The Hunt For Gettysburg Gold

By Charlie Johnson

The story begins in April 1863. General Robert E. Lee is informed through a spy that the North is in possession of 46 million in gold. This gold comes from the gold mines in California and was shipped by sea to Philadelphia. From there it is to be transported to Washington by train. Lee sends Jeb Stuart to steal the gold off of the train in eastern Pennsylvania. To assist Stuart, Lee plans to move his army north into central Pennsylvania thus distracting the Union Army. Even though the gold is apprehended, bad weather and bad luck work against Stuart and the gold ends up being buried in a secret location west of Gettysburg .
The story fast-forwards to modern times. Earl Atwood lives in a small town in North Carolina. He is a descendant of a Confederate soldier. Earl and his family and nearly everyone else in town are on hard times as the mill in town has been shut down and there are simply no other jobs. To supplement his income Earl decides to sell some of his possessions. When Earl is looking for things to sell, he finds an old trunk which contains many relics from his great grandfather which include a book which he believes is filled with clues leading to the gold. He enlists the help of Brian, his brother-in-law, a professor of History from the University of Pennsylvania, and that professor’s brother who is a cryptologist. These men set out on an exciting adventure changing their lives forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Charlie Johnson
• Release date: Apr 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311055903

Charlie Johnson

Chas Johnson was born in Hanover PA in 1947. On New Years Day in 1960 Chas' grandfather drove him to a home on Frederick Street in Hanover and pointing to a window on the second floor of that building he asked, "Guess what happened in that room exactly one hundred years ago, this day?" Chas had no idea and said so. "Well," continued the old man, "John Luther Long was born, that's what happened!"In the ensuing conversation it was determined that Long wrote the book Madam Butterfly upon which the movie and the opera were based. Chas' first reaction was that it was odd that a man from this little town could somehow be an expert on such an exotic subject.Later however, John Luther Long became some sort of an enigma to Chas, as none of Chas' teachers ever mentioned him and when questioned about him simply rebuffed the query. Yet Long in Chas' mind was easily the most famous man to come from Hanover, not Al Jack Bemiller who played center for the Buffalo Bills as many others would say.Chas went to Penn State University and received a degree in business. During college he took several writing courses and always did very well, with several of his professors urging him to attempt to publish some of his work.But upon graduation, Chas went into the business world and with those demands, plus marriage and family, writing went to the side, yet it was always a desire that pressed at him.As the children grew and moved away, Chas had more free time and started to dabble in writing again. First he wrote a series of various poems and had several published in various poetic magazines, but that was not fulfilling. So in the matter of course he started to write a novel.Now Chas and his wife live in rural Maryland, not far from the Chesapeake Bay and enjoy a quiet life.

Book preview

The Great Train Robbery

Chapter 1

April 9, 1863

Mrs Annabel Jordan

72 23rd Street NW

Washington, District of Columbia

My Darling Belle

I am in deepest yearning for your presence. Life without you near is intolerable at best, cruel is truer the fact. But good news, my darling, I have secured the gold from the mines of California that Mr. Lincoln has directed to me and I will now be returning to the East. We ship out on the morning high tide, destination Central America. Secrecy being an utmost concern thus I may not speak of the logistics at hand, only it shall be safe to say that we shall reunite before the Fourth of July.

Trust that the journey will be hard work for both myself and Mr. Wallace, other than that I may not elaborate.

Again I thank God for Mr. Wallace. I know that I have exclaimed his value to you in previous writings, but without that man, I fear my mission would have failed or at best been twice as lengthy. While I sleep in shabby inns, or barren back rooms, he stands guard with the gold and mules and wagons. He secures gold from miners whom had previously told me that they had none, or refused to sell because they feared the direction upon which the War may turn and that the currency which I offered may become worthless or worth less. He finds labourers to drive the wagons and laden the heavy gold, although I do carry my share of the labours. He nearly does everything I am unable to do, as example, just earlier I wrote our dear President with full details of our schedule home. He would assure both of these posted before we sail on the morrow.

I must close now my dear, as the hour is late and the light fades. Know that if I could I would write you epics of poetry and love stories, but alas I have a duty to my country, nay it be a duty to you my Love for when I return the results shall help end this awful War and we can resume our life in Peace and in Love. Yes I do this for my country, my motivation being your safety and that of our children yet born.

Unending Love

Yours forever and ever

Joseph

In the morning Wallace did post both letters, but Belle never read hers, nor did President Lincoln, for the letters were bundled and mailed by courier to Richmond Virginia, to the attention of James Seddon, Secretary of War for the Confederate States, a man whom forty six million in gold would be a pure Godsend. Seddon wasted little time notifying General Robert E. Lee of the urgency Lee must attend in order to secure this gold for the Southern treasury.

Several days later, Lee summons General Jeb Stuart to his tent at their encampment just west of Culpepper Virginia. James, the old man was the only person beside Stuart’s mother who ever called him by his true name, We have been given orders, an assignment from Richmond which I personally find repugnant. We, you are, I’m afraid, about to become a thief.

General Sir, I consider it my God blessed right to relieve them Yanks of their stores and supplies, even get a couple horses when we can, cept they mostly kill the horses before given them up to me.

Well Son, I’d be lying to say this is just stealing some supplies. I’d dare say that this is a whole lot more than just supplies. There’s some who think that what’s at hand could win the war. It’d be a very dangerous mission, you’d be the only man I’d send, cause none other than yourself would have even a slim chance of success.

Well now General, y’all got my interests up, what’ll be the bad news?

Step over here James, and see. Lee swung his arm to indicate a path around the table that separated the two. Stuart noted how frail the old man appeared, his complexion nearly as grey as his butternut uniform, his once keen eyes were puffed and weary.As Stuart glanced at the paper on the table and even upside down he could determine that it was a map, a crude one yet still a map.

There was no mistaking the partial word Philadelphia off to one side and Baltimore jotted in the middle. The short hairs on his nape twitched.

This mission’ll take you on up to enemy territory, Pennsylvania and Maryland, and that ain’t the worst of it. Y’all be stealing over forty million dollars in heavily guarded gold from off a train. You need to be in place the morning of June 30th at just after sunrise. You understand? When Lee asked if Stuart understood, it meant for him to be there regardless.

Stuart looked Lee in the eye, pondered the proposal and after a few seconds said, That’d be forty maybe fifty wagonfuls of gold. What am I supposed to do with it once I steals it?

Lee was amazed at the man’s ability to calculate the volume of gold and its weight so correctly in just a few seconds. He himself had to be informed of the amount by an aide. That was very acute of you James, figuring the tonnage so fast. As far as to the disposition of the gains, well if we can get it to Richmond then we must, that would be our duty, but the main job will be to get it apart from the clutches of the Yanks.

Well Sir, I reckon there’ll be a passel of Yanks to get it away from, being up in their land and all. Stuart faked a laugh, but Lee knew the man thought this a suicide mission from the go.

James, I got me a feign of sort. Whilst you and your men skirt through the Yanks lines and headway to here. He pressed his finger to a point just south of a town named Oxford, Pennsylvania. Me and the Army, we’ll be heading here. He drug his finger over the rough map to another town named Chambersburg. That should sure enough get the attention of all them Yanks y’all be worrying over.

Stuart weighted his words, Sir, begging your pardon, but moving the Army to the North is a perilous undertaking, this here gold must be mighty important. He shook his head, then added, I’ll be getting it all for you sir. Stuart pointed to the town of Oxford on the map, Back over here, Sir, why should me and my men be there?

Just south of Oxford the train with the gold has to slow for a prickly turn in the track. Take up the track if you need, so they got to stop, but if you do it right they’ll get plenty a time to stop on their own. There’ll be civilians on that train, if’n they get killed that would be disquieting, so we should do our best to do this without killing any. Now, after you get the gold you’re gone to have to go north some more to get back over to the west side of the Susquehanna. Seems Lincoln will be sending cavalry to help guard the train once it crosses the bridge down at the end of that river at Port Deposit. I’m not thinking that they’d be too accommodating to you and your boys hauling off their gold. Lee chuckled at his little joke. The bridge at Wrightsville is loosely guarded and if I can I’ll send some men over that way to help you. That would be the best way for you to get back. The road from Lancaster to Chambersburg is a paved one, making it easier for you to get the heavy gold away from the North.

One more thing James, we got a man on the train, named Wallace, don’t know his appearance but he’s the one who’s letting us know about the gold and where it’ll be. I also know not his motives in all this, if’n he be in it for part of the gold, parcel him a few pounds and send him on his way with the thanks of the South. Either way, give him no quarter; do not allow him to travel with you and your men. If they happen to take you and he’s alongside, they’d call you all spies and shoot you on the spot.

Don’t you concern yourself over that sir, if we run into any Yanks, they would be the ones getting shot.

Chapter 2

Philadelphia summers are as unpleasant an experience as anyone might want to have; hot muggy days followed by hot airless nights, your breath sticks in your throat as you try to sleep, no wonder the revolution started here. Joseph Jordan and Mr. Wallace sat on the platform of the train station awaiting the last of the gold to be loaded and secured by the Pinkerton men who were now in charge, but Jordan was unable to stop worrying over that which had been his every thought for over eight months. A fine rain had started to fall. Joseph hoped that the rain would cool things, even if only slightly. Eight months he had been away from his home and his wife. The time to travel to California, secure forty five million four hundred and twelve thousand eight hundred and fifty six dollars in gold and then transport that gold back to the east coast was remarkable. Now the last part of the journey was at hand, only a few hours remained and he would be back in his home with his lovely wife.

Jordan dressed in black pants and black woolen jacket and a linen shirt that he had had washed and pressed the day before so that he would look good upon his return to Washington, which he wore buttoned to the neck, out of respect for the moment at hand, no tie was worn as Joseph had lost the only tie that he took with him and he did not see fit to purchase one at this time. He got word of a Confederate movement in Pennsylvania, but was not alarmed once he was told that the Rebs were amassing over a hundred miles away in a small town named Chambersburg.

He observed a boy, no more than twelve, stoking the boiler fire with the fresh cut firewood wrenched from the tender car directly behind the large engine itself, the young man was covered in grime already and the journey had not yet begun. Another man was busy walking around the great engine with an oil can, liberally applying lubrication to joints and pivots and moving parts of the drive assembly. He also was covered with grime. A man dressed in black with a green vest and a green neck tie, wearing a flat hat, boarded the platform and Jordan was informed that he was the conductor. The man in the green vest approached the man with the oil can and a discussion broke out with them both pointing and gesturing, finally the man in the green vest pulled a gold time piece from the vest pocket and pointed to the dial, the other shrugged and turned and went back to work. Soon the man with the oil can climbed the side of the huge engine and took a reed into his hand, lit it from the fire in the boiler and traversed a walkway along the side of the behemoth, just above the large metal wheels and struck the wick of an oil lantern at the base of a huge chimney gushing a thick black smoke.

Chapter 3

A man that Jordan knew to be the head of the Pinkerton crew boarded the platform and approached the conductor. Wallace had expressed a dislike for the fellow as he dressed in a manner that Wallace, and quite frankly Joseph as well, considered a dandy, tailored suit with vest of cotton fabric, brown with a pencil thin blue line crosshatched at about one inch intervals, and a pale blue shirt with a string tie and boots of polished leather that barely covered the ankle. All in all not a fit outfit for any man of occupation. After a brief conversation with the conductor the man turned to Joseph and yelled that they had better be getting on board as the train would be departing shortly.

Just then the beast blasted a screeching holler. Joseph jumped up from the bench with a start only to realize that it was only the engineer testing the train’s horn. A necessity he was told to assure that cattle would move off of the tracks ahead of the oncoming train. Seemed to Joseph that the sound of the horn would more likely scare the cattle to death rather than off the track, but he could see the usefulness of such a device.

Regaining his composure, Joseph turned to Wallace and said, Well my friend, shall we see this mission finished?

Wallace grinned and replied, Indeed!

Joseph grasped Wallace’s hand in a firm handshake, clearly an expression of gratitude on the part of Joseph for all of the assistance that had been offered. Wallace looked away and broke the grip in embarrassment, or as Joseph saw it, with modesty.

Chapter 4

It wasn’t long and the train started to roll. They moved slowly, at first, as they navigated within the city of Philadelphia, but soon they were in a rural area and the train could operate at full speed. Paoli, sight of the famous Revolutionary War massacre, went past, Joseph saw a sign declaring Brandywine station, and they rolled along into the early morning darkness. As they approached Chadds Ford, Joseph was informed by the conductor that the engine had achieved top speed of 24 miles per hour which would have their arrival in Washington at just past two in the afternoon. Joseph marveled at the power and speed of the locomotive, the trip from Philadelphia to Washington a mere eleven hours, he envisioned a day not far off when trains would crisscross the country, moving people and goods with great ease. A journey such as the one he just made would be done in a few weeks instead of eight months. They just needed to get this stupid war behind them and allow the country to get back to growing and advancing. Newton Square zoomed past as a red sun broke the horizon, highlighting everything around in an eerie yet beautiful glow. The countryside in Pennsylvania was lush and green, fields full of corn and wheat, pastures with cattle grazing, orchards that ran as far as the eye could see. Joseph had grown tired of the brown and mud of California, the Pacific Ocean was beautiful but otherwise, thank God they have gold or there would be no reason for anyone to live in California. Joseph allowed his thoughts to wonder and planned a carriage ride for tomorrow where he would take his wife on a picnic in the countryside to the far east of Washington, in the small gentle glen overlooking the Potomac River, where he had proposed to her five years before. That was for tomorrow, for today he had some rest to catch up after the sleepless nights in Philadelphia.

Joseph lay across a crate containing some of the gold and he fell soundly asleep and dreamed of his reunion with his wife and how much he would spend tonight making sweet love to her.

Chapter 5

Suddenly, Joseph’s dream was interrupted by a shout, There’s fire on the track! Fire on the track! Joseph pulled himself up from the crate he had been resting on and quickly perused the situation. The gold had been loaded onto three rail cars to distribute the weight, these three cars were clad in steel up four feet on both sides, except where the five foot sliding door was attached to the side that allowed access. The cars with the gold were placed six through eight in the procession of cars with passenger cars ahead of it in three through five. The passenger cars where only partially occupied and many of those passenger were in fact Pinkerton men, three or four to a car. Each gold car had three of the Pinkerton men along with a railroad security man in each car. Directly behind the gold cars were several freight cars taking war supplies to Washington. These cars were followed by a caboose with a handful of Pinkerton men and another railroad employee. Joseph and Mr. Wallace choose to split up, with Joseph in the sixth car and Wallace in the eighth.

The train slowed despite calls from some of the Pinkerton men to just keep moving, yet not a single shot was fired. Joseph quickly realized a serious fault in the design of the rail cars in that they afforded no opportunity for those inside the car to see their assailants and thus they would need to go to the unprotected doorway in any attempt to actually fend off an attack, and at the doorway they had no protection at all other than the wood of the door.

A strong clear voice rang out, Gentlemen aboard this train, yield yourselves to me and my army. I am General James Ewell Brown Stuart of the First Virginia Calvary Unit, of the Army of the Confederate States of America, and my men and I have rightly surrounded your train and we wish to remove some of its contents without consideration for loss of life or serious injury to your vehicle. So hand down your arms and exit the train posthaste.

Chapter 6

All was silent for about ten heart beats as consideration in the minds of the men aboard the train determined the scope of the threat versus their commitment to the cargo on this train. Jordan feared that if this went on for much longer, some of the men may indeed lay down their rifles and walk off the train, and he could not allow that. So with all the bravery he could muster he pulled his pistol, a Colt 31 caliber Navy Yank revolver, from his holster and stepped to the door leading out to the platform between the first of the gold cars and the last of the passenger cars, and emitting a blood thirsty yell he aimed wildly and fired. Joseph Jordan, standing on an unprotected platform in the early morning light was firing his weapon wildly at ghost thanks to the smoke reflecting the orange glow of the morning sun, averted threats to his mission that he would not allow to exist. Soon his firing was joined by many of the Pinkerton men and the roar of the guns being fired was deafening. Emptying his revolver he stepped back for a second to reload, and he heard shouts from the attackers. Who were they? Who did they say they were? The rebels? How in the world could rebels be attacking this train so near Philadelphia?

His head was whirling with questions and fear. He had come so far and worked so hard he could not fail now. He stepped back out onto the platform and fired his pistol into the haze and smoke, not sure if he was actually hitting anything or simply wasting ammunition. Then he heard it. The voice that had called out before, offering a second chance, to drop their weapons: Jordan replied by firing another round wildly in the direction of this voice. Then, like a fire rushing through dry grass, the men alongside the train, the would-be train robbers, opened return fire. Joseph could see the side of the rail cars splinter, glass shattered everywhere, men cried out that they were hit and needed help, some just cried out and then went silent. Joseph fired his revolver as fast as he could, but still he could not see what he was shooting at since the smoke was still so heavy and the early morning light so dim. He backed off and reloaded again, as he stepped back unto the platform the smoke had lifted a bit and he could see men all along the track with rifles pointed at the train he raised his gun to fire as a bullet found him. He dropped to the ground, blood gushing from a bullet hole in his neck. He died a few seconds later.

The Pinkerton men had better sense than Jordan did and stayed hidden behind the metal partitions of the cargo cars but soon Mr. Wallace made sure that the ones in the rail cars were killed, by sneaking up behind them as a friend looking to share the same protection and shooting them in the back during a flurry of fire from the soldiers outside. In the end, all but three of the Pinkerton men, the engineer, the boiler tender, and five passengers where shot, most were already deceased the remainder would be soon for it would be a long while until they could seek medical attention, as there were but eighty two of the soldiers remaining healthy that could transfer the gold and it was going to take them a while. Wallace was given a horse and a bag containing about twenty five pounds of gold – a goodly sum - and sent on his way.

PART II

Leaves of Grass

Chapter 7

Earl Atwood sat in the office he had made for himself in the parlor of his home on West Lee Street, Custisville, North Carolina. The round faced, forty-five year old with a slight beer belly, broad shoulders, thinning sandy brown hair and a goatee, pondered the events which turned his world upside down during the past three years. He had had an ideal life, well ideal for him, now he felt as though he were a man without a soul. He hadn’t been a Senator or Rock Star or nothing special, just a guy who lived in a small town with a nice home, a great wife, some good friends, and a good job and he could party on Saturday night with the best of them. Sunday mornings found him in the third pew on the right at the First United Baptist Church, one of two churches in town, a town where nearly everyone went to church on Sunday. He has been married to his high school sweetheart, Alice, a pretty red head with the freckles to match, for twenty seven years and they had two children, both were grown and had moved away.

Earl had been a foreman at the garment factory where nearly everybody in town and the surrounding area worked as it was the only factory for miles around. The garment factory had been started by his great-great grandfather after the Civil War.

Life had been good, but then came Oliver Capital Corporation and that changed it all.

Chapter 8

The story of Oliver Capital was a familiar one in many an American community: small businesses struggling to compete with foreign manufactures while paying American living wages; guys in silver suits and hundred dollar haircuts show up with cash falling out of their pockets and all kinds of promises about how they’re going to fix everything; owners that had lost their heart to fight, but were staying in business