Existing comment:
A Bold Plan:
On September 9, from his camp in Frederick, Maryland, Robert E. Lee devised a plan to capture the Union troops at Harpers Ferry and proceed with the invasion. This plan, known as Special Orders 191, shifted the focus of the entire campaign to Harpers Ferry.
Success for the Confederates depended on two things:
(1) A slow response from the Union Army at Washington.
(2) Coordinated and swift action from Southern soldiers who had been marching and fighting for almost three months.
Ambitious and risky, Special Orders 191 split the Confederate Army into four parts, separated by rivers and mountains. Three columns, or two-thirds of Lee's men, were sent off in three different directions to converge on Harpers Ferry. Stonewall Jackson assumed overall command of these soldiers, while Lee prepared for the invasion of Pennsylvania with the balance of his men. The three columns of Confederates sent to Harpers Ferry had three days to take up positions and begin their attack on the post. Following the capture or destruction of the Union force at the Ferry, Jackson was supposed to reunite with Lee for the push into Pennsylvania and a decisive battle with the main body of the Union army. |