The Civil War: One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure
Three Union soldiers on the morning of September 13, 1862 spot a paper package lying in the grass. The soldiers were in a clover field two miles south of Frederick, Maryland. When they opened the package they find 3 cigars and a two-page letter written by Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The letter detailed the battle strategy for his Maryland campaign. The letters came to be known as the “Union discovery of Special Orders No. 191.”
Wow, talk about hitting the jack-pot. These three soldiers took this letter to their superior officer, eventually the letter made it up the ranks, up to General George B. McClellan himself. McClellan came to the conclusion that the letters were not a ruse de guerre, that in fact the letters were genuine and contained helpful information. McClellan knew exactly what to do and was more than happy to have this epiphany, if you will, show the way.
The orders gave detailed instructions for placing all of Lee’s units. How on earth did this happen? I don’t know that we will ever know that. Were these plans dropped there on purpose, or by accident? Lee himself claimed that he didn’t understand how it could’ve happened. The couriers in charge of delivering orders were required to bring receipts when orders were safely delivered. It has been established that the orders found in the field were duplicates, and the original got to the intended confederate general. One Historian Wilbur D. Jones believes the culprit was Henry Kyd Douglas, a trusted courier who smoked cigars and whose “subsequent behavior raises a level of suspicion.”
Turning Point:
Having these orders readily available allowed the following course of events:
- Victory for the Union in the Battle of Antietam
- Lee’s defeat of this battle allowed President Abraham Lincoln gain the necessary political capital to sigh the Emancipation Proclamation
- Europe refused to recognize the Confederacy
- Lee withdrew his forces to Virginia which changed the course of the war and led to the eventual defeat of the Confederacy.
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
source: Curious Events in History
No Comments to “The Civil War: One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure”