Existing comment:
In this letter, Bloss clearly identifies Barton Mitchell as the finder of Lee's "plan of attack." Bloss says he was with Mitchell and was the first to read the orders and understood its importance. Bloss continued by saying, "he [McClellan] pushed the same day and I think his expedition [of] his movements kept [the] enemy from uniting at the point they had intended."
Bloss also observed that the dispatch was found "in a wheat field, under a Locas Tree [locust tree], with two cigars." While not significant to the importance of the orders, it is significant to the circumstances surrounding the actual finding of the letter, which has intrigued both amateur and professional historians. |