The Lost Confederate Gold

Everyone loves a treasure hunt. Especially when it involves gold. The mystery of the lost Confederate Gold has been debated for about 150 years. It is believed that Confederate President Jefferson Davis left Richmond, Virginia in May of 1865 with what is estimated to be about $500,000 in Confederate Gold coins, bullion, and private Virginia bank funds.

Davis and his entourage and the majority of the gold made it to the town of Washington, GA around the middle of May, 1865. This is the point where the Confederate Gold gets lost and many theories abound as to what happened to it. Many believe that Confederate Naval Paymaster James A. Semple was entrusted with $86,000 of the Confederate Gold and him and the money virtually disappeared into history some time after he left Augusta, GA.

Another theory proposes that a gentleman named Sylvester Mumford, who was supposedly present at the last Confederate Cabinet meeting when the gold was divided up among the remaining members of Davis's trusted circle, eventually took it to England with him.

Another theory has the caravan that eventually headed back to Richmond with the money was robbed by local Confederate and Union forces still in the area and the money was gone with the wind after that.

One more theory has chief clerk of the Confederate Navy Department, Edward M. Tidball, that was with Semple for part of his journey, stopped somewhere along the way and they divided the money between the two of them. It is believed that Tidball then returned to his home in Winchester, VA with almost $30,000 of the Confederate Treasury Gold. It was never found and he left no clue as to it's whereabouts.

One of the last theories has the belief that there was no money left by the time Davis reached Washington, GA. The Confederate troops knew the cause was lost, most had not been paid in months and the gold was used to pay off the Confederate troops encountered along the route from Richmond to Washington, GA.