Chester, S.C. At the End of the Confederacy-- Part 2: A Railroad Connection and Confederate Treasury

In 1865, with the fall of Columbia, S.C., and destruction of its rail yards, Chester was the  southern-most town that could be reached in the dying Confederacy.  It became a bustling town with an arsenal and four hospitals taking care of wounded soldiers coming in almost daily by train.  Many died and were buried in nearby cemeteries, most notably Evergreen.

In March and April, there was a huge influx of refugees.

On April 13, 1865, Chesterville's Southern railroad Station (on Lancaster Street) became the end of the line for the Confederate treasury train from Richmond.

Boxes of gold and silver, guarded by the midshipmen of the Confederate States Naval Academy and others were then loaded onto wagons and shipped south.

--Old Secesh

Chester County and Chester (S.C.) At the End of the War.

In an earlier blog yesterday, I mentioned that the midshipman of the Confederate States Naval Academy, guarding the Confederate treasury in April 1865 as the government fled south (also with Varina Davis, wife of Jefferson Davis) and they went to Chester (called Chesterville back then) before moving on to Abbeville, S.C..

I found a lot of good information about Chester at the Southern Fried Common Sense & Stuff blog.

As Sherman left the wreckage of Columbia, S.C., he decided on a feint toward Charlotte to the north, while his real destination was Fayetteville and then Goldsboro, North Carolina.  This took him toward Chesterville.  His main force went north to Winnsboro, 25 miles south of Chester before turning so he never actually entered Chester County, although scouting parties and his bummers did.

THE HANGING OF BURRELL HEMPHILL

In front of the  Hopewell Reformed Presbyterian Church in southern Chester County is a small stone monument  for Burrell Hemphill, a slave of Robert Hemphill who owned 2200 acres.  When Union forces passed through, the Hemphill family fled and left Burrell in charge of the estate.

Burrell buried the family silver in  the woods but was caught by Union bummers on his return.  He refused to tell them where he had buried the silver.  This angered them and they dragged Burrell to a spot near the church and hanged him and then lowered him several times, then rehanging him again but he continued to refuse to tell them.

He eventually died from the torture.  The Union soldiers then used his body for target practice.

--Old Secesh

The End and C.S. Naval Academy-- Part 3: Saved the Treasury and Disbanded

Lt. Parker decided not to disband the midshipmen and took it upon himself to take the Confederate treasury with him and go looking for President Davis or someone in the Treasury Department.  The force returned to Washington, Georgia, and then to Abbeville, S.C. in hopes of meeting them.

They arrived in Abbeville on April 29 and stored the treasury in a warehouse.  President Davis arrived on the 30th, accompanied by Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory.  Parker turned the treasury over to  the Acting Secretary of the Treasury who had them deliver it to Brigadier General Basil  W. Duke, commander of the cavalry detachment escorting the president.

On May 2, after just two years of existence the Confederate Naval Academy ceased to exist at Abbeville, S.C.,   Parker issued a written order to each midshipman detaching them from the academy, and after this, each one was given $40 in gold to help them reach their homes.

--Old Secesh

The End and the C.S. Naval Academy-- Part 2: On the Move Southward to Augusta

From April 3 to 9, Lt. Parker and his cadets were at Danville, Virginia, and then moved south to Greensboro, North Carolina, on April 10 and then to Charlotte on April 13.  Here the Confederate treasury that they had been guarding was placed in the Charlotte mint temporarily, but taken out as the Confederates  moved to Chester, South Carolina.

There the use of the train was abandoned and the treasury put on a wagon train, with gold packed ins small boxes and  and the silver in kegs.  The group, along with First Lady Varina Davis and her children, they traveled to Abbeville, S.C., by April 15 and stayed until the 17th and then  to Washington, Georgia, on the 19th and Augusta on the 20th.

By then, the midshipmen, Parker and the wagon train were in a serious situation.  They had no idea where President Davis or any member of the Treasury Department were.  They were helped thy the fact that they had joined a company of men under Captain Tabb back in Charlotte. But, there were bummers from Sherman's army and looters in the area.

But, he was able to secure  the treasury in the vaults of a bank in Augusta, and they remained in Augusta until after the surrender of Johnston.

--Old Secesh

The End of the Confederacy and the Confederate Naval Academy-- Part 1

Even though the Confederate States Naval Academy (CSNA) is Navy, I will write about it here as the cadets at the end of the war were land-based.

From Wikipedia.

In the spring of 1865, as the fall of Richmond grew more likely, Secretary Mallory made the decision to relocate the school further into the interior of what was left of the Confederacy, North or South Carolina or even Georgia.   Lt. Graves was sent to find a suitable site.    Nowhere was found and Superintendent  William H. Parker rented a warehouse in Richmond and the midshipmen made preparations to sink their school ship, the CSS Patrick Henry as an obstruction in the James River.

On the afternoon of April 2, as Richmond was being evacuated, Lt. Parker received orders to report to the quartermaster of the Confederate Army and to escort President Jefferson Davis, his party, the Confederate  archives and treasury south.  Parker took 50 of his midshipmen for this task and left  Lt. James W. Billips and 10 more to set fire to and destroy the Patrick Henry.  They succeeded in this, but never succeeded in catching up with the others.

The main group guarded the train with the treasury, consisting of $500,000 which was to be used setting up  a new government seat in Danville, Virginia.  Midshipman Raphael Semmes, Jr. was detailed to the staff of his father, Admiral Raphael Semmes.  Midshipman Clifton Rodes Breckinridge was detailed to the staff as an aide to his father,  Confederate States Secretary of War, John C. Breckinridge.

--Old Secesh