Seems to be a lot of debate about whether or not this group is still around in one form or another. All I can say is, if they are still here, they are certainly keeping a low profile! That could be a difficult thing to do in this day and age, ya know? Still, the organisation alone is mysterious enough to be featured here, I think.
Knights Of The Golden Circle
The Knights of the Golden Circle, or KGC for short, was a clandestine group of Southern sympathizers that formed before the Civil War. When fighting between the states broke out in 1861, their power and numbers only grew. They sought to conquer a circle of areas in Mexico, Central America, northern South America, Cuba, and the West Indies to form a Confederate empire of slave states: hence the name “Golden Circle.” As the Civil War raged on, the KGC decided to postpone their plans for South American domination and instead began to focus on supporting the struggling Confederate government.
The KGC and many of their alleged higher-ups in the Confederate government—such as Jefferson Davis, J.E.B. Stuart, and Nathan Bedford Forrest—tried to aid the Confederacy by capturing guns, supplies, munitions, and (according to some) gold. Lots and lots of gold. When the Confederacy fell in 1865, the KGC allegedly went underground to hide all of their gold, along with some of the recovered Confederate treasury. They used codes, treasure maps, and guards called “sentinels” to hide and protect their vast caches of treasure.
US intelligence agencies kept tabs on the KGC after the Civil War, but they had little success. The group seemed to disappear in only a few decades following the war. Some assert that they simply became even more secretive, plotting to overthrow the reunited US federal government. Others believe they are still around today, watching and waiting, ready to strike and begin building a new band of rebellious Confederate states.
If it weren't for the folks over at Listverse, I would have never known about this group. Gotta learn something new every day, I reckon!
Coffee out on the patio this morning! How about some peach cobbler to go along with it?
