- This treasure section excerpted from "Civil War
Gold & Other Lost Treasures" by W. Craig Gaines. The really big
lost treasure is that of the Confederate Treasury in custody of Jeff Davis
upon leaving Richmond, fleeing the Yankee hordes. Portions of it are believed
to be in Greene & Morgan Counties of Georgia. The combined hoard is
believed to be between $500,000 and $600,000 in gold, the combined values
of the Richmond Bank & Confederate Treasury. Most made it to Washington,
Georgia, but an untold amount remains unaccounted for.
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- South Carolina
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- ALLENDALE COUNTY
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- Lost Confederate Payroll
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- A legend said that a Confederate payroll was lost when
a train derailed in a swamp near Rivers Bridge State Park.1
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- BERKELEY COUNTY
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- Lost Union Payroll
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- A $100,000 to $200,000 Union payroll in gold was rumored
to have seen captured from Union forces by Confederates. The payroll was
buried near the Santee River close to St. Stephen before the Confederates
were captured and shot.2
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- CALHOUN COUNTY
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- Confederate Treasure
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- On the Congaree River, nearly two miles north of Sandy
Run, Confederate supply boats were said to have been ambushed on December
-
- 12, 1864. One boat with $125,000 in gold coins and ingots
was overturned and lost its contents in the water. (There is no evidence
of this in the "Official Records.")3
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- CHARLESTON COUNTY
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- The Georgiana's Treasure
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- The Georgiana was a 580-ton brig rigged steamer built
in Glasgow, otland as the Louisiana in 1862. She was 205.6 feet long, had
a 25.2-foot beam, 14.9-foot depth, 14-foot draft. In 1863, she ran the
blockade into Charleston with 140 crewmen and a cargo of merchandise, 18
cannons, 10,000 Enfield rifles, swords, military supplies, and $90,000
in gold. The Georgiana was to be converted in Charleston into a Confederate
warship with 16 cannons. Its British captain, A. B. Davidson, flashed a
- flag in Maffitt's Channel when the Georgiana encountered
the USS America and USS Wissahickon in the early morning hours of March
19 1863. The Georgiana sped for shore at full speed and ran aground. All
the crew and passengers fled ashore. The Georgiana's gold was probably
removed by the crew.
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- Union troops boarded the Georgiana, removed some cargo,
and torched her when they could not refloat the vessel. The wreck of the
Georgiana later sank the blockade runners Norseman, Mary Bowers, and Constance
Decimer when these blockade runners ran into the Georgiana's submerged
hull. The Georgiana underwent salvage in the 1870s. More recently archeologists
and treasure hunters have been recovering artifacts at the site, but they
have found no gold.4
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- The Constance Decimer's Treasure
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- The Constance Decimer was a British 140-ton sidewheel
steam blockade runner. The vessel was 201.4 feet long with a 20.15-foot
beam, 9.4-foot depth, 6-foot draft, with 29 crewmen. It steamed from Nova
Scotia, Canada with a cargo of guns and possibly some gold to trade for
cotton at Charleston. On October 6, 1864 the Constance Decimer ran onto
the wreck of the Georgiana and sank in 15 to 35 feet of water. This wreck
has been located and probably contains no treasure.5
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- The Norseman's Treasure
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- The Norseman was a British three-masted 49- or 197-ton
screw blockade runner steamer that carried a cargo of cotton and possibly
gold when it exited Charleston Harbor and hit the wreck of the Georgiana
on May 19, 1863. It sank in 8 to 12 feet of water in Maffitt's Channel
off Long Island (now called Isle of Pines) near 39th street. Any gold aboard
would have been salvaged due to its shallow depth.6
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- The York Castle's Treasure
-
- The York Castle was reported to be a blockade runner
with a cargo of 1,000 Enfield rifles and
- $300,000 in gold. It was said to have been sunk by Union
forces in Long Bay. (This appears to be a mythical wreck. Searching the
"Official Records" failed to bring up a mention of this wreck
as did research in many other sources.)7
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- Hampton Plantation Treasure
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- Near McClellanville, northeast of Charleston, is Hampton
Plantation which was built about 1735. George Washington once ate breakfast
there, a signer of the Declaration of Independence lived there, Audubon
painted birds there, and in 1843, Edgar Allen Poe wrote "The Gold
Bug" there.
-
- Dr. Archibald Rutledge, a writer and poet who lived from
1883-1973, also resided at Hampton Plantation. A ghost was said to have
been heard in the Hampton Plantation by the Rutledge Family for years,
giving rise to speculation about some mystery at the plantation. Dr. Rutledge
was investigating a passageway from the ballroom to the living room when
he found a secret sealed closet from the cellar. Dr. Rutledge and a helper
sawed into the closet from the cellar. In the closet he discovered a small
box with a folded house plan containing an X marked about 35 feet angling
from the house with a chest drawn on it.
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- Going outside Dr. Rutledge found that the location marked
on the map with an X was near an old oak tree. Using a steel rod he probed
around the tree until it hit something solid. Digging down four feet Dr.
Rutledge discovered a sealed crock. Inside the crock was an 1861 copy of
the Charleston Mercury newspaper reporting the firing on Ft. Sumter and
other newspapers wrapping up 198 gold coins. The Rutledge family had a
legend about his grandfather hiding money from Union soldiers during the
Civil War.8
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- The Lotus' Treasure
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- The Union schooner Lotus of Boston, Massachusetts was
carrying a cargo of sutler's stores and a shipment by Adams Express Company
from New York City for Port Royal, South Carolina, when it ran ashore on
the night of January 15,1865 at North Shore Beach near Winyah Bay.
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- GREENWOOD COUNTY
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- Wagon Train Treasure
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- A Confederate wagon train carrying six tons of silver
from Arizona Was said to have been ambushed by Union troops near Saluca.
The silver was thrown into the Saluca River to prevent its capture. The
treasure was hidden about 10 miles northeast of Greenwood.10
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- HORRY COUNTY
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- Fort Randall Treasures
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- Several Civil War treasures were supposed to be located
near Fort Randall and the Little River, north of Myrtle Beach.11
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- Walnut Grove Treasure
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- Walnut Grove Plantation was built in 1756 near the Tyger
River. In 1864, General Sherman's Union Army marched through South Carolina
and Walnut Grove's owners, according to legend, buried their silverware
and money on the plantation. One version of the story said the treasure
was cached in an unused well, which was then filled with dirt. Two family
members were killed in the Civil War and the surviving family members were
said to never have located the treasure.12
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- http://charlestonvoice.netfirms.com/ConfedGoldTreasures.htm
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