Existing comment:
The Lost Order
Shrouded in a Cloak of Mystery
Antietam Campaign 1862
After crossing the Potomac River early in September 1862, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee reorganized the Army of Northern Virginia into three separate wings. On September 9, he promulgated his campaign strategy - to divide his army, send Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson to attack Harpers Ferry, and send Gen. James Longstreet toward Hagerstown - was described in Special Orders No. 191, seven copies of which were distributed to his senior subordinates.
Gen. D.H. Hill received a copy through Jackson, but Lee's headquarters sent Hill a second copy that he was not expecting. Placed in an envelope with two cigars, this copy was lost en route to Hill. On September 13, Co. F, 27th Indiana Infantry, stacked arms and rested near the Georgetown Pike just south of Frederick. A soldier found the envelope. It soon reached Gen. George B. McClellan, who jubilantly exclaimed that he held the Confederate battle plan in his hands!
The available evidence does not indicate exactly where the orders were found but suggests the Best Farm, which occupied the ground for a mile north from here. McClellan had his army moving toward Lee by the next morning, surprising him and forcing him into battle before Lee had consolidated his army.
Frederick Junction was a small community located here, 3 miles south of the city of Frederick, during the war. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, connecting Baltimore with West Virginia, and the main road south to Washington, D.C., crossed the Monocacy River at this point. Union troops were posted here to protect the junction and its bridges. The Federals also crossed the Monocacy here in 1863 on their way north to Gettysburg. In 1864, Union Gen. Lew Wallace delayed Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early's raid on Washington, D.C., in a pivotal struggle here. |