| |
Richmond, Virginia
Georg was commissioned a Confederate Army officer by President Jefferson Davis because of his familiarity with the French Emperor. Davis was determined to seek recognition by the French Emperor of the Confederate States of America. But Emperor Napoleon III preferred to wait until the Confederate Army was victorious over the Union Army.
As President Davis's efforts to seek recognition with the French Emperor failed, Georg was appointed a Confederate spymaster instead. He performed many spying missions for Davis and the Confederate Army, including establishing a comprehensive spy ring surrounding Washington City.
But one fateful day, President Jefferson Davis ordered Georg, his most trusted spymaster to report to his office. Georg hurried to the Confederate “White House” three blocks away from the Virginia state capitol building, now the seat of the Confederate government. Georg found the Confederate President pacing in a circle around his office. He was muttering to himself and held a telegram in hand. Davis turned when Georg entered the room. Georg saluted and stood at attention.
Jefferson Davis began: “Lee plans to invade the North!” Davis crumpled the telegram in his hand and flung it on his desk. He continued pacing. Georg was startled at President Davis’s words.
Davis began again: “We need you to coordinate an uprising in New York City at the same time as Lee’s invasion. France has ignored us, so our sole hope is to force Great Britain to recognize us and make the Yankees sue for peace.”
Georg was puzzled. “How would stating a riot in New York City force Great Britain to enter the war?” He thought.
Jefferson Davis sat down at his desk. He wiped his brow with a handkerchief. His desk was overflowing with telegrams and other paperwork. Davis picked up a pen and drafted an order for Georg.
“I am ordering you and a small group of soldiers to secretly enter New York City and coordinate an uprising. This critical mission could save the Confederacy! And one more thing,” Davis emphasized.
Jefferson Davis added a second line to his orders. He handed the orders to Georg and waited for him to read them. Georg looked down at the paper handed to him by the Confederate President and smiled. He saluted and left the president’s office. Davis resumed reading the rest of the telegrams from Lee on his desk.
Georg recruited a trusted lieutenant he knew from New Orleans for the mission. A sergeant and two private soldiers were also assigned to him by the Confederate Army. The two soldiers were Confederate draftees from Alabama.
Georg neglected to tell the sergeant and Confederate privates the second more important part of their mission. President Davis ordered him to capture Great Britain’s gold bullion stored in the New York City Treasury Building and transport it back to Richmond!
Jefferson Davis told him starting an uprising in New York would give Georg and his men the cover they needed to break into the Treasury Building and steal the gold. The British gold would be used to help finance the Confederate government continue the war. But it would also cause a diplomatic rift between Great Britain and the United States. It would encourage Great Britain to broker peace between the Union and Confederacy to retrieve its gold reserves.
Georg confided this secret part of the mission only to his trusted lieutenant. He suggested withholding this from the non-commissioned soldiers until they reached New York City. Georg was afraid they would plan to steal all the gold bullion for themselves.
It was, in fact, stored in a sub-treasury office in the former Bank of the United States at 30 Wall Street. Next door was the “Assay” office where gold from the mines in California and elsewhere was melted down into gold bars of various weights and stored in a vault. Each gold bar was marked with letters and figures which certified the weight and quality of the metal. The vault held over $130 million of gold bullion and over $1 million in gold coins on any given day.
Unluckily, the Confederate spies were delayed in their mission due to trouble procuring a Confederate smuggler’s ship outside of Norfolk. Instead, they arrived at the wharf in New York City several days after Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia had been defeated in the Battle of Gettysburg. Georg now knew their mission was even more critical for the Confederacy. He realized the stinging defeat of Lee’s army could change the course of the war.
But as fortune would have it, they entered New York City on the day following the first New York City draft lottery.
