Confederate Gold and Silver (63 page)

“Well, we made some progress today, but we didn’t find all of them. Let’s try it again tomorrow and see what happens, then we will make our move to the mayor’s office.” Chick nodded his approval as he downed his last mouthful of PBR from the mug he had been drinking from. Trying to get the barmaid’s attention so she could order another round of beers for them, Jayne briefly looked at Paul and nodded her approval as well. She was still tired and hot from a long day of walking. Now she was just ready to relax in the air conditioned saloon for the balance of the evening. Her companions offered no protest when she told them she was not planning on moving from her bar stool for a while. Her plan had just become their plan as well.

They had become pretty comfortable sitting around and just talking after chasing down Civil War cannons on a warm November afternoon. They had not relaxed like this together since they first teamed up to hunt for the missing money. It was a moment which was far overdue.

Fall,
1863

26
The
Yankees
Are
Coming.
 

“Let
me
beseech
you
to
lay
aside
all
rancor
and
bring
about
a
consummation devoutly
to
be
wished
—
a
reunited
country.”
Confederate
President
Jefferson
Davis,
CSA,
1888

The next morning Francis and his men had barely woken up when Confederate soldiers galloping through the city streets first sounded the alarm. Their cries warned everyone, soldiers and residents alike, that Union troops had been found camped twenty-five miles north of Charleston and just southwest of Georgetown. Charleston had lived in fear of Union reprisals since the start of the war and now the residents feared the worst was about to happen to them.

Hearing the news, Francis quickly gathered his men together in the warehouse and prepared them for the return trip to the Allston family cemetery. They needed to try and retrieve the money they had buried there. He knew he was taking a risk making the trip, but his options were limited. As risky as it was to travel back to retrieve the money, it was even riskier leaving the rest of the gold and silver hidden in the damaged cannons. Now they had to move quickly or risk being trapped in Charleston. Before leaving the warehouse, he quickly inspected the cannons one last time. He prayed the money would remain safe until he could return to move it further south.

As he pushed his men towards the outskirts of the city, Francis knew the trip to the cemetery would now be a difficult one to make because of the presence of Union soldiers in the area. He also knew the return trip to Charleston would likely be an even riskier trip to make as their slow moving wagon would be loaded down with gold and silver from the cemetery. He now worried about being overrun by Union cavalry and the money being lost. “I have to risk it. I have no other choice.”

As they reached the outskirts of the city, Francis impulsively called them to a halt. “Men, this is going to be a difficult trip to make. I fully expect we will be attacked at some point. Somehow, and at all costs, we need to get the money we have buried in the cemetery back to the warehouse. Now listen carefully to what I have to say. If something should happen to me, I have written a letter to President Davis. It is in one my saddlebags, within a liquor bottle that has a likeness of President Washington on it. Also, in my saddlebags are letters written by President Davis and Treasury Secretary Memminger, they are in a second bottle. Extra copies of those two letters are within two envelopes inside my saddlebags as well. If I should die, or if I am no longer able to travel with you, take all of those letters with you as they will give you free and unobstructed passage across the South. Most importantly though, make sure the letter gets delivered to President Davis with my sincere apologies for not delivering it in person to him. If you get the money back to Charleston without me, I want you to hide the money from the cemetery in the cannons like we did with the rest of the money. Hide it just like we did last night. My letter to President Davis explains how we have protected it and where it is stored. Do not worry about me if I shall fall injured or dead; just worry about protecting the gold and silver. Promise me you will do so!”

His remaining men, Sgts. Stine, Davis, Banks, and Odom, now truly realized the seriousness of the danger they faced. They had come to admire Francis as he had done everything they had done and even more. As they had worked in the heat, so had he; if they went without food, so had he. Other leaders they had served under would never have endured the same hardships with them as he had. Collectively they nodded their heads to show him they understood his orders, but individually each of them knew they would not let him fall into the hands of the hated Yankees. Injured or dead, he was their leader. They were determined not to fail him or to lose him.

Riding northeast again, they rode together at first as they left the outskirts of Charleston. Sgt. Odom now drove the single wagon they were bringing back to the cemetery. His horse, a four year old grey stallion, trotted along behind the wagon, securely tied to the back of it. At first, they all rode their horses near the wagon as they were still close to the relative safety that Charleston afforded them. Shortly after leaving the area around the city, Francis sent Stine out on their west flank, Banks out in front of them, and Davis off to the east as they made their way towards Georgetown. As an experienced cavalry officer he knew what tactics to employ to protect his main body. On this occasion it was to protect the wagon they would need to bring the gold and silver back to Charleston in. He had always felt safer with scouts out protecting his main body, but in this case it was especially important to do for the overall safety of his small group of men. The sets of three eyes riding away from the wagon would give them a chance to make a stand and fight. It would also give them time to hide. The strength of the Union troops they encountered would decide which it would be. “The first sign of trouble you need to get back to us as soon as you can. We will have a much better chance of winning a fight and staying alive if we are all together. Now ride, but be alert!”

The three sergeants had been out protecting their advance towards Georgetown for almost four hours when Odom heard Banks’ distinct whistle. Almost at the same time, Davis and Stine could be seen approaching at a fast gallop. They each had seen the threat approaching them.

“Captain, Yankees!” Banks yelled, trying to catch his breath. “Yankees, four or five of them on horses, headed right this way, no more than two miles from here. They’s headed this way, but right casually mind you. They don’t look like they’s fixin’ to fight as they’s just riding along right casually, but they’s coming this way. I looked, but I didn’t see no others following after them.”

Banks had just finished giving Francis the news of the approaching Union soldiers when Davis rode up next to them. “Captain, I ain’t one to run away from a fight, but I know what ya want to get done with the gold and silver. I seen an old road, not much more than a path really, over yonder off to the east a bit. If we hurry we can get down in there and make use of the pine trees to hide from view. It’s a thick stand of trees, it aught to give us some good cover.”

Francis did not hesitate for a moment. “Take us there!”

In minutes, Davis led them to the stand of trees. Odom quickly drove the wagon as deep into the tree line as possible to get it out of view of the passing Union soldiers. They had only been hidden for a couple of minutes when Stine saw the soldiers approaching. They watched quietly, hidden behind the pine trees and scrub brush that was present, as the four Union soldiers casually approached near them. As they passed by, Francis and the others did their best to keep their horses quiet.

As the Union soldiers passed by their hiding spot, Stine carefully followed them a short distance. He was now on foot and staying within the tree line. He watched until the soldiers had ridden well out of sight. After watching for several more minutes to make sure they had not doubled back towards them, he returned to where the others still hid in the woods. “Captain, they rode off south, almost like they were headed towards Charleston. I hope they keep going that way for a long spell.”

“Did they see our tracks we left? Any good soldier would certainly have seen the wagon tracks we had to have left in the ground.”

“If they did, they didn’t bother to stop and check them out. They just kept riding along and talking to each other just as y’all seen them do here.”

Francis waited several more minutes before he moved the men out. He wanted to make sure the Union soldiers had not decided to double back towards their position. Soon satisfied he had waited long enough, they started moving northeast again. As they moved along, with Stine, Banks, and Davis again keeping a close eye out for Union troops, Francis rode his horse to the left of where Odom sat driving the wagon towards their destination.

Riding next to each other, Francis and Odom talked about the war, about the slavery issue, and on other matters related to the war. “Big Ed, for us to win this war, which in my opinion has always been a long shot due to the strength and power of the North, we must convincingly win the battles we fight against the Union armies. We cannot just injure them. We must devastate them with large losses of men. Doing so would likely effect the morale of their folks back home and put pressure on Lincoln to end the war. Who knows, he might not even be their President after the next election if things keep going badly for the North. But at the same time we must be able to sustain our own economy, that is one reason why protecting the gold and silver is so important. We must be able to sustain our own economy and our armies. Doing so will hopefully cause England to join us in our fight. Then, and only then, we would be able to defeat the Yankees. I also believe we need to take the war to the Yankees, just as they have done to us. We need to fight them on their own soil like we did at Gettysburg. That would likely influence the opinion Northern folks have on this war.”

Odom took all of this in as he drove the wagon north, but sat quietly for several minutes as he thought about what Francis had just said. “Captain, I’m just a simple country boy doing my part, but I didn’t think it was all that complicated. I just thought we had to kill more of them than they did of us and then it would be over.”

Francis smiled at the simplistic way Sgt. Odom had put things in perspective. “That’s how it is supposed to work, but it’s much more complicated than that I am afraid.”

Expecting a response back, Francis turned in his saddle to see Odom fall forward out of the wagon’s seat and onto the ground. Stunned by what had just happened, he had been riding close to the noisy wagon as it moved along and had not heard the noise of the gunshots until the second shot was fired. The second shot hit the back of the seat where Odom had just been seated.

Now turning to face the direction from where the shots had been fired, Francis saw three Union soldiers at first, and then the fourth, as they charged towards him and the now stopped and driverless wagon. Odom’s lifeless body rested on the ground not far from where the wagon had stopped. Francis then turned to see where the others were. As he located them, off to his sides and to his north, he incorrectly sensed in the stress of the moment that they just sat on their horses watching for what seemed like minutes before they moved to assist him.

Instinctively Francis then dismounted his horse and ran to check on Odom. He was dead, killed by a well aimed or perhaps lucky rifle shot through the base of his skull. One minute they had been talking about the war and the next minute Odom was dead on a rough South Carolina trail. He hadn’t even had time to defend himself.

Standing up, Francis ran back to the wagon. Reaching over the left side of the Conestoga wagon, he felt blindly for his Morse carbine rifle as his eyes remained focused on the fast charging Union soldiers. Finding the rifle with his left hand, he knelt down by the left rear wheel of the wagon as the Union cavalry soldiers rapidly approached his position. He now had no time to look to see where his men were. “Stay calm, just load the rifle and make the shot count, but stay calm.” He knew the others would soon be there to help him, but for now he tried to calm himself as he took aim at the lead rider approaching him. It only took a couple of seconds to steady the rifle against the wagon and fire his first shot. As he did, first Stine, then Davis, raced by him to intercept the approaching cavalry soldiers, now one soldier less from the shot he had fired.

Francis had aimed well and the cavalry officer fell from his saddle, bouncing along the trail for several feet after hitting the ground. Now Stine and Davis both charged at the cavalry soldier on their right. He was now separated from the others by the void in their ranks caused by Francis shooting the lead soldier. It only took a few seconds for Stine and Davis, with their acquired marksmanship and riding skills, both learned from years of country living, to quickly shoot and kill the next cavalry soldier.

As they turned their horses around to race back towards Francis, the remaining two Union cavalry soldiers each fired a shot at him, but both shots missed their intended target. As Stine raced back towards his captain, the cavalry officer who Francis had shot staggered to his feet. Despite bleeding heavily from a gunshot wound to his left shoulder, he began running towards Francis who was now focused on the two remaining cavalry soldiers. The two mounted soldiers posed the bigger immediate threat to him.

Spurring his horse to move faster, Stine’s horse quickly closed the distance between them and the injured cavalry officer. In seconds Stine was upon him, knocking him to the ground while still seated on his horse. As Stine dismounted from his horse, the injured cavalry officer, a young lieutenant, again rose to his feet to resume the fight. This time Stine knocked him to the ground with a strong right punch. With the fight now knocked out of him, the Union lieutenant offered no further resistance as Stine grabbed him and pulled him to his feet. Grabbing a large dagger from his boot, Stine pressed the knife to the left side of the lieutenant’s throat for the other two cavalry soldiers to now see. He had quickly realized the Union lieutenant was better alive to them than dead and now he gambled his bluff would work. “Keep on coming ya blue belly bastards and I’ll stick this lieutenant of yours through the throat so dang hard his eye balls will pop out! Try me if ya don’t believe me!”