Hearts of Grey - By Earl E. Gobel

Prologue

A novel of romance,

conspiracy and jealousy

The year is 1864 . . . the civil war between the Union North and the Confederate South is raging onward. Despite heavy casualties, neither side will consider surrendering.

Meanwhile in Georgia . . . The Union Army . . . , over 65,000 strong, lead by Major General William Tecumseh Sherman is making its infamous march to the sea.

Total devastation is the only thing left in their wake.

But what happened in Columbia, South Carolina . . . will forever be etched into history as the “Greatest Crime of the War.”

Columbia . . . the very “Pride of the South” . . . will soon be left in complete ruins. One-third of the entire city . . . over thirty-six square city blocks will be left in a smoldering pile of ashes and rubble. And the once bustling city . . . would never be what it once was. Never!

The banks . . . that held the wealth of the Confederacy . . . were looted of all of their contents.

Years later . . . after the war, hearings would be held to find those responsible for everything that happened. Nobody would ever be convicted of any war crimes. Not even General Sherman himself. But certain names of some Union officers were stained for all eternity . . . with links back to Columbia. Their names will forever strike at the very hearts and souls of the forever loyal people of the south.

But in the South . . . the land of Dixie . . . there’s a saying that goes “Good times are not forgotten.” But the bad times are remembered just as much as the good ones . . . Some even more so.

Stories would be told to generations after generations about different theories of what really happen back then in Columbia.

But if the Union Army . . . claims that they didn’t take the Gold and Money from Columbia’s banks . . . . and the Confederacy still claims that they were robbed . . . you have to ask yourself . . . .

What ever happened to the “Gold of the South”?

Was it stolen? And if so . . . by whom? But if it wasn’t stolen . . . then where is it?

And if there was a real treasure to be found . . . . Just how much would it really be worth?

Would it be worth your only daughter’s happiness . . . or maybe even her very life?

These are the questions that will have to be answered. When is the search for such things . . . no longer worth the cost of finding it? So follow along as history takes on a dark mysterious twist. One that’s sure to have you rooting for the Good Guys . . . even if you can’t decide who they are.

’Cause in the South . . . “The Hearts of Grey” is a rewrite of history.

Or maybe just a reconstruction of the facts . . .

“The Hearts of Grey . . .”

The South has Returned . . . or maybe it never truly left?

Introduction

The year is 1865. The Civil War between the states is raging on. General Sherman, along with over sixty thousand Union troops, has just forced their way into Columbia, South Carolina. By the time the sun rises the following day, Columbia would be in ruins. Three-quarters of the once-striving showcase of the South would be reduced to ashes. The pride of the South, the pride of the Confederacy, would never recover.

Meanwhile, 155 miles to the south, in the small town of Mattersonville, Georgia, fourteen men work throughout the night to unload seven overloaded wagons. The boxes are heavy, extremely heavy. When they finally finish, they quickly stash six of the wagons in a nearby cave. Then they are all executed.

Two days later, in Columbia, South Carolina, Jason Barnes, former president of the Commercial Bank of Columbia, stood inside the burned-out shell of his once-glorious bank. He was yelling and screaming about what the Union soldiers had done to his beloved town and to his bank.

“God himself will find those responsible for these unthinkable crimes against the fair people of Columbia, and his wrath will smash those thieving cowards to death in his name!” He yelled.

Just as he finished, there came a terrible rumble from behind him. He turned to see the last remaining wall of his beloved bank, the south wall, start to teeter. Then it came crashing down on