Confederate gold
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Confederate Gold refers to the hidden caches of gold lost after the U.S. Civil War. Millions of dollars worth of gold was lost or unaccounted for after the civil war and has been the speculation of many historians and treasure hunters. Some of the treasure was hidden in order to wait for the rerising of the south and at other times simply so that the Union would not gain possession. Many of the treasures hidden were purportedly done so by the Knights of the Golden Circle.
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[edit] Knights of the Golden Circle
This organization amassed a fortune and hid it cryptically all over the United States and Canada for future use. Each location was known to a particular cell which passed down its secrets to every subsequent generation.
[edit] Treasures
A treasure of $500,000 in gold bullion is located somewhere in West Central Broward County buried by Captain John Riley. He was attempting to ship it to Cuba in 1865, but was chased by Union troops.
Nearly $30 million was buried outside of Savannah, GA in the face of a Union advance. The gold was stamped Confederate States of America treasury and was on route originally from Texas to England and France for safekeeping by Knights of the Golden Circle Major Miller. Rumors are that the gold was buried under the name of a confederate general in a cemetery between two false generals as well. Other rumors state the gold was moved to a depository in Atlanta.
George Trenholm, who was Treasurer of the Confederate States of America for the last year of the American Civil War, was arrested after the war and accused of making off with millions in Confederate assets.[1] Trenholm claimed he was bankrupt, but pioneer underwater archaeologist and professional treasure hunter E. Lee Spence has unconvered considerable evidence showing Trenholm was concealing gold, jewels and other treasure, that had been entrusted to him, in hopes of using it to rebuild the South. Spence believes much of it was still hidden when Trenholm died in the last month of post war military rule in South Carolina. One of Trenholm's sons received a patent for a device to search for treasure underwater.[2]
[edit] Film references
The plot of National Treasure 2 revolves around The Knights of the Golden Circle and John Wilkes Booth.
[edit] References
- ^ George Alfred Trenholm and the Company That Went to War - pub 1973- Ethel S Nepveux
- ^ Treasures of the Confederate Coast: the "real Rhett Butler" & Other Revelations by Dr. E. Lee Spence, (Narwhal Press, Charleston/Miami, 1995), pp. 9-29
[edit] Bibliography
- Warren Getler & Bob Brewer Shadow of the Sentinel: One Man's Quest to find the Hidden Treasure of the Confederacy (Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9780743219686)
- Treasures of the Confederate Coast: the "real Rhett Butler" & Other Revelations by Dr. E. Lee Spence, (Narwhal Press, Charleston/Miami, 1995)[ISBN 1886391017] [ISBN 1886391009], OCLC: 32431590
- Shipwrecks, Pirates & Privateers: Sunken Treasures of the Upper South Carolina Coast, 1521-1865 by E. Lee Spence, (Narwhal Press, Charleston/Miami, 1995) [ISBN 1-886391-07-6]
