The Search for Lost Confederate Gold

		Quote:			Posted by GoldDigger1950
	They spent a lot of time trying to make Washington their headquarters and force the North into submission.

     We must have read different histories, GD.   I know there were a lot of Southern generals (including Jackson) and officials who felt the best defense was a good offense, but except for the relatively late foray into Pennsylvania (i.e. the Gettysburg campaign), the war was pretty much confined to Southern territory with Lee and other major theatre commanders trying to deny the Yanks a foothold in the South and trying, where and when possible, to reclaim Southern territory (including the "border" states of Maryland, Tennessee, and Kentucky).   As for the Gettysburg campaign (the one truly aggressive campaign east of the Mississippi), Lee was basically drug into that one due to pressure from both above and below.   He would have been quite content to do exactly what you suggested assuming "those people" on the other side would just let his people alone.   As for the campaigns towards Washington, DC, when the seat of the enemies government is basically deep in your own territory (and the Confederacy always considered Maryland as part of the confederacy even if the Federal army had complete control of the state) standard military thinking would suggest that the quickest way to end a war that you KNOW you have to either win quickly or most likely lose is to take that capital.   From a purely strategic standpoint moving the Southern capital was a blunder since it put the Confederate capital so much closer to the border.....that gave both sides strong arguments to strike hard and fast and repeatedly towards each other's capital and ensured that much of the fiercest fighting would be in the area roughly between the two capital cities.

    As for the meat of the article that Seldom posted....the $43,000 total cash for the Confederate Treasury and possibly $70,000 cash for the private Richmond banks seems reasonable based on the historical accounts, journals, and papers of the day.   I'd even go so far as to say I doubt if much of that $43,000 was in gold---even silver would have been in very short supply in the official treasury even as early as late 1863 / early 1864 just based on the inflation rates for paper currency in the south (including in the Richmond area).  Given how much gold, silver, and even copper was being withdrawn from even the commercial banks in the South, it is debatable how much of the missing bank (not treasury) money was hard currency.

BA

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GD, unless we want to hijack Seldom's thread beyond the point of recovery, we'll just have to agree to disagree as to who was most often aggressor and who just wanted to be left alone in the late, great War of Northern Aggression since the two of us clearly have some regional differences which we can probably take up in a different thread---like one of the KGC ramblings.  (and yes, I fully and freely admit that my side fired the first shots.)

BA

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		Quote:			Posted by GoldDigger1950
	I am simply saying that the gold they had was spread around too thinly to do any real good. The South was doomed to failure by their own economic policies coupled with their war strategy. Playing the game of war is fine but prosecuting war is better. To sum up my point more directly, I agree with Seldom that there was far too little left at the end to make even a few dozen small caches and it's most likely that they were recovered by those who buried them. Supposition, on my part. Not history

    On those points we are in 100% agreement.   When you have an abundance of hard currency, you don't have the kind of runaway inflation that the South saw during the war (very similar to the inflation the "American" experienced during the American Revolution---and basically for the same reason).
    Since the vast majority of contemporaneous accounts, Northern, Southern, and foreign all indicate that Southern currency wasn't worth a "continental" because there was nowhere near enough hard currency to back the paper currency and bonds printed and since those who could have would have traded their paper for hard currency at every available opportunity (or would have demanded hard currency to begin with) the limited Confederate States Of America Treasury reserves would have dwindled very quickly during the 4 years of conflict and blockade to a point where wishful thinkers might assume vast quantities had been spirited away just because they refuse to concede that a government would run on nothing (I wonder how they explain Greece).

BA

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 Maybe they shouldn't have fired the first shot ! . cheers Mick

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how can they explain our currency the fed is printing our money with this huge deficit and there aint enough gold in reserve to cover it ? yet there is a treasury? talk about running on empty lol! sorry no answers only questions here guys  hard currency was the ticket i can agree with that.maybe  the richmond bank contents then may have been what people had exchanged paper for maybe it was the bulkier of the 2 cargo's ? would that have been a possibility what do you guys think? josey

Posted on: July 05, 2012, 12:39:14 PM

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is there any simularities in how banks and treasuries may have been evacuated from the fall of other U.S./ C.S. cities or strong holds in the north or south  thought i would ask? could there  be other possible treasure trails ? josey

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