Comdr. John L. Davis, commanding "Wissahickon" decided to set the wreck afire lest guerrilla bands from shore try to salvage her or her cargo: she burned for several days accompanied by large black powder explosions. "Georgiana" and her cargo were owned by banking and shipping magnate George Alfred Trenholm of Charleston, who was Treasurer of the Confederacy and the primary historical figure behind the fictional Rhett Butler in "Gone With The Wind". The wreck was discovered by underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence in 1965. Today the "Georgiana" sits on the bottom with her huge boiler only five feet (1.5 m) under the surface. She is now covered with a wide array of sea fan, sea whips, and living corals. Large sections of the hull are still intact. In places the starboard side of the hull protrudes over nine feet (3 m) from the sand. The ship's deck was white pine and has long since been eaten away. Sea urchins and sea anemones abound on the wreck. The wreck is frequented by sea bass, grouper, flounder, stingrays, seahorses, and toadfish. Near the forward cargo hatch Spence found boxes of pins and buttons. Spence recovered sundries, munitions, and medicines easily worth over $12,000,000, but he never found the 350 pounds (160 kg) of gold believed to be hidden on the wreck. The gold could have a numismatic value of over $15,000,000. Other cargo could bring the "Georgiana"'s total value to $50,000,000. Resting on top of the "Georgiana"s shattered wreckage is the remains of the sidewheel steamer "Mary Bowers", which struck the wreck of the "Georgiana" while attempting to run the blockade into Charleston. This wreck site is extremely important both historically and archaeologically. Historically because of the emphasis both sides (the Confederates and the Federals) correctly or incorrectly placed on the "Georgiana" as a potential threat to United States shipping, and archaeologically due to the site containing two distinct types of ships. Both ships were constructed of iron, but one was built with extra reinforcing and relatively deep draft such as would be needed for operation as a privateer on the high seas and the other of extremely light weight and shallow draft that was perfectly suited for the purpose of running the blockade, which required crossing shallow shoals to evade the deeper draft vessels of the blockade fleet.