[Davis' hesitation nearly dooms flight
by Brent Hughes
Confederate government officials came within a few hours of not getting out of Richmond as resistance collapsed. The delay must be attributed primarily to hesitation on the part of President Jefferson Davis to face reality. Indeed, it had been obvious to most people for more than a year that the war was lost, but Davis had held himself aloof from all the evidence.
The West Point graduate considered himself a military leader, not a civilian executive. On Sunday, April 2, 1865, Davis was attending services in St. Paul's church when he received a telegram from Gen. Robert E. Lee advising him that Richmond must be evacuated immediately. Davis resisted for a time but finally gave the order.
He and his Cabinet officers would leave first and set up a new government southwest of Richmond at Danville. Everyone else was to save whatever they could and follow.
Treasury officers had to pack and transport to the railroad depot the cash and other assets in their vaults. Every kind of container was used - boxes, chests, barrels - whatever was available. In spite of widespread panic, these men maintained control of the situation, so we know what valuables left Richmond and what became of them on the hectic journey south.
The Treasury assets consisted of $20 gold pieces, Mexican silver dollars, gold and silver ingots, English gold sovereigns and sacks of silver and copper coins. Someone also brought along a huge quantity of almost worthless Confederate currency and bonds, which the tellers never listed as assets. They also did not count the value of a box of jewelry donated to the government by the ladies of Richmond.
Also aboard the train was $345,000 in gold that represented the assets of the Richmond banks and was accompanied by bank officers. Oddly enough, some Cabinet officers took with them large amounts of U.S. greenbacks, their salaries for several months. Official Treasury assets alone totaled about $500,000.
Thus, we know that when the train left Richmond shortly after midnight, it carried about $845,000 in valuable metals. Watching over it was a confidential secretary to Davis, Capt. Micajah H. Clark, who kept detailed records of disbursements.
During the week at Danville, Treasury tellers exchanged silver coins for Confederate currency at the rate of $1 coin for $70 in bills. This and other expenses reduced the Treasury assets to $327,022.90. At Greensboro, N.C., Davis ordered Clark to pay out $39,000 in coin to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston to meet his payroll.
It was there that Davis and his party separated from the rest of the group and headed for Charlotte by wagon and horseback. Clark transferred $35,000 in gold sovereigns to the president's wagon to pay expenses along the route.
At Charlotte, Clark stored the remaining $253,022.90 in a secure building while Davis tried to reorganize his government. Those efforts failed when it was learned that President Lincoln had been assassinated and the Union military had been ordered to arrest Davis and his associates.
The Confederate president and his party left with a 50-soldier escort. The Treasury wagons followed a different route, with 2,000 troops as guards. Both groups would shrink as they moved south.
At Abbeville, S.C., soldiers began to leave en masse, and the stop at Washington, Ga., saw an almost total disintegration of the Confederate parties. Clark handled disbursements with his usual coolness. Davis appointed him acting treasurer of the Confederate States as he paid out $108,322.90.
That left $144,700 on hand. Incredibly, Davis still hoped to set up a new government in Texas and asked various officials to take money for that purpose. He also ordered two officers named Tidball and Semple to carry $86,000 to Europe. No one knows what happened to them.
Then began the period when Union troops moved toward Washington, Ga., intent on collecting the reward for the capture of Davis. Scouts warned Davis and Clark, who hurriedly paid out the remainder of the Treasury funds to the hundreds of soldiers due back pay. Davis then asked Clark to take back the remaining gold in his wagons and head for Florida. From that money, Clark paid out $9,800 to the president's staff officers as they departed.
Davis soon was captured near Sandersville, Ga., while Clark and his party moved on to the plantation of Sen. David Yulee near Gainesville, Fla. Back at Washington, Ga., Union soldiers stole the jewelry donated by the ladies of Richmond and terrorized the town in their search for Rebel gold.
In Florida, Clark was forced to give the remainder of the gold to Capt. Watson Van Benthuysen, head of Jefferson Davis' Elite Guard. Clark was officially relieved of further responsibility for the funds as the captain first "set aside" $6,500 for Mrs. Davis and her children.
He then divided the rest among the nine men still with the party. Each, including Clark, got $2,000. Two soldiers received $250 each. The captain's last payments were $20 each to the five black servants who had served the president very well. The men then scattered. (Clark settled in Tennessee, where he waited until 1882 before revealing that he still had his vouchers and receipts.)
Back in Georgia, the Richmond bankers tried to get home with the $345,000 in gold coins entrusted to them, but they were attacked by marauders who stole $250,000. The banks later sued the federal government for negligence in failing to provide military escorts. The case dragged on until 1893, when an appeals court awarded them $17,000.
Meanwhile, the Davis family was in desperate need in Canada and asked Van Benthuysen for the $6,500 set aside for it. So far as is known, he sent only $1,500, with no explanation. If Clark ever found out, he probably was outraged.]
BCH,
What happened to your last post?
The account given above is pretty close to what happened to the Confederate Treasury.
Joe Ribaudo
The process of filing for a Treasure Trove was the subject of an interesting thread elsewhere here in T-net, anyone interested can look it up, much excellent information came from a Forest Service ranger who actually handled the apps etc. Then again, you could end up with far more than half, if it ended up in court, just look at the story of the "Ship of Gold" - the finders got over 90% of the booty and all legal! 
Besides, wouldn't it be neat to be able to show the treasure on TV, for the rest of the world to enjoy, along with the story of how it was found and recovered - and without any fears of being arrested?
