward to sitting in the garage and relaxing over a couple of drinks. The drinks had become more than a couple as they celebrated their successful find at Duke’s hog farm. They toasted each other and everything else as they talked about what they had found.

Paul had not called Donna to tell her what they found as he wanted to surprise her in person. Now it was almost time to do just that. It was almost six pm when she arrived home. With Chick and Pete’s vehicles in the driveway, as well as Paul’s two vehicles, Donna was forced to park her Nissan Murano at the end of the driveway. After carrying a few of her belongings into the house, she walked into the impromptu celebration being held in her garage. As she did, she misread seeing them drinking as a sign of bad luck over the past couple of days. Her first comment was the one they had each hoped for.

“Drowning your sorrows I see. Guess you adventure seekers did not find what you had hoped to find. Hey, it was your first time looking, maybe you will do better next time. Give me a minute to change my clothes and I’ll come out and drown your sorrows with you.”

“Hey, hon, do me a favor before you go inside. Bobby Ray put a six pack under the table in a white bucket. I’m too sore from all the digging to reach for it. Will you grab it for us? The cooler here is just about empty.”

Donna gave Paul the
Are
your
legs
broken
look as he was sitting closer to the table from where she stood, but being the good hostess she walked over to the table to get the beer for him. Still staring at Paul, she reached under the table feeling for the bucket of beer. Touching the bucket, she instinctively reached for its handle and then tried to pull it out from under the table. “Gees, what do you have in this bucket, rocks?” She could not budge it.

“Here, honey, let me help you.”

Almost like they had rehearsed it, Chick quickly grabbed the half full bottle of Jack Daniels off the table so it didn’t spill as Paul stood up and lifted the small folding table up and out of the way. As he did, Donna’s eyes fell on the five full buckets of gold and silver coins the table had hid from her view.

“I, I thought you said . . . .”

“Donna, we didn’t say a thing. You assumed we hadn’t found anything because we had put on our gloomy faces to trick you. From how it played out it looks like our little devious plan worked! We thought we would surprise you with what we found. From the look on your face, I’m guessing we did do that. So, what do you think?”

Donna still stared at the coins as Bobby Ray and Chick, fueled by fatigue, beer, and Jack Daniels, laughed uncontrollably like two school boys who had played a dirty trick on a friend. Pete, who had not drank nearly as much as Chick and Bobby Ray, sat somewhat amused by what he watched unfold in the garage.

Regaining her composure, Donna turned her attention first to Bobby Ray who had been laughing the loudest at the joke they had played on her. “Bobby Ray, you son of a bitch! You think giving me a heart attack is funny? Just you wait. And Chick, you went along with these two fools on this? You ain’t ever going to be my friend! And you, telling me a lie to make me feel sorry for you and then pulling this stunt on me, well . . . .” She stopped herself in mid-sentence as a more important thought had entered her mind. “Whose money is this anyways? Is it ours?” The anger Donna feigned at each of them had only made them laugh louder than they had been, but when she asked them whose money it was, her question then made each of them laugh even louder. Her kneeling down to examine the coins made them completely lose it. Their laughter was uncontrollable for several moments.

Donna ignored their laughs and looked at coins by the handful, closely examining the types of gold and silver coins she now held. The dates minted on the coins were ones she had never come across in her banking career. Most of the types of coins she was looking at were ones she had also never seen before. “If only these coins could talk, telling us where they had been and who had owned them. Wouldn’t that be amazing?”