The Georgia in the Civil War Message Board - Archive

Re: Chenault Gold of Washington, GA

Dr. G. R. C. Todd, of Barnwell S. C. was a Confederate surgeon and brother in law of Abraham Lincoln. He was near Washington Georgia when most of the gold was given out to the soldiers and others. The gold you are concerned with would be the Bank of Richmond gold. When he came to discribing when they were 2 miles on the Georgia side of the Savannah river heading toward washington Ga. he said: "In paying out we finally came to a hog silver ingates-pieces three by four inch square. They opened a box of gold belonging to the Bank of Richmond. It was about 18 inches long and ten to twelve inches wide, and contained purses of gold. They madeca rough estimate of the value of that gold and of the keg of silver, and exchanged them. In that way I got some gold. Then they carried the Bank of Richmond money to the bank at Washington Georgia and deposited it. They took none of it, except a little box, for which they substituted the keg of silver ingots".

Full story can be found: Atlanta Constitution microfilm Jan. 19, 1892 page 7.

Major Joseph M. Brown said this:
"Meanwhile the officers of the banks sought the aid of the federal commander to return their specie to Richmond, and from them obtained a permit and also a guard of soldiers to protect it on its return trip. Claiming this gold as their private property, they undertook to transport it back to Richmond Va., overland in wagons, before the railroads had been restored to operation. Some of the officers and men of Vaughn's brigade became apprized that a train of specie was being carried north under Federal escort, and they jumped to the conclusion that it was the property of the Confederate Government which the Federals had captured. They concluded that their four years of hard service for the Confederacy entitled them to a share of this gold and silver, provided they could succeed in securing it from the Federal guard. With them the war was not yet over, and they acted upon the idea that anything is fair in war. They organized an expedition with the view of capturing this money and followed the train until a favorable opportunity of attack presented itself. They charged the train, captured and disarmed the guard, and proceeded at once to knock the heads out of the kegs and the lids off the boxes containing the coin and to fill their forage sacks with ten and twenty--dollar gold pieces. Several of them got away with as much as $60,000; some were content with $25,000, and still others with less amounts, depending upon the carrying capacity of their sacks and saddle bags.

One man began to fill his sack out of the first keg he came to, which proved to be a keg of silver. He was happy when he lugged off his bag of silver dollars, but when he met his companions later in the rendezvous, where they stopped to count their money, he found that he only had about $4,000, while his companions had secured several times that sum in gold, while his was in silver. He became greatly disturbed over his ill-luck and insisted that his more fortunate brothers divide their gold with him. This they refused to do, and he then determined to turn informer. He was good as his word, and upon the information furnished by this silver king, several of the gold-bugs were apprehended and forced to give up their booty. But a number of them were wise enough to keep going until they got safe from the scene of their capture.

I personally know several of the men who got some of the swag. Two of these men went with their money, amounting to more than $120,000, to Kansas City, Mo., where they engaged in business, becoming men of large wealth. Two others went to California, and with something more than $100,000 they embarked in business. One of the wealthiest planters in Texas got his start with money secured from those kegs, and still another in the same state has made good as a stockman, being now a cattle king.

The train en route was partly robbed a time or two, when finally the U.S. Government took charge of the gold, some one hundred thousand Dollars, and desposited it in the treasury at Washington, where it still remains, unsettled as to ownership"

The location of the raid on the "Bank of Richmond Gold" is repoted to be 12 miles north of Washington Georgia at what is called the "Chennault place".

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