National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1881-12-24
WHO GOT THE MONEY ?
GOLD SPECIE OF THE ooNFEDERAoY,
A Sensation in the Southern Country Relative to
the Statement Made by General 10 John.
ston-What Bob Toombs aud
Others Say.


days ago oftho Cincinnati Enquirer, said You arc
aware of course, sir that when Trenholm was
called to the secretaryshp Of the treasury almost
his first act was TO announce to people his
intention 10 collect and accumulate every dollar
Of specie possible, that 1t might form ,usis as
used to be the in the State banks issuing their
own notes. For instance, the Virginia banks, on
n foundation Of each dollar in specie, were per-
miitcd to issue S. and 50 ON. II is further known
20 every intelligent man in the south mat there
was large amount thus accumulated"
"MhNt became OF H. GCncnlY
-" II was the npdog9lGa q, opinion o. General 1ldi
Charlotte, n. C. The reporter who recently pub
lshed what purporied to be an Interview VIII NC
mudC mistake In the number Of wagons. said
that the confederate officer told me that there
were fifteen wagons. Three weeks, or thercnbont,
before my surrender to General sherman n special
detail was made from the navy the sailors innk;
tng as privntcs, with n few commissioned naval
officers, aud were sent TO Charlotte rs an eMlraor.
diunry guard for the mint wherein THIS specie was
stored; and these men were carefully selected as
guard for this treasure when II was removed
prpa SInE d Gt'r wGs to ' TTSSSt i against
the irregular cavolry-such rs lmbudcn, Duke
&c-which accompanied MIR. Davis. These
cayalrymcn returned in state Of thorough dis.
gust, when, after starting ns Nh escort of honor
they found themselves suspected These men had
received about hny cents each IN coppcrs In TINS
interview do not desire to give any names,
have been misrepresenied 81 ulGn ihati was nm
up my mind if shall or shall not write anything
on the subject for the papers. ~, however, 30
sent shall have my communication for publica'
ton IN preference 10 nny other paper THIS rub'
lshed Interview necessiiatcs, however, my writing
~ General BguurCgnid ana Colonel Paul
who Arc tnc Two Grncrais7
The reporter Of the EuquHsr In writing from this
city, says: 1T was my good fortune To-day 10
meet with u Southern gentleman who served dur.
ing the entire war In the armies Of his section, and
he very naturally was interested in the Davis
Johnston interview. In few moments ] disCOy-
cred that he knew something about the confcd.
efatc specie also, aud, after general talk, asked
him to give me an item Cor publication, which he
unhesitalingly did. lie began thus:
" Poor Charlie Daniel. Of savannah dead now
God rest his soulO, wasas gallant aud brave aman
as ever drew sword, lie was captain OF an nrul,
lCry company, of which Jack MCGill, once well
known in Chicago, was first lieutenant. one
evening in the month Of December, 1865. was sit
ting with him over bright fire in n second story
room in the city of Savannah, and we were talk
ing over our battles, marches, i9iigucs, &C. when,
turning suddenly 10 me, he said: ID, am going
to tell you Il little episode ut the end OF the war
which occurred to me. Being at Charlotte
N. c., when the thing collapsed, General -
came TO me and said Captain d.. have very
special duty which have come to you to request
that You will perform. II isnothng more nor less
than this. have two or three wagons loaded
with specie belonging to the confederate govern.
mcnt and no one, not even the driver is aware OF
It; and knowing you from your childhood, have
cnme TO ntrust ii to your care a request from
such source was an order, and | sleeplessy
guarded it until we reached Augusta. The
morning afler we reached there, Just before
day, this gentleman came TO me ana
thanked me e for my YghamCs a NO
leve me- l saw those wagons move out and dis
appear on the old Savannah road the two gentle
men accompanied them on horseback. ] have
never heard Of the wagons since, but General -
family TALL hands, are in Europe now-too poor,
down the stream of life IN very digniRcd and
easy manner. Had they divided, would not now
be compelled to ask You to JOIN me AZ spirits IN
erals are very wealthy, and correspondingly
what Rob Toombs Says.
Rob log al SuDppt
his home in Washington, Ga esaid: 81 was here
ut my home when jefferson Davis, Reagan, and
shortly before the capture OF The party" General
Toombs is quite familiar with the incidents sur
rounding that episode in the history of the at.
tempted escape. His attention being called to the
statements in the Philadelphia Pres interview with
General Johnston, General 1oombs said:
There Is me grave mistake in the idea that
Mr.. Davis could have pcrpctrntcd such an act.
Whatever may have been his faults 10 man who
knows him well will believe that he could convert
O dime of anybody's money to his own use. The
stRtemt mt Is papably wrong. No such amount of
money in specie could in my opinion and in that
emergency, have been so carried away from Rich
niond, and to such distance. do not personally
know IT, but all the circumstances would lead me
to the belief that Mr., Davis had very little money
with him in his flight.
II did not entertain Mr.. Davis on that occasion
because we were not friendly but Reagan, LIST
Johns, and Moses stopped with me, and believe |
would have been informed of any such iaCt as the
when Brcclinridgc left he sent back in few hours
, by his own son u sack Of spece, perhaps $1,000,
which he found T. Impossible to convey ,
yard. l had It TUNED over TO an honest gem
icman In my town for the purpose of buying
food for returning soldiers; buta Captain Abrams,
from an Iowa company, took most OF 1t away from
the gentleman, and have never heard of II since.
was forced TO escape; but heard, after my re-.
turn home from Europe, that an escort to about
S95OOOO belonging to the Richmond banks, had
been ovcrpowercd and plundercd by the soldiers
GenGSr9I Toombs refuses to believe the story a.
tCld in the press and promises your correspondent
some fuller information as soon as the eXnct data
can reach him from his home. General Dubolse
ex member of Congress, and a resident OF Wash;
ADDS that there is II popular belief In WilRe'
County that large treasure is buried somewhere
IN the county Occasionally coins appear III circu
lutiOu that bear all the evidences Of having beer
long buried. Many searches have been made fol
the money, and almost any one can arouse II scnsH
ton there by claiming some knowledge OF III
whereabouts. Still this in his opinion, is not true
view, and believes General Johnston is EVIDENT!
mislcd
Did BrccLinridgc Get II?
General T.. T.. Alexander In an interview a
Louisville, NY, said that he was well satisfied tina
General Johnston had been Intentionally mis-
quoted in regard to Jefferson Davis and the spec
Of the coniCdcmcy aud Richmond banks; that
notwithstanding personalities, General Johnston
sun possessedaull share of peniemuuly qualities
mculs Us those published in the Philadelphia
IIcss. lie said that Davis was possessed of TN
Iilblest instincts of which man is heir aud tia
lie would scGrn the very thought Of being impli
cI,cd in either wronging the coniederOcy or th
bhnks ut The time reported
The whole transaction" said the General, "a
have read it, is absurd, simply from the fact tina
at the close Of the siege of Richmond all tn
money In the world could not have saved II, rs
Nuuld not have made men, muskcts, or 0mmuni
ton. Hence the money said TO have been con
tributed by the Richmond banks Is myth Tn
entire story Is exaggerated as to amounts anyhow
lam well satisfied"
II understand General Alexander, that you
home was ut Washington, Ga, when the wa
clOsed2"
"Yes, It was; and arrived at home from tn
army on the ith of May, 1865, in about two hour
Rner Mr. Davis aud his party had leh."
DID you hear anything then about the speci
alluded TO in these reports?"
"Yes. There were two lots of specie, belonging
tothc Richmond banks, deposited in tie vault o
at Washington. This, | think, amounted to 500,
600; and there was also some confederate specie i
the vault, but u much less amount than the bNul,
had. am satisfied that all the confederate coli
That was brought TO Washington was distributed I
the soldier before theywere disbanded, except
small amount that was taken by General BreCkm
sissppi AZ E6er BFccEihrNdigc had had regch i,
ington he heard Of the advance Of some Fedora
cavalry, and turned his course toward Florida
and in order TO make his burden lighter, he sen
amRn back 70 Washington with two bags of IN
gptcie he had taken, ana the man threw them int
the yard of the residence of General ToOmb
where II was aiterward found and turned over I
the Federal authorities. Breckenridge, how
ever, got some of the money, but can not 50
how much. He went 10 CuOn, at any rat,
and that was the last heard of him for som
time. The next confederate valuableS that
remember hearing Of was $4,000 or $4,000
bullion sent from Richmond in cars. IL was on dc
pOsit for short time at the branch OF the GeOfgi
state Bank, but donot remember who had CharG
of IL. Yet my recollection, ~ that II was final
turned over 10 the Federal anthorities at Ausust
il sent down 10 that city for that purpOs
That Mr.. Davis got none of this money was evidei
70 everybody, as he nor any oithe members Of Ia
belonging