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In April, 1865, what was left of the Confederate treasury, estimated at over half a million dollars in gold, left Richmond, Virginia under heavy guard. For more than a month the boxes and chests were moved from one southern town to another to protect it from seizure by the North. Twice the treasure was taken to Washington-Wilkes before it came back for a final visit, as Washington was the last town to shelter the fortune.
As the Confederacy fell apart, some of the fortune was captured with Davis in Irwinville, and northern troops seized $100,000 of the original amount stored in a Washington bank. To this day, legend persists that the balance of the Confederate Gold is buried somewhere in Wilkes County.
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