He put the wagons back up to make it appear that confederate troops had come by and took the contents of the wagons with them. Two large metal boxes containing over $100,000 in Confederate gold were hidden near Athens. As soon as they spent all the gold and silver they came back for more. The officer brought troops to Henrys home in the hopes of getting Henry to tell them where his treasure was hidden. The Union soldiers dug up the cask and went and spent the money in Mobile, Alabama. Then too, given the volume and weight of the silver, the digging would have certainly been noticed by soldiers and townspeople, whether during the day or at night under the glow of kerosene lamps. Morris started robbing trains because he was angry with the Louisville and Nashville railroad because a brakeman found him on a train ride that was headed for Mobile that he didnt pay for. Mr. Sharps would take a shovel and sack with him on these treks into the woods. Now only Hansens one friend knew about the treasure but his friend was arrested and charged with harboring a fugitive. Before you knew it,others hurried to the scene and began to dig, and another gold rush was under way. Ultimately, he took refuge in the North at the home of Julia Gardiner Tyler. Women sent jewelry, and there were hundreds of containers filled with gold and silver. For Semple, as with Tidball, history is mute on the activities of both men. There are many lost treasures and legends of Alabama and I encourage you to visit this state and enjoy the rich history that Alabama presents. Hansen and the two soldiers went on their way dressed as farmers. He and his friend decided to head out to recover the treasure. In June 1863, President Lincoln ordered two wagons with false bottoms to carry anywhere from 26 to 52 gold bars weighing 50 pounds each from Wheeling, West Virginia, 400 miles north to Pennsylvania to pay the Union troops . Jefferson Davis with members of his cabinet, 1865, By early May, both Davis party and the remaining fortune had reached Washington, Georgia. CBS News affiliate WTAJ-TVreported members of the Elk County Historical Society say they believe the gold is just an old wives' tale. He was a war hero, fighting in the Mexican-American War of the 1840s, and looked set for a long, happy career as a statesman. He was very skilled at evading the police. One theory suggests it was stolen by the Michigan Cavalrymen. The town of Louina grew to 2,500 residents with 30 homes, two churches, two schools, eight stores, and even a Masonic Lodge. Generally, it went like this:An individual or his friends would get a tip or a hunchthat some vacant plotheld the secret wealthand out would come the shovels. In North Carolina, some say gold was secretly hidden because they couldn't get the heavy treasure through a swamp north of Greensboro. Semple did seem to disappear into the night, for he had to avoid the attention of both the enemy and paroled Confederate soldiers looking to confiscate horses and wagons in returning to their homes. This little island has been cut off from the outside world until just recently when a bridge was built that goes from the mainland of Alabama across the Mississippi Sound to Dauphin Island. De Soto and his army of men some 600 plus came to the Sacred mountain City of the Cherokees. The contractor detected an underground mass that weighed up to nine tons and had the density of gold, according to an FBI affidavit unsealed last year at the request of news organizations, including The Associated Press. Halleck stated that Richmond bankers estimated specie valued "from six to thirteen millions" were travelling south from Goldsboro, NC in wagons. Then, after the Justice Department ordered a more thorough review, the FBI said its records were exempt from public disclosure. The Rebel and the Rose"" reveals for the . The rumor is that the gold was buried under the name of a confederate general between two false generals in a cemetery. Apparently in 1865, $100,000 of gold and silver was put into two large metal boxes by Confederate troops, and then thrown into the swamp. Most if not all of them take place well into the war, and by then the confederate had serious cash flow issues. It definitely would be worth taking a metal detector to the beach, Two wooden boxes full of gold and silver bullion and coins, Buried deep in a bog nearAthens, Alabama, NearFlorence, Alabama south of Whites mill, Hardy Clemens plantation ruins nearCoaling, Alabama on the shores of Big Sandy Creek, Dawson, Guntersville, Gadsden, and Mentone Alabama in the Sand mountains, Ghost town of Louina inRandolph County Alabama, the caves between Atmore and Bay Minette Alabama, N 3030 38 W 872651 which is close to U.S. Highway 90 bridge that now crosses the Perdido River, 40,000 crowns of gold and silver bullion and coins, Near the entrance to Mobile Bay near Dauphin Island, Cave full ofgold and silver bars, coins, and jewels, Underwater cave near Muscle Shoals, Alabama along the Tennessee river. What Confederate Money (paper notes) that they had was burned at Washington, Ga. in the middle of town by Brig. She had long black hair, gray eyes, and a figure that drew dozens of suitors before she had agreed to marry the president, then 30 years her senior. At the time no one questioned his integrity or his simple explanation. So the gold could have been buried anywhere, or perhaps in different locations. The trapper returned to the Chickasaw camp and married the daughter of the chief but her father had disappeared and no one in the village seemed to know where the cave was that held the treasure. Its unclear what happened to the money. This ended in the Trail of Tears that forced the Indians out. The Fenian Brotherhood, which was preparing to attack Canada with a growing army, seemed to be an opportunity; and with the apparent blessing of Jefferson Davis, with whom he was somehow able to exchange messages, though Davis was securely locked up in prison at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, Semple became a courier for the Fenian movement. A town was named after her that once was one of the largest towns in Randolph County Alabama. Check it out today its available on Amazon! So as you can tell it was a great hiding spot for soldiers. But on the night of May 24, as the group made camp for the night in Lincoln County, Georgia, near Danburg Crossroads, some 20 armed men on horseback invaded the camp and carried off as much gold as they could carry. WATCH: Full episodes of America's Book of Secrets online now. until he found some of the treasures! Those two boxes of gold could still be buried deep in that bog near Athens, Alabama. In any case, caches of the silver coins have reportedly been detected at several locations in the Danville search area. Many of these treasures are now on private land or owned by the federal or state government. The location was described (by him) as being in northern Alabama, between the towns of Bellview and Booneville, at or near Keel Mountain. The coins are buried on city-owned land, and Danville officials, concerned about disturbing graves, continue to refuse all requests to dig, even test holes. "[2], Amid the collapse of the Confederacy, General Henry Halleck, Chief of Staff of the Union armies, wrote on April 26, 1865, that Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, was fleeing with large quantities of specie. After the decision was made to disband the Confederate government on May 4, 1865, Davis entrusted $86,000 to two Confederate navy officials, whom he tasked with smuggling the money to England. Union soldiers were invading the countryside around Sherwood Forest, the Tyler plantation, and the safety of her young children was paramount. I am sure some of your readers are from that area and are familiar with the Prattville, Montgomery area and of course, the Alabama River. Henry refused and was subsequently strung up to a tree and whipped. They loaded the two boxes of treasure onto two wagons and headed for Columbia. He also owned two plantations outside of what was called Savannah now central Alabama. The troops were trying to keep the gold and silver away from Union soldiers. He came to Alabama in 1815 and set up a ferry for crossing the Perdido River that has banks of the Alabama and Florida side. On May 4, after Davis and the few advisers that remained with him made the decision to disband his government, they entrusted some $86,000 of the remaining treasury funds to two Confederate navy. According to local lore, the gold was lost or stolen during the1863 Battle of Gettysburg. This small island holds many lost treasure stories. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. The question is, what happened? Davis was on the run for much of April 1865. The Justice Department denied the request - and, as of last month, had yet to assign the FOIA request to a staffer for processing, according to the lawsuit. Meade, Sheridan, Wright, Thomas and Canby Ordered to Push the Enemy at all Points. As fate has it the 3 men that buried the gold ended up dead after the attack. With them was the remainder of the Confederate treasury, including crates of gold and silver coins, gold bullion from Richmond bank reserves and jewelry that had been donated to the Southern cause. (adsbygoogle=window.adsbygoogle||[]).push({google_ad_client:"ca-pub-0945725028962484",enable_page_level_ads:true}); Have fun in your search for Alabama treasure. His anger turned to crime and robbing the L&N trains was the outcome. This dental device was sold to fix patients' jaws. I got the Keel Mountain story from a treasure hunter in west Tennessee, and it was a small, one-paragraph statement. He went to Fort Rosalie and told a friend about the treasure. Posted on December 5, 2020 December 31, 2020 by Terry W. Platt. Civil War historian William Rawlings explained, People like to believe theres something out there. The legend of the Confederate gold is referenced in many films. Union troops closing in on the Confederate capital. She says that some Confederate gold was hidden there and some is still being found today. Finally, in the wake of the treasure hunters' appeal, the FBI said it had located 2,400 pages of records and 17 video files that it could potentially turn over - but that it would take years to do so. I would think that they would have USED the gold before burying it. Hardy Clemens died in 1863 leaving no trace of where he hid his treasure. Buried treasure in Alabama may be located in ghost towns. Halleck ordered Generals Wilson and Canby to intercept the rebel leaders and any wealth they were transporting. Three children and two men drowned but the rest of the passengers were saved by a brigantine sailboat that was nearby. Manage Settings Moses, a South Carolinian, who had moved to Columbus, Ga., and pioneered the growing production of peaches, was praised for his competence both during and after the war. The trapper ended up not marrying the chiefs daughter and he went away freely although he killed two braves to make sure he was able to leave. They held it until General John Bell Hood marched his Confederate army through in 1864. Confederate Pots of Gold . The Success of George H. Thomas Union Soldiers During the American Civil War. Captian Seigneur de Beauchamp was able to get her anchored in the harbor without any damage. Tidball, for his part, decided that the war was over for him, as he was seen a few days later heading north from Georgia, accompanied by a Confederate judge and a paroled army officer. In the Civil War-era movie, Gone With the Wind (1939), Rhett Butler, played by Clark Gable, is rumored to have stolen the treasure. Around that time (and probably because he could no longer finance his travels), he finally began to realize there was nothing to be gained for the South, that the Fenian army was more rhetoric than substance and was ill prepared to precipitate war between the U.S. and Great Britain. The brakeman subsequently threw him off the moving train. The attack happened in March of 1865. General Dukes Brigade. Even into the 1930s, the pages ofThe Augusta Chronicleincluded stories of impromptu inner city treasure hunts sparked by a variety of rumors that someone had found part of a hoard hastily hiddenfrom the Yankees. Searching for more lost treasure? They filled two wooden boxes full. De Soto ended up dying of fever. Confederate States of America currency circa 1865. But with 100 acres to cover and now metal detectors back then it was never found. Its fate has remained a mystery for more than 150 years, fueling a wealth of local legends in the South and elsewhere, and even inspiring Hollywood movies like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) and Sahara (2005), based on the book by Clive Cussler. Beauregard Trying to Profit by Sherman's Blunder. The Confederates got away or won the little skirmish or what have you but the men who hid it had been killed. So with Jesse James spending time and hiding out, its only natural that many believe that he would have buried treasure in and around these areas of Alabama. The total amount of money and gold that left Richmond with Davis is unknown. JavaScript is disabled. So what happened to that missing Confederate treasure? They also covered the boxes with straw and fertilizer to conceal the treasure within. The Union Cavalry came upon them and they were both killed. Treasure hunters who believe they found a huge cache of fabled Civil War-era gold in Pennsylvania are now on the prowl for something as elusive as the buried booty itself: government records of the FBI's excavation. Hansen stayed with his friends for a few days hiding under the floor when Union Soldiers would come by. I live n the the ala state line and have pulse and gpr if anyone is interested in searching, Some of the add-ons on this site are powered by. First published on January 6, 2022 / 11:11 AM. The plantations were called Vale Royal and Springfield. Every legend that has any long-term staying power has a modicum of truth in it, and certainly this one does, says William Rawlings, an author of numerous nonfiction books and novels about Southern history. Theres something out there as with Tidball, history is mute on the activities of both.! And there were hundreds of containers filled with gold and silver away from Union soldiers were invading the countryside Sherwood. 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